MetroABQ Blog

Often called Pueblo Style, Spanish Pueblo Revival is a unique style specific to New Mexico & is also seen a little in neighboring states. The building style draws elements from both the Spanish Missions & Pueblo Indian culture, recreating the appearance of traditional adobe construction. Above is a classic Spanish Pueblo Revival in the Ridgecrest Neighborhood & above that is a home in the Silver Hills Historic District south of UNM.

Built in New Mexico generally between 1925-1950, Spanish Pueblo Revival in its purest form includes numerous common elements: flat roofs, roof drains (canales), parapets, adobe-colored stucco, projecting wooden viga beams, distinctive carved or cut-out wood bracket corbels over wooden porch posts, and exposed wooden beams (lintels) over doors and windows. Parapets are barrier wall extensions, protruding above the roofline. They are used as rooftop guard-rails; in New Mexico they function well as barriers that encourage water to drain down the canales. Above right is a home in Ridgecrest.

You can see examples of these features above. Notice the prominent wooden viga beams projecting from the houses; the canales draining water off the roof-the canale also shunts water away from the foundation. Above you can see the wooden lintels framing the tops of the doors and windows, & carved wooden corbels as decoration between the wooden beams supporting the covered porch. Notice the open but covered/shaded east-facing front porch, above. 

NM has some notable Spanish Pueblo Revival architects. John Gaw Meem is probably among the most prominent; his archive is here.