WINDOW SHOPPING
New $1.5 million listing brings a taste of Santa Fe to Las Cruces
‘It’s like living in a work of art,’ owner says
At 3946 Loma Bella Drive, worlds collide as the home’s designs transport occupants to Santa Fe, all while the Organ Mountains of Las Cruces serve as a backdrop.
“It’s amazing,” said Monica Escamilla, a Las Cruces Realtor who used to live and build homes in Santa Fe with her husband. “We were building similar homes, and so it’s funny that I see this one and it just takes me back to Santa Fe.”
Escamilla, who operates an office under Keller Williams Realty, brought the Las Cruces home to the market for $1.5 million in late July. The 4,057-square-foot property, built in 2017, offers three bedrooms, four bathrooms and sits on almost 2 acres in a cul-de-sac near the Organ Mountains.
The property also features a temperature-controlled wine room, walk-in pantry, flex space, private courtyard and an outdoor pool, hot tub, kitchen and pizza oven, the listing says.
“It’s like a dream home,” said Stacy Horton, who owns the home with her husband Don Horton.
“You feel like you’re staying in a resort whenever you’re living in the house. We’ve had visitors come to our house, and I think they don’t come back to see us now — I think they come back to see our house,” Don Horton said with a laugh.
The Hortons moved to New Mexico from Oregon and purchased the Las Cruces home four years ago after their daughter moved to the area. They were also aiming to retire in a place with a lower cost of living.
While searching for homes in the area, the Hortons fell in love with a particular builder by the name of Classic New Mexico Homes. The now-defunct Las Cruces builder, founded in 2006, was known for its custom work and producing only a few homes a year.
Its founders were just preparing to retire the business right as the Hortons entered the market, but the couple said they got lucky when the Loma Bella Drive home suddenly hit the market.
“Our daughter and our now son-in-law went over, FaceTimed with us and that’s how we bought it,” Stacy Horton said.
The couple said the Pueblo Revival-style adobe home only got better in person, featuring high quality through all of its handcrafted vigas, high ceilings, custom cabinets, soapstone countertops, brick and reclaimed wood floors, and bathrooms and stairs adorned with vibrant Mexican tiles.
“It’s like living in a work of art,” Stacy Horton said.
Kiki Suggs — who co-founded and designed for Classic New Mexico Homes with her husband, builder and now photographer Wayne Suggs — said they originally produced the Loma Bella home for a local doctor.
Like all of their properties, the Suggs had the owner fill out a questionnaire detailing what they wanted in the home, and then they designed the property to accentuate the lot’s existing features.
“We never built the same home twice,” Kiki Suggs said, adding the property was designed to highlight the Organ Mountains views with a “very inviting” outdoor area.
Don Horton said he and his wife probably hosted more company in their four years living in the Loma Bella home than the 22 years they lived in Oregon.
However, after their daughter moved out of New Mexico, the pair began to miss the friends and community they established most of their lives back in Oregon.
“If we could pick this house up and move it with us, we would do that in a heartbeat,” Don Horton said. “But we’re kind of trading the house for friends.”
The property has received significant interest since listing, collectively drawing in roughly 80 people during open houses on two separate weekends, Escamilla said. The Hortons said they’re hopeful that the home will give its future owners the same feeling of comfort it gave them.
“It’s just such a nice place to come home to,” Stacy Horton said.
Window Shopping is a recurring Journal series exploring unique homes on the market in New Mexico. Send tips to Kylie Garcia, the Journal’s retail and real estate reporter, kgarcia@abqjournal.com.
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