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Where the Views Never End
Reprinted by permission of
Su Casa Magazine
A home for entertaining, designed
by the owner (with a little help)
Story by Susan Craig
Photography by Jack Kotz
Latitude 35"09'.
Longitude 106"28'. The survey marker embedded in the center of the round
foyer tells us the exact position of the home of James R.Cole, DDS, and Terri
L. Cole, president of Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce. It's
quite possible the only home in Albuquerque with such a marker. For
those of us who need a more graphic description, the home is in High Desert,
alive with vistas of the Sandias. It's called "Brahmavista," or "yearn
for a view. "The Coles not only yearned for that view, they captured
it.
The house was born
on Jim Cole's birthday in 1998 when they decided to build a home that Cole
would design himself. They found the ideal one-acre lot and pictured
themselves drinking in the view from the great room. As the first to
build in their area, they needed to site the house carefully, so Cole floated
balloons at the corners of adjoining lots in order to visualize a worst-case
scenario of nearby homes. A bit of a twist to the site plan, and the
dwelling took shape.
Cole quickly turned
his design into a floor plan and elevation, after which the Coles' builder
John Kaltenbach introduced him to designer Eric Spurlock. "He (Spurlock)
embellished the design," says Cole, "taking what I'd done but not making it
his. I feel that I have pride of ownership."
The home defies
conventional architectural labeling. "There's uniqueness in the architecture,"
Cole says. "It's compatible with Southwestern design, but we wanted to go
somewhere else with it. It's our style, eclectic but not crazy eclectic."
The distinguishing mark of the house is columns, lots of them, inside and
out. There are mass, space, height, volume, and great sweeps of light.
A very three-dimensional design. Cole thinks of the home in terms of cubic
feet, seeing volume instead of square footage.
 From the entry foyer, the house radiates
in every direction. Anasazi-style stone walls and tall columns bracket
tantalizing glimpses of other, farther rooms. Rectangular works of
art provided counterpoint to the curved walls, round ceiling and the sweep
of the graceful staircase to the second floor. The floor is of stained
concrete in a rich dark terra cotta. A handsome corbel motif seen throughout
the house begins here, in the striking entry door of stained glass by Salvador
Equihua. Another of his doors, appropriately decked out in grape clusters
and leaves, leads to a charming below-staircase wine room.
The many columns that define the great room
seem to be straight from an Italian palazzo but are, in fact, made of concrete
and faux-finished by Gloria Goodman. The hue of the columns matches
that of the walls, a soothing butterscotch that melds with the tranquil tones
of aspen, maple and oak. Cole designed a long recessed and lighted wall for
a changing display of art. Sleek maple cabinetry provides a home of a delightful
collection of wooden carvings and toys. The entire curved east wall
is of windows, punctuated by a fireplace of the Anasazi stone. Watching
the nature parade passing outside the window wall is one of the Coles' favorite
pastimes. "I love the music of the birds," says Terri. They watch critters
they call their "urban coyotes." Quail hop along the patio wall.
A step or two up
from the living area, but part of the great room, is the columned dining area
designed specifically for the Coles' elegant and gleaming furnishings.
"We like to entertain with small dinner parties," says Terri. "We enjoy
opening our home to friends and associates, and the galleria space is wonderful
for entertaining."
The kitchen and
morning room continue the circular motif. The granite-topped island
is round, encased in exquisitely crafted convex drawers mirrored by the concave
drawers of the cabinetry completing the circle. Custom touches are
a built-in wine cooler and a space designed for a handsome clock. The
morning room, or breakfast area, is of light woods, a Chaco-style stone wall
and a wide sweep glass. The effect in this part of the house is serene,
practical and innovative.
One of the advantaged
of a house designed in a radiating pattern is that rooms spring into intriguing
shapes, like the simple and friendly pie-shaped study. Completing the
downstairs is the "grandchildren wing," a suite of bedrooms and baths that
the Coles have dedicated to visiting family. Such fortunate grandchildren,
too, with rooms full of kid furniture and toys and a bathroom gone 
completely Mickey Mouse. One of the primary motivations in the design
of the house was to have space for grandchildren, currently numbering five,
aged one to five.
The second floor
of the home is filled with surprises. Off the master bedroom, the bath's
irregular shape offers some interesting treats for the eye; pride of place
is given to a magnificently gleaming long claw-footed tub. Bath and
bedroom are done in pleasant, soothing pale sand tones. The bedroom
features a peninsula fireplace and views to the south and the west and northwest
to the Jemez Mountains.
At the opposite
end of the open hall of the curving second level, past the convenient wet
bar that's great for early morning coffee, is a round exercise area which
adjoins one of Coles' favorite spots-the covered second-story deck.
This open-air family room-cum-porch, sheltered on the windiest side, is loaded
with comfortable patio furniture and offers splendid nighttime views of the
lights of Albuquerque.
Cole's design also
includes courtyards with custom gates, a covered dog yard that protects their
two West Highland terriers from coyotes, and a three-car garage. Not
surprisingly for a man who sees a home in terms of cubic feet. Cole
also designed his own workshop with intricate sandwich doors for his tools.
The Coles love living
here. "The house is illustrative of how it is to live in Albuquerque, what
the city is about," says Jim Cole. "You want to come home here; you
know that when you get home, all will be well."
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