Casa Carolina, 129 Circle, Santa Fe, NM – SOLD

About the property

Casa Carolina, at 129 Circle Drive on the Northside, is a contemporary house designed and built by the architect Jim Satzinger, AIA, of Satzinger Design, and completed in 2014. It was shown that year in Haciendas, the Santa Fe Parade of Homes, where it took the awards for Best Energy Efficiency and Best Water Efficiency. It sits on 2.74 acres with views east to the Ski Basin and the Sangre de Cristo and southeast to Sun and Moon Mountains.

The house is 3,463 square feet on one level, with three bedrooms, four baths, three fireplaces, and a two car attached garage, and it opens to courtyards, patios, and portals on every side.

The Webster Estates team represented the seller, and the sale closed in 2014.

The house

Satzinger builds each house as a demonstration of the best current thinking in design, construction, and energy, and Casa Carolina was the state of that argument in 2014. A 4.4 kilowatt photovoltaic array supplies the electricity. Solar thermal panels heat the water. Rainwater is caught and stored in a cistern to supplement city water for the landscape. The frame is two by ten, which allows for far more insulation than standard framing, and the appliances are Energy Star. Heat is radiant hydronic in the floors, cooling is evaporative, a continuous fresh air exchange keeps the sealed envelope healthy, the lighting is LED, and the fixtures are low flow.

None of that shows. What shows is a clean, single level contemporary with high ceilings, three fireplaces, and glass aimed at the mountains, with outdoor rooms in three directions. The point of the technology is that it disappears into a house that is simply pleasant to live in and inexpensive to run.

The neighborhood

Circle Drive is a loop off Bishop’s Lodge Road on the Northside, on the rise between the city and the Tesuque hills, with large lots and long views. It is a few minutes to the Plaza and to the Opera. The schools are Carlos Gilbert Elementary, Capshaw Middle, and Santa Fe High.

Our Northside neighborhood guide covers the area and the Northside market archive collects our sales there. Casa Carolina is one of three Satzinger houses we have sold: the others are Casa La Vega on Camino de la Cruz Blanca, the architect’s own house, and Casa Cielo on Brownell Howland, the Parade of Homes house that followed this one. We have also handled another estate on Circle Drive. For the style, see our guide to contemporary adobe homes.

About the transaction

We represented the seller at Casa Carolina, with Nancy Avedisian of Barker Realty as co-listing broker. The house sold in ten weeks and closed within two percent of the asking price. A Parade of Homes house arrives on the market with thousands of people having already walked through it, and the awards did the rest: the buyer knew exactly what they were buying and did not need to be persuaded.

Frequently asked questions

Q: Who designed Casa Carolina? A: Jim Satzinger, AIA, of Satzinger Design, who designed and built it. It was completed in 2014.

Q: What awards did it receive? A: Best Energy Efficiency and Best Water Efficiency at the 2014 Haciendas, A Parade of Homes.

Q: How is it powered and heated? A: A 4.4 kilowatt photovoltaic array, solar thermal hot water, radiant hydronic floor heat, evaporative cooling, and a continuous fresh air exchange, with rainwater catchment for the landscape.

Q: How large is it? A: 3,463 square feet on one level, with three bedrooms, four baths, three fireplaces, and a two car garage, on 2.74 acres.

Q: What are the views? A: East to the Ski Basin and the Sangre de Cristo, and southeast to Sun and Moon Mountains.

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

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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.