r r IN HARMONY With Nature A Pioneer Conservationist's Bungalow Home By Robert G. Bailey

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1 IN HARMONY With Natue A Pionee Consevationist's Bungalow Home By Robet G. Bailey On Febuay 2, 1912, Aldo Leopold ( ) wote to his fiancée, Estella Begee, in Santa Fe that the Foest Sevice had appopiated $650 to build a new supeviso s quates he had designed at Tes Piedas, New Mexico, nothwest of Taos. At the time, Leopold was about to become the new Foest Supeviso of the Cason National Foest in Tes Piedas. Late that yea, he built the house, which the newly maied couple decided to call Mi Casita. LEOPOLD LOOKING AT THE LANDSCAPE WHILE BOW HUNTING IN THE SIERRA NEVADA ORIENTAL, NORTHERN MEXICO, IN IT WAS HERE THAT LEOPOLD STARTED TO THINK OF THE QUALITIES OF WHAT HE CALLED LAND HEALTH. THIS TRIP HAS BEEN INTERPRETED AS THE PLACE WHERE HE BROUGHT ALL HIS THINKING ABOUT THE LAND INTO ONE GRAND VISION. PHOTO BY A. STARKER LEOPOLD. COURTESY ALDO LEOPOLD FOUNDATION. Photogaphy by Alexande Vetikoff, except whee noted 76 77

2 THE FIRST-FLOOR PLAN OF THE LEOPOLD (SUPERVISOR S) BUNGALOW, SIGNED AND DATED BY HIM IN BELOW, THE BUNGALOW SHORTLY AFTER IT WAS BUILT IN 1912; IT HAD YET TO BE STAINED BROWN. COURTESY ALDO LEOPOLD FOUNDATION. OPPOSITE, THE RESTORED BUNGALOW IN With a divese cultual heitage influenced by Native Ameican, Hispanic, and Anglo-Ameican ways of looking at the wold, thee is something about New Mexico that inspies people to see things diffeently. (Take, fo example, such diffeence-sees as atist Geogia Okeeffe and the founde of Ameican landscape studies, J.B. Jackson.) Pat of what Leopold expeienced in living and woking in New Mexico was undoubtedly the beginning of his seeing consevation in a new way. He went on to become what many conside the leading Ameican consevationist of the 20th centuy. Seveal wites have noted that the two yeas Leopold spent in Tes Piedas wee basic to the insights eflected in his now famous land ethic and his many contibutions to ecology, consevation, and wildeness pesevation. Fo yeas afte the Foest Sevice was established in 1905, it did not have standad ange-station achitectue. Most buildings wee simple cabins built with logs. With many design themes in the county to choose fom, Leopold chose the Caftsman-style bungalow, whose simplicity would be consistent with his evolving philosophy of the land ethic, wildeness pesevation, and the ecological benefits of small-housing living. The Land Ethic Leopold was tansfeed to Tes Piedas fom the Apache National Foest in Aizona in It was hee that he stated to fomulate his land ethic out of his concen fo the poo conditions of the Cason National Foest. This egion of the uppe Rio Gande had suppoted extensive cattle and sheep anching fo geneations, making the wateshed one of the most heavily gazed in the county. In the Cason he was faced with unhealthy land: ovegazed meadows, eoding gullies, and a lack of game. It was at this time that Leopold stated to ealize that the elements of the land climate, vegetation, wate, soil, geology, wildlife, and people ae integated in a paticula 78 79

3 LEOPOLD WITH ESTELLA (SEATED) AND HIS MOTHER, CLARA, ON THE STEPS OF THE BUNGALOW. THIS PHOTO WAS TAKEN SHORTLY AFTER ALDO AND ESTELLA WERE MARRIED IN BERGERE FAMILY COLLECTION, STATE RECORDS CENTER & ARCHIVES, SANTA FE, N.M. COURTESY ALDO LEOPOLD FOUNDATION. geogaphic aea that we now call an ecosystem. They don t exist independently of one anothe; human modification of one affects the othes, sometimes negatively. He stated to see land holistically and to ecognize that this pespective was absolutely essential to its wise management. Today we call this ecosystem management; Leopold efeed to it as the land ethic. The land ethic is a philosophy that seeks to guide action when humans use o make changes to the land. Pio to Leopold s thinking, land use was commonly based on economic self-inteest, with the goal of inceasing the diect, shot-tem benefits fo humans. Leopold agued that humans ae pat of ecosystems they inhabit; thei actions should take into account the othe elements of the systems. Fo hamony to exist, humans must espect thei fellow membes. Leopold undestood that ou economic well-being could not be sepaated fom the well-being of the land. Yet duing the last half of the 19th centuy, oveutilization of esouces and defoestation in paticula had been ampant, with associated loss of soil and deteioation of watesheds and wate quality. Some species such as the passenge pigeon wee hunted to extinction. Killing of pedatos such as wolves led to ovepopulation of dee heds and damage to foest and angeland vegetation. In 1905, at the uging of Pesident Theodoe Roosevelt, Congess established the U.S. Foest Sevice. Leopold was one of a goup of young, Yale-educated foestes hied by Giffod Pinchot, the fist chief of the Foest Sevice, to bing to a halt the unsustainable excesses of the past. The Leopold House Leopold s choice of a bungalow design fo the Cason supeviso s esidence was pobably influenced in pat by pacticality he was, afte all, building a govenment RIGHT, BELOW, AND OPPOSITE, VIEWS LOOKING EAST FROM THE FRONT PORCH ACROSS THE VALLEY OF THE UPPER RIO GRANDE TOWARD THE SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS (OBSCURED BY CLOUDS)

4 house with limited esouces and in pat by his ecological philosophy. Advocates of Ats and Cafts philosophy of the time, such as Gustav Stickley and the Geene bothes, agued fo hamony (athe than accumulation and opulence), natual design, and enewed contact with natue, all of which ae embodied in the bungalow. Given his concen fo his natual suoundings, it is not uneasonable to assume he opted fo a bungalow as his place on the land because it povided a healthy dwelling place, just as a pope land ethic could etun health to the land. He was applying a concept of ecological design that was late to be developed on a egional scale by Ian McHag in his seminal 1969 book Design with Natue, which established egional-scale ecological planning as a majo discipline. CAPTIONS TK: XICO WAS UNDOUBTEDLY THE BEGINNING OF HIS SEE- ING CONSERVATION IN A NEW WAY. LEOPOLD WENT ON TO BECOME WHAT MANY CONSIDER THE LEADING AMERICAN CONSERVATIONIST OF THE 20TH CENTURY. SEV TOP, LEOPOLD AT LEFT WITH OTHER OFFICERS OF THE CARSON NATIONAL FOREST, ABOVE, CRAYON-AND-INK DRAWING BY LEOPOLD OF THE BUNGALOW CA COURTESY ALDO LEOPOLD FOUNDATION. THE FRONT ROOMS OF THE LEOPOLD BUNGALOW SHOWING BEAMED CEILINGS AND A MASSIVE FIREPLACE OF NATIVE VOLCANIC STONE. ABOVE IT ARE PHOTOS OF LEOPOLD AT VARIOUS STAGES OF HIS LIFE. THE LIBRARY OPENS SEAMLESSLY INTO THE DINING AREA; ADVOCATES OF SUCH FLOOR PLANS BELIEVED THAT OPEN INTERNAL SPACES FOSTERED HARMONIOUS FAMILY LIFE. Mi Casita has many of the chaacteistics of ealy Ats and Cafts bungalow style. It is a one-and-a-half-stoy house, small with a wide font poch and a low-pitched oof. The constuction is wood fame, with a ustic exteio of wood boad-and-batten siding. The poches ae also ustic in thei use of peeled-log posts and ailings and exposed afte tails. The oof is a side-facing wood-shingled gable with wide ovehangs. A small shed dome is located on the font of the oof; hence the name shedoof bungalow. This bungalow oof type was one of the most popula in the ealy 20th centuy. The lage, open poch is integated unde the main body of the house and ties the house to the natual landscape. Although the house in the ealy days was known aound town as The Big Bown Bungalow, it was anything but big even by the standads of its ea. Its dak-bown colo and contasting white tim was the most popula colo scheme fo bungalows, although Leopold pobably chose it to satisfy his desie to have the house blend appopiately with the colos of the foest. The inteio of the fist floo has an open plan of fou ooms: libay, dining oom, kitchen, and bedoom. As in most bungalows, minimal space is wasted on halls; visitos stepped fom the poch ight into the libay, which in tun opens to the dining oom. The stais ise fom the libay to the second floo, a small, consticted space 82 83

5 THE WILDERNESS ACT It is a fitting time to enew attention to Aldo Leopold and the ich heitage of the time he spent in the house in Tes Piedas, whee he fist aised the possibility of setting aside emote aeas of wildeness fo pesevation. In 1924, he convinced the Foest Sevice to designate the Gila Wildeness in southwest New Mexico as the fist wildeness aea in the county and the foeunne of today s 110-million-ace National Wildeness Pesevation System. In 1935, he and seveal othes, including Olaus Muie, founded The Wildeness Society. (See wildeness.og). This yea, Ameica is celebating the 50th annivesay of the 1964 Wildeness Act, which established the National Wildeness Pesevation System. As pat of the celebation, the National Wildeness Confeence will take place this Octobe in Albuqueque. LAKE EDIZA IN THE ANSEL ADAMS WILDERNESS, EASTERN SIERRA, CALIF. PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEVE DUNLEAVY 84 85

6 Detailed constuction dawings of the house have not been found. All that suvives is a white-on-black copy of a dawing that beas Leopold s signatue. Thee is indication in one of Leopold s newslettes, The Cason Pine Cone, that all the lumbe fo the house was milled locally and that thee capentes wee bought in to help with the constuction. The massive fieplace was built to Leopold s design by assistant ange Walt Pey of native malpais (volcanic) ock. It seems pobable that wood flooing, windows, and plumbing fixtues aived in Tes Piedas on the naow-gauge Denve and Rio Gande Westen Raiload, known as the Chili Line. Mindful Restoation and Rehabilitation By 2000, the Leopold house had undegone significant modifications. The oof pitch had been aised and the dome modified by the Civilian Consevation Cops (CCC) duing the 1930s to povide moe oom on the second floo. The poch on the west side had been enclosed. Battens had been emoved and coveed with clapboad siding. All oiginal windows had been emoved and eplaced with aluminum. The exteio was painted in a monochomatic off-white. The beamed ceilings wee coveed with foam tiles. Pat of the pine tim emained, but all of it, as well as the fieplace, had been painted ove. Kitchen and plumbing fixtues had been eplaced ABOVE, FORMER ENCLOSED REAR PORCH THAT WAS OPENED UP DURING RESTORATION. BELOW AND OPPOSITE, RESTORED INTERIOR GLOWS WITH THE PATINA OF OLD WOOD AND PERIOD COLORS. beneath the oof and designated a bedoom on Leopold s plans. The house boasted a bathoom with a tub and a kitchen with a sink some 30 yeas befoe its wate supply was established in a tank atop a ganite outcop behind the house. The ceilings of the libay and dining oom, as well as the east poch, have exposed beams. The fieplace is of ough stone with flanking built-in seats and wainscoting, all in keeping with the style of the house. Bungalows ae known fo thei extensive use of natual light, and the Leopold house is no diffeent. Its numeous paied windows blu the lines between the indoos and the suounding foest landscape of pondeosa pines. Leopold sited the house at the base of a toweing ganite outcop facing southeastwad, so that the poch would eceive the fist sunlight in the moning and be in the shade in the aftenoon. The view fom the poch acoss the 35-mile-wide hoizon of sagebush and the geat goge of the Uppe Rio Gande to the snow-capped Sange de Cisto Mountains is as spectacula as any in the county. Did Leopold consult bungalow plans? Pobably. Bungalows wee the most popula housing type in Ameica in the fist half of the 20th centuy, giving him numeous souces fo acquiing ideas fo planning his bungalow. Hundeds of companies offeed plans fo sale in popula magazines, bochues, and catalogs

7 ALDO AND ESTELLA LEOPOLD RESIDENCY PROGRAM This pogam s pupose is to povide an inspiing eteat fo distinguished and emeging wites, thinkes, and atists. The mission is to highlight the elevance of Aldo Leopold s ideas to cuent and futue cultual and envionmental issues. Futhe infomation on the pogam can be found on the Aldo Leopold Foundation website at Pogams/micasita.shtml. To aange a tou of the Leopold House, contact Chis Fu, Distict Range, Tes Piedas Range Distict, Cason National Foest at To lean moe about Leopold see Aldo Leopold: His Life and Wok by Cut Meine. with newe, moe cuent models to the point that most taces of the oiginal wee gone. All of the oiginal light fixtues had been eplaced. Colos, finishes, and doos had been changed o eplaced to suit subsequent occupants tastes. Fotunately, the Foest Sevice had kept the house s oiginal footpint in keeping with the Ats and Cafts aesthetic. In 2005, in celebation of 100 yeas of public-land consevation by the Foest Sevice, voluntees beautifully estoed the house with Foest Sevice funding. Ben Romeo, Tes Piedas Distict Range (now etied), poposed the poject and ovesaw the wok. Using old photogaphs, the estoation tageted the peiod fom appoximately 1912 to the ealy 1920s. Windows wee eplaced, the electical wiing and plumbing wee edone, and decades of paint wee scaped away. Today the inteio glows with the patina of old wood and peiod colos. With the exception of the libay and dining oom, the inteio has been ehabilitated to moden standads fo use in a newly established wite-in-esidence pogam. (See The Aldo and Estella Leopold Residency Pogam, page 88.) Leopold espoused the idea of a land ethic in which thee is hamony between humankind and natue. Bungalows ae one expession of this hamony. Today the bungalow in Tes Piedas stands as a monument to Aldo Leopold and the bith of a new vision fo consevation. NATIVE VEGETATION OF SAGEBRUSH, PINYON, JUNIPER AND PONDEROSA PINE EMBRACES THE BUILDING. Robet G. Bailey, Ph.D., is emeitus scientist at the U.S. Foest Sevice, Rocky Mountain Reseach Station, Fot Collins, Coloado. He is autho of Ecoegion-Based Design fo Sustainability (Spinge) and othe books, in addition to ealie aticles fo Ameican Bungalow. He thanks Chis Fu, Skip Mille, Cut Meine, Doug Stephens, Anthony Anella, Yancey Ranspot, Edith G. Shoemake and his daughte, Laua Bailey, fo infomation and insight