A happy-go-comfy style

• Report favors Santa Fe housing market

  It might be hard to believe, given the recent downturn in the local real-estate market, but a national news report predicts Santa Fe will be among the top 10 housing markets in the U.S. over the next decade. »Story,

• small house rising

  The smaller house is an imperative for more and more people today. Architect Paula Baker-Laporte and her husband, builder Robert Laporte, cofounders of the EcoNest Company, are arguably the leaders in this movement in Santa Fe for the past 15 years. Baker-Laporte is the author of Prescriptions for a Healthy House, a columnist for the Santa Fe Real Estate Guide, and a teacher for the Building Biology Institute based in Clearwater, Fla. She was interviewed recently at the EcoNest compound in Tesuque. »Story,

• Inside Adobe Walls: a rustic exuberance

  The oldest section of this Territorial Revival-style house dates to about 1950. Owners Ginger and Angelo Cappuccio, who previously got a taste for remodeling on a double adobe at San Juan Pueblo, bought this home almost 10 years ago and set about expanding it from about 1,800 square feet to 3,279. »Story,

• A taste of Golden, San Pedro

  "L.D. Sugar of Golden is in town and shows some beautiful gold quartz specimens running very high in value, reported The Santa Fe New Mexican on Aug. 26, 1903. "These specimens are taken from the mineral property owned by Mr. Sugar in the San Pedro mining district in the southern part of this county." »Story,

• Realtor profile: Shane Cronenweth

  This interview series focuses on Realtors in the Santa Fe area. Shane Cronenweth is a broker, in partnership with Caroline Russell, at the Santa Fe office of Sotheby's International Realty. »Story,

• Out and About: missing a young lady in Ashgabat

  Darlings, »Story,

• Mortgage Matters: rate is as important as price

  Buying a home in 2009 in Santa Fe... No Brainer! Postponing the decision for a year or two... Not Wise! Two important reasons bring us to this simple conclusion. Interest rates have never been lower, and asking prices for homes have bottomed. Thirdly, home prices are predicted to begin their ascent in the near future. »Story,

• Healthy Home Corner: my earthen floors

  The first time I ever experienced an earthen floor was while working on renovation plans for a 100-plus-year-old adobe home in northern New Mexico. I was struck by the beauty of the floor and the graceful way its history was revealed through the barely perceptible wear of countless footsteps treading for over a century. And now, more than 25 years later I am the proud owner of earthen floors in my home. »Story,

• The Closing Connection: more FAQs about title matters

  In continuing from my previous column, here are a few more frequently asked questions and answers: »Story,

• Home Equity Advantage: the short-sale solution

  A disturbing trend nowadays is when a borrower, perhaps because of illness or loss of income, gets behind in paying the mortgage one or more months, then, perhaps in denial, does not respond to the letters that will come from the servicer of the loan with the warning that if the monetary deficiencies are not resolved soon, foreclosure proceedings will begin. To make matters far worse, the borrower owes $250,000 on the property that is now valued at $200,000, for example, due to declines in the local real-estate market. The poor borrower, looking for some way to avoid foreclosure and a mutilated-beyond-all-recognition credit rating, hears about a thing called a "short sale" where the bank agrees to the sale of the property for less than what is owed, and feels a glimmer of hope. Can this be a valid rescue? Maybe. »Story,

• Understanding Adobe: Maestro! Estos pajaros son pintados

  Some years ago I spent some time in Mexico drilling water wells. It was a trifecta for me because I love drilling for water, I love Mexico, and I had nothing else to do. I was only there for two years before the economy broke down, the banks were nationalized and the currency devalued (yes, I've been here before) and I headed home to undertake other enterprises. About half of my time in Mexico was spent in the state and city of Durango, which was kind of like living in the Old West. I made some good rough-and-tumble friends there and liked the authenticity of the place a lot. There were no pretenses of anything fancy in Durango; it just was what it was, not glamorous, but very fascinating in a gruff sort of way. »Story,

• Our Water Quality: free well tests offered this month

  A project is under way to create regional water-quality maps for the Española Basin, including Santa Fe and the surrounding area. Through a project leveraged by the New Mexico Small Business Assistance (NMSBA), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) will assist small New Mexico water-purification businesses and local government agencies to characterize areas with high levels of naturally occurring drinking-water contaminants. »Story,