Although this past March was when the Santa Fe Area Home Builders Association (SFAHBA) held its annual Home and Garden Expo + Remodelers Showcase, May, as deemed by the National Association of Home Builders, also just happens to be National Home Remodeling Month. The timing, then, felt more than right to dedicate this month’s Building column to the show’s “contest” (of sorts), in which builders from all around the City Different submitted remodeling projects they’d completed over the past year. And as affordable and available housing continues to be an issue, along with the fallout from, well, The Uncertainty (over tariffs, supply chains, the price of eggs), remodeling, as opposed to buying or building a new home, has become more and more au courant by the second. All that aside, given that it is the Month for Remodeling, I thought it’d be nice to celebrate the creativity and craftsmanship of this year’s winners.
“At its core,” says SFAHBA Executive Director Miles Conway, “our annual Remodelers Show is designed to inspire Santa Feans, and perhaps those living farther away, to be bold. To heed the playful voices in our heads, to be homeowners who aren’t afraid to dream and ask for enhancements to our living spaces. Our remodel show is meant to help our friends and neighbors feel a sense of confidence that, given careful design and financial planning, we can make major or minor renovations to our homes that meet these dreams of homeownership.”
And remodeling isn’t just a fad. According to Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, “The U.S. remodeling market soared above $600 billion in the wake of the pandemic and, despite recent softening, remains 50% above pre-pandemic levels.” The JCHS also stated that two of the biggest drivers for remodeling are the fact that “climate change necessitates improvement spending and drives up insurance premiums” and the country’s housing stock is “older than ever and substandard conditions must be addressed.”
“We’re certainly having a big moment in the remodeling and renovation industry,” adds Conway, who cites an NAHB forecast saying that builders are entering a “super-cycle” for remodeling. “Specifically,” says Conway, “a 5% increase in residential remodeling activity for 2025, followed by more modest gains in 2026.” In addition to upgrading that old housing stock, it’s also a result of the homeowners opting to invest in renovations rather than relocating. Plus, there’s a rising awareness of aging-in-place. “Even if we look to what is happening in Washington D.C.,” concludes Conway, “the volatility in financial markets and high mortgage interest rates, make the prospects for investing in our current homes more attractive than ever.”
Below are comments from some of the winners—and/or their clients—at this year’s remodeling show.
B Constructiv
Best Whole Home Renovation & People’s Choice Award
As the designer, to win the award that not only spoke to “Whole House Excellence in Remodeling,” I was thrilled to see that “Most Dramatic Transformation” was included with the award! That, to me, was the greatest sense of accomplishment! Though this residence is no longer the traditional Santa Fe Style structure built in the early 1980s, it still contains some of the original passive solar concepts. To meet the owner’s goal of expanding the use of solar power, the concept of utilizing an angled roof line was born. Finding the ideal slope to accommodate new solar panels transformed the former flat-roofed structure into a modern design that bridges the remaining portions of traditional Santa Fe Style architecture with an interesting modern/contemporary hybrid.
This unique aging-in-place project concept for Jeanne DiLoreto began 15 years ago, in 2014. Initially hired to design the proposed reconstruction of her longtime home, I also became the general contractor. It has been and remains an honor for me to work with DiLoreto, as this project has been a true labor of love for her over all these years. She has meticulously thought about and planned each piece, while giving me the design freedom to create a unique home. In concept and in reality, the home is meeting the goal of aging-in-place–a unique but growing concept. It promotes her independence, improving her quality of life by allowing her to garden to her heart’s content in an extraordinarily beautiful setting, and giving her an important social connection with friends and neighbors through her garden. This unique project has met her aging-in-place goals, all the while utilizing many “artists” to create the contemporary vision she and I have shared from the beginning.
Lisa Martinez
Praxis
Grand Award for Excellence in Remodeling & Best Primary Suite Remodel
Our clients wanted to take their 70s-style primary suite and turn it into a generous sanctuary. Incorporating high clerestory windows gave it a lofty sensibility. By incorporating a library with ample space for the owners’ book collection and desks for both, we created another living space, cozy and comfortable while also creating an extension of the primary suite sanctuary.
The new bath is wide open to the southwest, so it can feel like you are bathing in the privacy of the garden. The new generous portal of the primary bedroom allows the owners to sip their morning coffee alfresco, while watching the garden bloom. And by converting a portal into a glass-filled dining room, that changed the circulation in the house, allowing us to create space for a dinner party, while removing that dubbing function from the living room and leaving that space available for living.
Gabriel Browne
DMC Construction
Best Kitchen Award
DMC’s intentional transformation of this client’s beloved home became more than just a project for our entire team. While the kitchen was certainly in need of updates, the hearts of our clients spoke louder than the sagging cabinetry and worn appliances. Our clients dreamed of a kitchen that provided this former chef with the space needed to prepare meals for his family and a dining space worthy of the big moments, as well as all the memories in between. DMC loved every second of design development, working hand in hand with our clients to truly hear their needs. From custom-drawer pullouts to a special glass cabinet (for showcasing precious family heirlooms) to a built-in shelf (for housing dozens of well-loved cookbooks)—we loved creating thoughtful solutions. The teamwork involved in this kitchen remodel was exceptional.
The seamless communication between DMC’s project managers, expert subcontractors and artisan craftsmen made the project run smoothly and efficiently. We loved the collaborative spirit and shared dedication to quality that contributed to the overall success of this kitchen renovation.
Douglas Maahs
Serquis + Associates
Award for Outdoor Living & Landscape Design
We feel honored to have worked on another project with a client who truly believes that a home can hold many lives—evolving through time, both inside and out. This remodel allowed us to creatively interpret a new era for the property and its owners. One of our favorite phases was uncovering the potential in what already existed—adapting the mood and flow to reflect a new vision. The most transformative move was simplifying the tall, tiled columns with a unified stucco finish, creating a sense of calm that connects the interior to the landscape. From inside the house, the views are now more clearly framed, and from the outside, the home sits more gently in its surroundings.
Solange Serquis
Our greatest joys in doing this project were threefold. First, we had the opportunity to work with Solange Serquis’ wonderful team for the second time in rehabilitating a minimally finished new construction landscape. Second, we so enjoy the process of bringing out the most a property offers, and, in this case, the site and views were so important. Third, we love the life we spend within our outdoor spaces. Whether it’s a party for eighty, dinner for eight, or just the two of us with a glass of wine gathered at one of the fire features, life in Santa Fe must be spent in nature as much as possible. Solange’s design makes that such an integral part of our lives.
Cindy and Bo Sibley
Jørgensen Builders
Best “Other than Whole House” Renovation Award
We love this project because the house resides on the Chama River, which physically is special because of its prominent landscape. The biggest indulgence was making structural openings and relocating the dining room onto the former porch. Doing this created a beautiful experience where the natural environment is felt at the dinner table with the intimacy of eagles flying over the river and a herd of elk walking along the river’s edge. The house is an explosion of energy—tied to its magical setting with views of nature that function as artwork.
Mike Jørgensen
Tierra Concepts
Best Primary Bath Remodel
We love that a Santa Fe home which had sat empty on the market for years finally found a new life through our wonderful clients. We also love that these clients trusted us enough to undergo a second whole-house remodel, after selling their award-winning remodel on Don Gaspar. There were solutions to the updating of the bathrooms and kitchens that did not necessitate enlarging the home yet created a very new experience of the entire house.
Wendy McEahern
Wendy McEahern
Plus, it was especially pleasing that the judges phrased their recognition of our work as taking this home from “small, dark and dreary to open, bright and beautiful.” That was our goal in this contest entry: to take the home’s cramped, outdated primary bathroom and bring it into the modern world of luxurious, spacious, spa-like functionality.
Keith Gorges
Saguna Severson graduated with a BA in Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley, College of Environmental Design. After going off to study architecture in Japan, she moved to Santa Fe and has never looked back. Working first for Santa Fe architects, she then went for an MA in Counseling Psychology, and is now the Marketing Director at Tierra Concepts. She can be reached at: saguna@tierraconceptssantafe.com
