“Our idea,” says Matt, “was to tell stories through the architecture using two distinct vocabularies as precedence.” One common thread, going back to the 14th century, when Anasazi peoples lived in what is now Albuquerque’s North Valley, is culture. The other is agriculture and food. Under the stewardship of former owners, the Simms family, Los Poblanos Ranch during the 1930s and ‘40s was a model experimental farm, home to the original Creamland Dairies. The barn and dairy building(s) were still standing in 1976 when the Rembes bought the property. These vivid reminders, past and present, created the obvious choice for Los Poblanos’ other “vocabulary” of place. “Once you cross over the acequia,” says Matt, as we walk it ourselves to the other side, with the hay barn, the greenhouse, the original dairy, the animals, “you’re right in the middle of that fabric of agriculture and food.” The next step was choosing their team: historic rehabilitation architect Stefanos Polyzoides; Philadelphia-based landscape and urban design studio OLIN; high desert landscape designer Judith Phillips; and Chris Wilson, UNM professor of Cultural Landscape Studies and founding director of its Historic Preservation and Regionalism Program, and then reviewing farm buildings and barns of the era. “We wanted this to look like dairy buildings or bunkhouses where farmers once lived renovated to be 20th-century guestrooms,” says Matt. New Mexico agricultural buildings of the ‘30s, the team discovered, possessed the same classic sensibility as those found around the rest of the U.S.: “strictly functional and well-built, with clean straight lines, straightforward simplicity.” They wanted to pay homage to this aesthetic but without its looking clichéd, “so we designed in some quirkiness along the way –– a simple salt water swimming pool, for instance, solar heated, with a retro ‘40s feel, not too fancy, grapevines lining the fence on either side. The goal was to create what Matt calls “farmy elegance.” So many of Meem’s ideas translated to the 10 new rooms: high ceilings, big porches, cross draft and enclosed courtyards, each one leading you into the next for a continued sense of discovery. Attention to detail was meticulous. The new buildings’ heights were strictly monitored, for example, so that rather than blocking or obstructing historic structures, they nestle underneath them to look like part of the original farm groupings. The pitched roofs are corrugated tin, outside walls are tongue-and-groove aged wood planking. They used old corral fencing to create simple yet interesting textures for the inside walls. Trusses are exposed, beds large and comfortably inviting. Bathrooms are designed in a simple ‘30s style with clean, oversized white subway tile, cement floors and nice long bathtubs. “We wanted to include fireplaces,” Matt says, “but obviously they couldn’t be kivas. So we searched around until we found a ‘30s design from Galisteo, functional and square, and we situated them off-center mid-wall in each room to look almost like an afterthought.” Following Meem’s example, the art in each room is original work by New Mexico artists. And another Meem touch: lots of natural light provided by plentiful windows that open. “We were insistent on every single window having a view,” says Matt. “At first, our architect had his own ideas, but then he came back and said, ‘I hate to say this, but you know what? Landscape might be more important than architecture!’” Now, comforting, massive-trunked cottonwood trees, near-distant mountains, rippling fields, barn silo and birdsong are all invited inside. They, in turn, invite guests outside. The designers from Philadelphia-based OLIN were similarly impressed by the area’s natural features. “This acequia system is so exotic,” Matt remembers them saying, “such a primeval form of irrigating—really unusual in the U.S. Water flows to all parts of the property, and guests get to watch this gravity-fed 100-year-old system on a daily basis! Farmers,” they concluded, “are the best landscape architects. They understand how water flows.” Once the floor plans and designs were ready, the Rembe family gathered all those who took part in creating them, along with the entire inn staff, to participate in the charrette process, a giant brainstorming session in which, as Matt says, “there are no wrong answers. This way, the people who are actually in the trenches, working with the guests—the chef, the inn manager, the farmer— can give their feedback. This set the designers in the right direction really fast.” Everything came together quickly. Once the buildings were done, Matt himself shouldered most of the basic interior design decisions, “30 percent on the fly! But we were thrilled with the way the whole thing came out—in some cases even better than we envisioned.” Now they had only to wonder, would the resulting two vocabularies attract two entirely different types of guests? “People who love historic bed-and-breakfasts would certainly keep booking the John Gaw Meem rooms,” Matt says. “But would there suddenly be only these younger families from San Francisco booking the farm rooms?” But that all worked itself out. “Our guideline of trying to create beauty in abundance for this sublime experience applies to both types of rooms. There really isn’t a giant contrast,” he says, once you include such universal factors as the inn’s all-organic menu, with everything made from scratch on the kitchen’s original 1934 gas stove; the aromatic scent of lavender wafting in the open windows at night; the visceral experience of a real working farm. “For that reason, we’re the ultra agritourism destination. Guests can take a lavender distillation class or just stick their heads in when we’re doing it. They’ll see tractors, people walking by carrying big loads of just harvested vegetables. We have animals and kids’ school group tours.” Plus there’s food growing everywhere, not just in the fields but as part of the landscaping: huge rosemary bushes and other herbs, jujube, persimmon and fig trees, hops—all of it used in the kitchen. 42
SEPTEMBER 2013
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