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The majestic mountains and mesas are breathtaking, but some of the most intriguing lines of the landscape lie in the architecture. And, like the formidable Sangre de Cristo peaks, no two New Mexico houses are the same.

The adobe home — fashioned with bricks of sun-baked mud, clay and sand — has become synonymous with the term Santa Fe Style, coined in the early 1900s by a group of architects, archaeologists, artists, writers and politicians intent on creating an “authentic” regional architecture.

The group’s Plan of 1912 established a “New-Old Santa Fe” style that became known as Pueblo-Spanish Revival. Blending elements of traditional Pueblo techniques and forms with architectural styles brought by the Spanish in the 1700s, the Pueblo-Spanish Revival style continues to flourish.

Today, Santa Fe’s architecture is celebrated around the world for its elements — low, long adobe structures that hug the earth with thick, softly contoured walls plastered with mud and topped with flat roofs. Striking exterior details include long portales (covered porches supported by columns); canales (protruding drain spouts); shady zaguans (covered passageways linking the spaces of a house); placitas, (inner courtyards) and wooden windows and gates. Doors and gates are often painted blue, as according to an old superstition, the color wards off evil spirits — many believed blue represented the Virgin Mary’s cloak.

Inside, the typical home is steeped in tradition, from walls washed in warm colors, to ceilings supported by heavy, hand-hewn logs — vigas. Early floors were dirt-packed, but this gave way to pine, brick, flagstone and tile. The smooth, rounded shapes of corner fireplaces, kivas, complement arched wall indentations, nichos, originally used to display religious icons. Softly curving bancos, or adobe benches, are built directly onto walls.

Traditional décor includes rugs and blankets, painted wooden carvings of saints (bultos), Native American pottery, baskets and jewelry. New Mexico furniture pairs well with traditional art, as it combines elements of Hispano, Native American and Anglo-American design.

New Mexico will introduce you to a new way of living. There’s a reason why Santa Fe was dubbed The City Different, and it applies equally to New Mexico as a whole.