78 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM {home & design} Long before high tech, amidst our region’s orchards, a 1937 adobe sported the latest in brick tech—12,000 “Bitudobe” blocks, comprising clay soil plus stabilizer. Over the decades, as newer innovations blossomed around it, the venerable home languished. Though its story could have ended in demolition, love saved and transformed it for the future. Upon encountering this remarkable residence, the buyers recognized their forever family home. The classic adobe features—rugged wood beams, tile floors, wrought iron hardware—resonated with their beloved Mexican heritage and invited their whimsical touch. But its authenticity rendered it too rustic for 21st-century living. The homeowners depended on the corner fireplaces for heat, open windows for cooling, and basically camped indoors, living and working within the aging walls. To remedy this, they reached out to Fergus Garber Architects (FGA) about renovations. Knowing their clients’ yen to preserve the home’s historic character while updating, Catharine “Cath” Fergus Garber, FGA’s founder, and Olivia Delbono, the project’s lead architect, spent the first few months assessing the full scope, then proceeded with sensitivity and savvy. They addressed leaning walls, old, leaky plumbing and exposed electrical wiring, all obvious fixes. The surprise came when pulling up the original terra cotta floor tile revealed bare ground below. No foundation, no slab. A down-toearth home, quite literally. Keeping the home’s signature look, Olivia and Cath hid all the new infrastructure, including heating and AC, beneath a new slab and tile as well as above lowered ceilings. Likewise, they achieved earthquake stability by drilling from SWEET SERENDIPITY — When the homeowner called Cath, referred by his contractor, he’d no idea they’d met 18 months prior when she and a friend walked by the adobe. He’d even given them a full tour at the time. PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF: MEGAN BAYLEY PHOTOGRAPHY Above: FGA’s Catharine Fergus Garber (left) and Olivia Delbono (right) partnered up to renovate this remarkable adobe.
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