Architecture, Art, Design, and Culture using of mud, clay, soil, dirt & dust.
The caption of this photo postcard from 1915 reads, “Mexican home in New Mexico.” Printed text on back talks about adobe houses and their construction to resist heat in summer and cold in winter as well as, “The Mexicans are courteous and hospitable.”
“Team of Burros” and “Adobe house drying red peppers” both in Santa Fe, New Mexico, circa 1910.
The Temple Block is a ten acre square, encompassed by a solid stone and adobe wall, 12′ high and 3′ thick, with large gates on each of the 4 sides. Within the walls are the Great Mormon Temple Tabernacle, Assembly Hall, Bureau of Information, Museum and the First House built in Utah, which is also constructed of adobe.
Adobe House in Santa Barbara, California. Date Unknown.
San Francisco de Asis Church in Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico circa 1920.
“THE OLDEST HOUSE IN U.S.A.”, Santa Fe, New Mexico. This house, across the lane from San Miguel Mission is built of puddled adobe and is believed to be pre-Spanish, built in circa 1200 A.D. in the Pueblo of Analco. This house is the last remnant of that Pueblo that occupied much of the area on the south side of the Santa Fe River.
UPDATE (03/2026): Called the De Vargas Street House now, This claim is now widely disputed, with other websites including SWD citing that it was built around 1643, but with it foundations dating back to 1200. Older, continuously inhabited structures have also been found to exist, such as the Taos Pueblo and Acoma Pueblo, which date back to roughly 1000–1200 AD.
Mixing mud and straw for adobe bricks in New Mexico. Date Unknown.
A Jacal structure in New Mexico. Date unknown.
Photo of woman in front of house in Las Cruces, New Mexico taken August 6, 1908
Photo of Kit Carson’s adobe home on the Rayado, in Taos, New Mexico c. 1910.