Las Cruces Builder Jim Graham Champions the Benefits of Adobe Homes

“The acoustics of it, the feel of the inside of an adobe,” is one of its most appealing aspects, said long-time Las Cruces home builder Jim Graham. That’s because adobe “doesn’t reverberate as much as frame walls,” he said. 

They may cost a little more and take a little longer to build, but adobe houses are also more sustainable and more energy efficient than other types of home construction and have higher resale value, Graham said. They are also often more appealing inside and out, and welcoming to any style of furniture, he said. And adobe is bulletproof! 

The owner of Sun & Earth Construction LLC, Graham has built more than a dozen adobe houses in Las Cruces in the past 40 years. A native of Albuquerque, he came to Las Cruces in 1976 to attend New Mexico State University, where he earned a degree in biology. He got a builder’s license in 1984. 

Graham and a four-man crew are currently at work on a custom-built 1,800-square-foot adobe house on McFie Street, just west of downtown Las Cruces. Graham said he has subcontracted out for plumbing, electrical, stucco, and concrete work on the house, which he said should be ready for the owners to occupy in March. 

In addition to about 3,500 adobe bricks that were handmade in Las Cruces, the house includes an air-to-water heating and cooling system, with delivery tubes embedded in the cement floor, Graham said.

Air-to-water heating and cooling is cleaner and quieter than heating and cooling systems that utilize air vents, he said, and “pets love it.”

The house also has an all-electric photovoltaic energy system. As a result, part of the financing for the house has come through the New Mexico Sustainable Building Tax Credit, Graham said.   

The house has fiberglass windows (most houses in the United States have vinyl windows), which Graham said are energy efficient, seal tightly and have a special coating that reflects heat. The solid-core doors, wood trim throughout the house (including window sills) and cabinets are made of alder, he said. Alder trees, which grow in the Pacific Northwest, and are known for their sustainability.

The house also has rainwater and gray-water collection systems, Graham said, and is handicapped accessible, with a 36-inch-wide front door with no step down from the front porch into the house.

Plasterwork for the house is being done by Larry Limon, a fourth-generation Mesilla “maestro yesero” (a traditional plasterer of historic adobe structures) whose work is recognized throughout the Southwest. 

“It’s not just chicken wire and spread cement,” said Limon, who is using gypsum plaster in a multi-step process for the interior of the McFie house.

Limon, who received a cultural preservation award from the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs in 2017, has taught plastering in multiple venues and has worked on projects that include Phillips Chapel CME in Las Cruces, the oldest African-American church in New Mexico, and the historic Amador Hotel.

Graham said adobe is the most common building material in the world, with a history dating back 10,000 years. Sustainable building became more popular in the United States during the energy crisis of the 1970s, he said, and is making a comeback because “it’s much cheaper in the long run (and is) built to last a thousand years, we hope.”

Graham said he lives in a cinderblock house in Las Cruces, but is working on the design for an adobe home of his own.

For more information, contact Graham at 575-521-3537 and jimgraha@gmail.com. Visit www.sunandearth.net.