119 Old Galisteo, Santa Fe, NM – SOLD

About the property

119 Old Galisteo is an organic straw bale passive solar house on 3.92 acres south of Santa Fe, near the end of the road, with a separate one bedroom guest house and studio. The main house holds two bedrooms and a bath in 1,668 square feet; the guest house adds 288. Water is a private well.

The Webster Estates team represented the seller in 2020.

The house

Straw bale is a real construction method rather than an affectation: thick walls, deep window reveals, and a thermal mass that holds temperature without much help. Paired with passive solar orientation, it produces a house that is quiet and cheap to run, which is the point of building this way in northern New Mexico.

The plan is compact. Two bedrooms and a bath, with the second bedroom a loft reached by a spiral staircase, which is charming and worth knowing about in advance if anyone in the household dislikes ladders. The guest house and studio stand separate, one bedroom and one bath, and give the property its second use as a place to work or to put visitors.

The land

Just under four acres, and the acreage immediately west is open space, so the sense of room is larger than the deed. The house sits near the end of the road with no through traffic. Horses are permitted. There is a voluntary annual contribution toward road maintenance rather than a formal association.

The listing pitched it at artists and writers wanting solitude and views, which is not marketing language in this case so much as an accurate description of who buys a straw bale house at the end of a dirt road with a studio on it.

Our guide to Northern New Mexico vernacular homes covers regional building, our first time Santa Fe buyer guide covers this end of the market, and the Santa Fe market archive collects our work across the city. Our Select Solds are the record of what we have closed.

The schools are EJ Martinez Elementary, Milagro Middle, and Santa Fe High.

About the transaction

We represented the seller at 119 Old Galisteo. It took a little under three months, which is the honest cost of a genuinely unusual house. Straw bale, passive solar, a spiral staircase to the second bedroom, a well, and a dirt road: every one of those narrows the buyer pool, and together they narrow it a great deal. The answer is not to soften the description. It is to wait for the person for whom that list reads as a set of features rather than a set of objections.

Frequently asked questions

Q: What is straw bale construction? A: A building method using compressed straw bales as structural infill, finished in plaster. It produces very thick walls with high insulation value and considerable thermal mass, well suited to the northern New Mexico climate.

Q: How large is the property? A: 3.92 acres, with a 1,668 square foot main house of two bedrooms and one bath, plus a 288 square foot one bedroom guest house and studio.

Q: Is there a well? A: Yes, a private well. The acreage immediately to the west is open space.

Q: Which side did Webster Estates represent? A: We represented the seller.

Q: Are horses allowed? A: Yes.

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The Webster Estates Team handled this transaction. Chris Webster, Patti Webster, Christopher Webster III, and Paisley Mason Webster, Associate Brokers at Sotheby’s International Realty, operating from 54½ Lincoln Avenue on The Plaza since 1976.