Keeping the FE
KEEPING THE FE Santa Fe sits at the southern end of the Rockies, that imposing mountain range that was thrust up by fomenting geological forces many millennium ago. ... At Santa Fe, however, the barrier to the west gives way. ... In Santa Fe, and here is helps to remember the name means Holy faith in Spanish, there is, however, another, more pedestrian phenomenon, a virtual oxymoron—urban planning. The architecture in Santa Fe appears to be the work of a solitary visionary who has successfully enrolled four centuries of newcomers to the region in a comprehensive community development plan. ... Territorial-style influences, which arrived in covered wagons with the opening of the Santa Fe trail in the 1800’s, appear as the last innovation allowed. ... The beauty of Santa Fe, however, is not in the adobe brick. ... Stucco, called “mud” by the mason, is to Santa Fe homes what slip is to the potter. ... Ultimately, though, despite its humble origins, stucco is Santa Fe. ... As the stucco is applied, the walls are rounded and smoothed to a sandy texture, forming softened edges that give Santa Fe homes their signature appearance. ... Santa Fe citizens, by their adherence to the plan, demonstrate their desire to follow the spirit of the law, confirmed by even the uniform compliance with the city code by service stations and fast food establishments. ... This flower, called Vara de San Jose in Spanish, may, in fact, be the period, or, more aptly, an exclamation point, at the end of a home, the way Santa Fe is the finished sentence at the end of the Rockies.