Sun Mountain Estate

About

Find your magic place in Santa Fe!…Between the Sun and Moon Mountains along Old Santa Fe Trail, and just minutes to the Plaza, this historically significant home represents the comfort and style of mid-century America, with all of the modern comforts blended in. At the top of Mountain Road, the Estate features a custom-designed, heated swimming pool!, mountain views and beautiful gardens throughout. The main house features two bedrooms and a covered sunset portal. The guest house is close by with its own charm.

Built in 1953 for Agnes “Moya” Canning, an expatriate from the UK who found her way to Santa Fe via Connecticut. The house was designed for Canning by John Gaw Meem whose work typified early 20th century regionalism in what is now known as Santa Fe Style. It was one of his studio’s last designs, similar in multiple respects to a house he designed for his aunt, Elinor Gregg, in the late 1930s, albeit with an open living/dining plan as had become common post World War II.

Canning lived in the house from its completion to her death in the late 1990s. She shared the house with Cecily Cunha, who was Hawaiian.

Mountain Road, platted in the early 1950s as part of the Foot Hills subdivision, was located at the then edge of the city, along the Old Santa Fe Trail. Mountain Road evolved as a haven for free-spirited women who came to Santa Fe to escape the confines of more conventional social structures. Betsy Bauer wrote a colorful description of Moya and Cecily in her book My City Different: A Half-century in Santa Fe:

Moya and Cecily spent the summers in Santa Fe and the winter months in Honolulu. Cecily’s passion for swimming and the water explains the pool, built also in 1953. Moya Canning was a patron of the Santa Fe Opera. Friends of Canning and Cunha spoke of the numerous personalities who visited and stayed with them, including Luciano Pavarotti and Johnny Weissmuller.

Meem arrived in Santa Fe in the early 1920s, having been diagnosed with tuberculosis. Fate saved him from a career in finance at what is now Citibank. He lived initially at the Sunmount Sanatorium, now a catholic retreat center, where Old Santa Fe Trail takes a sharp turn just outside of Museum Hill. Meem was fascinated with indigenous pueblo design. He became interested in repair and restoration of then decaying mission churches which led him to a career in architecture. Meem’s work is known for its subtlety, scale and proportion, his mastery of light and siting. Many of his houses, like this one, have a primary entrance that opens to expansive and dramatic views of High Desert landscape. Meem and his wife, Faith Bemis Meem, contributed much to Santa Fe beyond their shared passion for design (Faith Meem was also an architect). The Meems were instrumental in the establishment of a Santa Fe campus for St. John’s College, among many other contributions.

The home sits at the top of Mountain Road in a notch that sits between Sun and Moon Mountains. The notch in many respects is the gateway to the wilderness; the house and surrounding gardens a mix of the wild and the cultivated. The simplicity and curation of the design and furnishings is intentional as a tribute to Meem and the many independently minded men and women who defined Santa Fe as “The City Different” in the 20th century.

Winter Season:
Pool closed for winter months | 4 wheel drive recommended | details upon request