Fechin House Complex

Client: Fechin Institute & the State of New Mexico

Site: Taos, New Mexico

The Fechin House Complex is a seven-acre property that includes the Fechin House, the Fechin Studio, the gatehouse, and several outbuildings. The Collaborative was retained to prepare a Historic Structures Report and long-term maintenance plan for the buildings when a hotel development was proposed for this site. The two primary structures, the house and the studio were emphasized, as was the gatehouse, and all were slated for demolition. The evaluation was undertaken in order to design a program for short-term care during the redevelopment project, and a program for long-term maintenance and management of these historically significant structures. The Fechin House (now a museum) and studio (a residence and studio) are adobe structures, remarkable for their unique interior features. Designed and executed by artist Nicolai Fechin, a talented painter, sculptor, and wood carver who immigrated from Russia to the United States in 1923 at the age of 32,and later Taos in 1927 as part of the mass migration of artistic talent to this Southwest artists’ colony. The house and studio are significant because of their finely crafted woodwork - both architectural features and furniture, as well as for the two adobe fireplaces Fechin designed.