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  Adobe Abode? The Re-Southwesternization of Pagosa CountryBy Norm Vance, March 2006 Note: This article was originally published on the Pagosa Daily Post section of Pagosa.com had has been modified for inclusion on Pagosa Country Living. You wouldn’t know it today but there was a time when there was almost no representation of Southwestern, Spanish or adobe style architecture in the County. There was a strong influence early on in Pagosa’s history but it slowly fell out of favor and older buildings were replaced or covered with other materials. By the mid 1980s adobe was a rare sight in the area. Historically it is a fact that the first homes built in the area were adobe covered. The Anasazi Indians built these centuries ago in the Chimney Rock area and up the San Juan River from the Navajo Lake area. The Anasazi long built adobe covered log and, later, adobe covered stone buildings. When the first settlers, the Spanish, arrived in the Southwest they were familiar with adobe as it was widely used in Spain at the same time. They brought in Spanish architectural influence and a unique style evolved we know today as “Southwestern Style.” It is indeed interesting how fashions come and go in home and building design and what “fits” in this area. In the mid-twentieth century, the public became enchanted with the A-Frame design for mountain homes. Simple, one-room houses to mansions were built on the steep roofed, A-frame theme. Many of these are still seen along Pagosa Country’s back roads. Did the A-frame homes fit? People thought that they did for many years. Pagosa's first buildings were small log cabins. Buildings were also constructed from rough-hewn post, beams and siding. Tarpaper was sandwiched between siding boards to keep the wind out. Smoother milled wood might be used on a front facade. Later, better craftsmanship was used and buildings appeared with large plate glass windows and became highly decorative. Awnings were used so often that, at times, you could walk the length of the main strip out of the sun or rain. The town had several major fires and turned to building with brick of various sizes and styles. Many of the buildings on our main street are these brick buildings. It was common to cover brick walls with adobe-like plaster. Several old buildings were southwestern in style. The most notable still standing is on Lewis Street, and for years it was known as "The Adobe Inn and Mud Pub." Mud refers to adobe plaster.
So, from a historic standpoint, Spanish style does fit here as do log buildings, Victorian, brick, and others. We should rejoice in the eclectic variety Pagosa has to offer. . |
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