Historical Santa Fe Architecture

By Anthony • February 10th, 2010

Historical Santa Fe Architecture and Santa Fe Style have roots in Native American Pueblos which surround Santa Fe. There exists a timeless and spiritual aspect to these old adobes.

Rina Swentzell of Santa Clara Pueblo shared Native America perspective with with the National Trust for Historic Preservation when asked, “What are the standards by which we plan and judge the restoration of our homes?”

Rina shares, “In strict preservationist terms, the object, the structure, the culture, the cultural knowledge must remain frozen in time so that we can experience that moment of frozen past whenever we choose.”

“Pueblos would say, ‘Of course, the past is always with us. We are each at once a past, present, and future. But we cannot be part of time-of-life if we are frozen in one moment as are preserved objects. Object and structures are seen as being alive.”

“My great grandmother would have said the Village, the thoughts, the ways of doing things are transforming. The Village is part of the understanding of the sun and the earth and the mountains and it will return in its own time, in its own manner, and in its own form relative for that particular time.”

Compliments of Ed Crocker, Crocker Ltd. Architectural Conservation

eec@crockerltd.net