“Pancho Villa State Park lies South of Deming, New Mexico at the border of Mexico. The park commemorates the raid of General Francisco “Pancho Villa’s soldiers, who attacked the small border town of Columbus and Camp Furlong on March 9, 1916.
The US Customs House, built in 1901, served as the residence for the railroad foreman. It was moved to its current location in 1906 and became the office of
the US Customs House. Now a part of the State Park, it is listed on the State Historic Register and National Historic Register. Spears Horn Architects was engaged in 2023 to provide the design for rehabilitating the building.
The challenge being to upgrade the structural components of the building without compromising any of its historic characteristics. The majority of the finishes are to be maintained or repaired if necessary. The original metal panel roof was replaced with shakes in the past and will be replaced with new metal panels. Original features like the bowed rafter tails and decorative spire are to be reinstalled.
This talk will describe the process of collaborating with SHPO, State archeologists and engineering consultants to come up with the most effective way to accomplish the rehabilitation.
This presentation is funded in part by the Federation of State Humanities Councils with support from the Mellon Foundation.
About the Speaker:
Mr. Horn is the Principal Architect at Spears Horn Architects – an architecture firm based in Santa Fe, NM that primarily focuses on Minimal, Modern, and Healthy Regional Architecture in New Mexico.
The work also includes Historic Preservation and Landscape Design that informs the connection of our built environment with the Land and our rich Culture in the Desert Southwest. The surrounding issues effecting communities such as reduced water usage, increased populations within our sensitive terrain is critical to the work.
Currently, James is over-seeing 3 modern residences in Santa Fe and Abiquiu, SWAN Park Ranger Facility, a Conservation Facility for Living Desert State Park in Carlsbad, and the Restoration of an 1830’s adobe in Ribera, NM.
James received a Master of Architecture from Rice University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from University of New Mexico. Mr. Horn is the 2026 President of AIA New Mexico and has served as visiting critic at UNM SA+P, Rice School of Architecture, University of Utah, Texas Tech – El Paso, El Paso Community College, and UPENN Landscape Architecture. James has taught design studio as an adjunct faculty member at UNM SA+P since 2002, Architecture Clubs at local Elementary Schools, and is on the Dean’s Council for Design and Planning Excellence. His work and writing have been published in Western Interiors and Trend Magazine.”
