Collectors Corner! Ed Sandoval's Newsletter (Taos, NM)

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Collectors Corner!

Ed Sandoval Gallery's Newsletter

119 Quesnel Street, Taos, NM 87571

www.edsandovalgallery.com

edsandovalart@gmail.com

(575) 770-6360

Fabulous or Foolish? I Got Carried Away...

SO MUCH has happened in the past month or so, and I’ll tell you about all of it, but I want to start with something I thought would never, ever, ever happen: the house I built up in Valdez in the late 1990’s finally sold! Holy Donkey's Years, it took forever. I moved out of that house in January of 2010, which is about 12 years ago. But thinking on it, we listed the house back in 2008, so, all together, that’s about 14 years on and off the market.

Front View of House

Front Side View Showing Koi Fish Pond

Built on Mountainside

Of course, there were major complications, like the Arroyo Hondo Land Grand debacle. In 2010, some hucksters filed a fraudulent deed claiming the entire Arroyo Hondo land grant north of Taos. Folks, that’s 31 square miles of land that was parceled out by the Spanish monarchy in the early19th century. This greedy, heinous sham tied up real estate for two to three YEARS. Nobody could buy, sell or refinance any home or property because every title was clouded by the claim. Heck, people couldn’t even get insurance or an equity loan. It really messed with people – including me. Tempers were hot, and many families were emotionally and financially ruined thanks to that vile scheme. At least one of the con men eventually pleaded guilty to fraud, but the damage to good people was already done.

But I digress… The focal point of this story is that when I say I "built" the house, I mean I actually built it by hand. I had my own construction company back then, so it made sense to bring in my guys who were helping me to build houses elsewhere and put them to work. Simple enough, right? Well, many of you know that I tend to get carried away…and my exuberant excess is the crux of this tale. Is the house fabulous, evidence of folly or both?

Chapel Exterior

Chapel Interior

Before starting on the house, I wanted a place to store power tools and building materials. Eureka! What about a lovely chapel? This is the chapel Julia Roberts would visit years later and ask me to build one for her too, which I did. Now here’s a funny story – once the chapel was done and I started on the house, the building inspector came by...

A tiny woman named Jessie shuffled through her papers and looked confused. “Ed, I don’t see anything in your building permit about a chapel.” Truth be told, I didn’t have a permit and had to think quickly on my feet. “Jessie,” I said in my most sincere and serious tone, “Nobody in northern New Mexico needs a permit to build a chapel!” She looked at me for a moment, nodded sheepishly and went away. Ha! That wasn’t true, but I wish it were true – people should indeed be able to put up a chapel if they want one.

26" Adobe Walls (with Exposed Bricks) Taper Inward

Three Canales on Different Levels Create Waterfall Effect

Buttress for Extra Support Like at the Ranchos Church

I wanted to follow the terrain of the mountain, to build a two-story house up the side in a stair-step fashion. Seeking a rustic, authentic look, I doubled the adobe bricks for the walls (making them 26" thick), tapered the walls in slightly as they went up, and left the adobe bricks exposed (no exterior plaster). I just love the look of exposed adobe. To support and protect the adobe, I used lots of stone in the foundation (just like they did in the old days) and cobblestone on top of the parapets.

It was hard labor, but my crew always worked smoothly together. My friend Antonio Mendez had built with me for years and years, as had Alejandro. When they were laying adobe, I took a photo and later painted that scene. I donated the original painting to Holy Cross Hospital, and, as far as I know, it’s still there.

Me Starting a Fireplace

Alejandro (Left) & Antonio (Right) with Chapel in Background)

Painting I Did of Antonio & Alejandro

Once the chapel and house were finished, I got bored and started imagining what else I could do, which is a dangerous habit of mine. I built stables for my two horses, along with a cozy barn, and added a two-car garage. Next, I decided to build a chicken coop – but not just ANY old chicken coop. Oh no! I got it into my brain to build one that looked just like the Las Trampas church, and I did, again using exposed adobe with a mud wash.

Mud Wash on Adobe

San Jose de Gracia de Las Trampas Church (Model for My Chicken Coop)

Note the Turrets on Top with Chickens vs. Crosses

Guesthouse

Okay, done with that – what's next??? In hindsight, I should have stopped there. Suffice it to say, I had spent a lot of money by this point, but I got the idea to build a guest house and rent it out for income to help with the house mortgage. Shockingly, we took out another mortgage, and even more shocking is the guest house is nearly as big as the main house: two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a cute shepherd's bed in the main living room.

Here's another fun story. Chris Taylor is Elizabeth's Taylor's nephew, and he did a lot of floor tiling around Taos. He had just finished remodeling Elizabeth's bathroom, and I hired him to do the tile work in the guesthouse. He brought out a beautiful piece of blue marble that was around 48" x 12", and we put it in the threshold going into the main bedroom.

Me in Front of the Living Room Fireplace I Built

Steel Cutout of "El Viejito" in the Front Yard

Staircase up to Rooftop Deck

The guesthouse was lovely, but I wanted even MORE pizazz, a real resort experience for the guests who rented the guesthouse. And of course I was thinking of a spectacular place to have parties for friends and family.... Obviously, the next step was to add (yes...I added) a rock pond for koi fish, two hot tubs and a huge cabana. Oh now we are ready to party!

Rock Pond for Koi Fish

Outdoor Cabana with Fireplace & Grill

May 1998 Edition

So far, it sounds pretty fabulous, right? Everything was impressively beautiful, and New Mexico Magazine even featured the house in their May 1998 edition. I was proud, but then, as time went by, the storms came. The guesthouse ended up not being rented out much because there was an "issue" about cleaning it, the elements pounded the exposed adobe and the cement holding the cobblestone on top of the parapets started to crumble... Storms – storms both inside and outside of a home – cause a lot of damage.

I was overextended. Mortgages don't go down much, no matter how long you pay, and over time they take a toll. Other things took their toll too, and finally it was time to put the compound on the market. But for about 14 years, it just didn't sell. It was too much – WAY overbuilt for the area, with lots of repairs needed to boot. Can you imagine being the real estate agent? "Oh, I have the perfect property for you if you're in the market for a main house, guest house of roughly the same size, chapel, horse stables with a barn, chicken coop that looks like a church, koi pod, two hot tubs and cabana – all needing TLC."

My 400 Square Foot Studio Apartment

As I said earlier, I moved out in January of 2010, going to live at the studio apartment connected to my gallery on Quesnel Street, which is only about 400 square feet. I lived there for about eight years, until August of 2017 when Gwen and I moved into the house we started building in 2016.

Through it all, I was still paying mortgages, utilities, taxes, insurance, upkeep like snow plowing, etc. at the old house, plus other "payments." Understandably, I was worried about building the new house.

Depressed, I couldn't sleep and felt the weight of the world. I couldn't bring myself to come clean to Gwen about my finances and felt so guilty. When I couldn't avoid it any longer, I finally told her the truth. She already knew and said, "We're partners. When one partner is down, the other needs to step up." She had assets and got busy contributing a lot more (a LOT). I point this out because most people assume I built the house all by myself. I assure you that is NOT the case (not even close).

New House Completed in 2017

All in all, at the Valdez compound, I had used over 30,000 adobe bricks! Looking back, I regret the overdone scale of everything and my design choices, like the exposed adobe and cobblestone-topped parapets, which deteriorated more quickly under the elements. It was a mistake to build so much "bling" everywhere, and I wish I had reigned myself in. I remember having a pity party for myself once about the cost and debt of my crazed building frenzy. Gwen looked at me and asked, "Did you learn valuable lessons? Life truths that will help you grow and become a better, wiser person?" I nodded. "Then the money was worth it," she replied.

Funny how our priorities change. I did learn a lot of lessons. I'm still exuberant and full of life, but now I'll channel that into painting. LOL. All I wanted in the new house was a big, deep portale with an outdoor kiva fireplace so I could relax and enjoy the mountain view. I know this is a long story, but I needed to tell it. It's closure. And I wish the new owner well.

Michael Martin Murphey's New CD

In case you missed my post on Facebook, Michael Martin Murphey has released a new CD with his son, Ryan Murphey. Called "Road Beyond The View," the cover features one of my paintings! What's truly awesome is that they wanted to do the photo shoot with my old Chevy truck, and I got to go with them to San Francisco de Asís in Ranchos de Taos. What fun that was! The photos of the truck are on the inside of the CD – so cool.

CD Cover with My Painting "Life in Truchas"

Me with the CD and My 1951 Five-Window Chevy

Michael & Me

Inside CD: Michael & Ryan (Left), Both w/ My Truck by Church (Right)

My Adobe Wall

Earlier I told you how I get carried away when building with adobe. I won't do that again, but, as an adobe addict, I've still got to build a little something from time to time. Ha ha. Out from our back portale, I became obsessed with the thought of a cute courtyard wall. Don't worry – I only used about 350 adobe bricks. :-)

I told a friend of mine about my backyard project. He had never seen adobe construction before and asked if he could come see the action. I had a small crew helping, and when my friend got here I asked if he would like to join us and lay a brick or two. He was eager to lay one, so he took off his jacket and got started. Everyone just kept working for a while. After two or so hours, my friend stopped, put on his jacket, and said with a big grin, "Ed, you're just like Tom Sawyer tricking his friend into painting the fence!" Ha! He had a good time and was just joking, but it was so funny because it was pretty true.

Finished Adobe Courtyard Wall w/ Lights

Sitting on the Wall Enjoying This Gorgeous Sunset

Each Day of Life is a Gift

On May 31, I posted about a good friend whose wife was in the hospital. Thank you all for your kind words, good thoughts and prayers. I never gave an update because for weeks and weeks, nothing changed. It was some kind of lung infection (not Covid) that stumped all the doctors. At one point, they made every visitor put on a hazmat suit before going into the room because they were so concerned about her unknown illness.

I'm so happy to report that Mary is back home! She has a lot of healing to do, and I still don't think they know what in the world was wrong with her, but she's on the mend and that's fabulous news! I'm so thankful. And I'm so grateful to all of you for your kind support.

Dave, Mary & Me a Few Years Ago

Blue Spruce Standing Deer (Pba-Quen-nee-e)

One friend was saved, but I lost another. I'd heard Standing Deer was extremely ill, and it was worrying me something terrible. One day, I got an overwhelming urge, an almost uncontrollable need to go see him. I printed out some photos of us together and went over to his house. He was in bed and unable to speak, but he knew who I was. I gave him the photos, he held them, looking at them closely, and then put them down on the bed.

He reached out for my hand, took my hand and put it on his heart. We sat quietly looking at one another – each saying goodbye in our own say – and then I had to go. He passed away the very next day. Oh I can't tell you how painful and heartbreaking that was, but I'm so glad I got to see him and say goodbye. He was a gift to this world, and my life is better, richer and more colorful and spiritual for having known him.