Reprinted by permission of Su Casa Magazine, Winter 1998 | Story by Susan Craig, Photography by Jerry Rabinowitz
A well-considered home for an extended family: planning for the home was motivated by a desire to share family life, and the need for loving child care.
Once upon a time, not so very long ago, families lived close together and children grew up surrounded by aunts and uncles and grandparents. It wasn’t uncommon to find several generations living under one roof. Whatever happened to that concept?
Christine and David Eisenberg, their children Mandolin and Kateri, and Christine’s parents, Dennis and Lucy Baca, are living that concept today. Their home in Rio Rancho grew out of a dynamic partnership between themselves, their designer, and builder John Kaltenbach. For all, it has been a labor of love.
Christine and David Eisenberg both grew up in family communities: Christine in a large family closely knit family in the South Valley and David in Taos Pueblo. “Living multi-generationally is not a new concept for us,” says David. Dennis Baca recalls his “huge family, all living in a compound on a large piece of land.” Planning for the home was motivated by a desire to share family life, and the need for loving child care while Christine, a teacher at West Mesa High School, and David, an attorney with the public defenders office have to be away.
