Elizabeth Anne VanderPutten - Barbara Butler's Page

 

Part 1: Site of Barbara Butler's and Glenn Porter's 
Retirement Home
Placitas, NM  (Autumn 1999)

 

September 19, 1999

September 1999 -- About the time Barbara retired from NSF, she and Glenn bought some property in a new development in  Vista De Las Sandias, which is north of Albuquerque and a few miles from Placitas. In the photo above, the Sandia Mountains dominate the view to the south. Their home will be on the ridge at the right of the picture. Barbara is going to wake up some morning with one terrific view! 

The next two photos provide some detail about their planning in 1999. On the left below is their driveway with their car parked at the top as seen looking north from the spot on which their home will be located. On the right below is their driveway in the foreground in front of Glenn. A neighbor's home is in the background.
 

 
     

Part 2: A Work in Progress (January 2002)

 

Pots por mi Casa

Two years have passed since the pictures above were taken. Barbara and Glenn are both retired and are living in a rental house in Albuquerque while they oversee the construction of their home.

Writes Barbara, here is "a photo of some new pots we bought in Santa Fe while we were there at Christmas. We bought the smaller pots - GP is for scale. And there was snow in SF; no snow in ABQ! We plan to use the pots in the garden room. We now have set a first color theme for that space." --Barbara Butler, Mon, 28 Jan 2002

Part 3: Barbara and Glenn's New Home (February 2004)

Shadows are strong, colors are bold...

Getting the house built was interesting. It was a roller coaster experience, but most of the surprises were good ones. 

Shadows are strong, colors are bold, and there are a lot of hard right angles, unlike most of the houses in our development! So far, people have responded well -- either they are being polite or they really like it!

 
We did get a little travel in last year, including a wonderful trip with DC friends to Utah's Zion and Bryce National Parks, and visits to Denver, Ft. Davis, Roswell, Silver City, Tucson, and Phoenix, among other places. But by and large we worked hard at selecting door handles, hinges, cabinet colors, window treatments, type of gravel for the driveway, and the like during the year. 
The house was almost our total focus for the past year. We received our Occupancy Permit on December 18 and served dinner for six on December 20! 

We are delighted to report that things in the new house are terrific!

 
We continue to love New Mexico, and now we are experiencing the splendid drama of sunrises and sunsets from our new vantage point. 

No two times or days are the same, and the changing colors and clouds defy description. 

The views are fabulous.

Email: Elizabeth Anne VanderPutten