A Mid-Century Modern Home in Netherwood Park
The Unforgettable Mid-Mod
On a North Campus cul-de-sac already dotted with impressive mid-last-century-era homes, the architectural giant above is still the obvious showstopper. The unique residence was designed by regionally renowned architect Harvey Hoshour. Hoshour was clearly inspired by French architect Le Corbusier, specifically Le Corbusier’s “icon of modernist architecture,” the Villa Savoye, also seen below. If the Villa Savoye ever yearned for a much younger American sibling, then 1731 Notre Dame Drive, above, would be it. Hoshour’s Netherwood Park creation seems to appeal to even the most discerning of Modernists.
The house consists of two elegant white boxes, divided into public & private pavilions, linked by a glassed-in foyer. This rectilinear design, up on two pair of Pilotis, creates the feeling of floating above the earth.
Vintage Architectural Maquette
A lot of the information about 1731 Notre Dame Drive can be found in the UNM Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections Room, in Zimmerman Library; more on the Center for SW Research below…
However, an extensive collection of blueprints, drawings, images & notes accompanied the Notre Dame house, provided by the current owner.
The architectural maquette, above, was one of them. The model, depicting 1731 Notre Dame Drive, was probably created around the time the home was built, in 1969; the model is to scale & shows elevation on the one quarter acre lot.
Times change & so do buildings. Over the years, different owners express different visions…For example, the maquette above shows windows along the private (back) pavilion which are no longer there — if they ever were — & there is no door to the north-side courtyard. Also, at some point the east-facing balcony, on the left side of the front public pavilion, was subsumed into the house & enclosed, which increased the squarefootage to ~2800sqft.
The maquette is an idealized rendition of the home, that has become somewhat obsolete along the way; it still feels like a piece of art just as it is…
Siting a building on a lot involves dozens of considerations. Just a few: the grading/elevation & drainage concerns, zoning requirements, easements & setbacks, current & future landscaping, property orientation, height of the buildings & how they interact with other structures & adjacent neighbors. In other words, where the residence is sited can make all the difference.
Good architects take all this into account; some even consider how the seasonal angles of the sun affect the heat & light into the house during different times of the year.
Harvey Hoshour knew this, examples below. A good example of another renowned architect who took the sun into account when siting his projects, is native son architect, Bart Prince. For his Mead-Penhall House, aka the “Cigar House”, “Prince sited the home diagonally on the small lot, rotating it slightly off-center, which placed it on a southwest-to-northeast plane. This created a 100-foot-long structure from end to end, maximizing the winter sun, & minimizing the sun & heat in summer.
From an article about the Mead-Penhall House a decade ago, in the MetroABQ Newsletter: “Another creative alignment detail is the small koi pond in the private east-side courtyard, seen here. It’s positioned along the line of the Winter Solstice — when the sun is at its lowest arc sometime after December 20th — the longest night & shortest day — the sun shines directly through the upright blocks of the coy pond & alights toward the house.”
Decades earlier, Hoshour sited 1731 Notre Dame Drive to take advantage of the sun, by orienting it differently than usual. Most houses on Notre Dame Drive sit parallel to the street, facing it. Hoshour’s modernist creation is off-center & angled toward the Sandia Mountains, for optimum views from the public pavilion. The primary bedroom also benefits from the siting: since the front pavilion is off-center, it doesn’t obstruct the mountain scene enjoyed by the main bedroom — see the bird’s-eye-view map above. Another green feature is that the glassed-in foyer heats up nicely in the winter due to its southern exposure.
Originally, the home had south-facing windows in the private pavilion, to optimize the winter sun & minimize the summer heat. Those windows are mostly gone; as described by an owner, “some renovations have allowed the home to wander a bit from Hoshour’s vision.” Maybe a new owner will arrive with her/his own vision…
More about Architect Harvey Hoshour:
Thx for reading & for making it this far.
If you appreciate this conversation, 👉 Follow, Clap 👏 and Share 👐 it!
About me
Extraordinary architects live & create in Albuquerque; beautiful & profound art installations abound; Greenspaces & Parklands define whole areas of the city; extras like Growers’ Markets & cultural events add to our quality of life. I’m a Realtor & write about it all in the MetroABQ Newsletter.
Below is a link to the full MetroABQ Newsletter Archive…
<<Check me out at my site: ChrisLucasABQ.com.>> Thx again!
