Red River is known as a tourist town, a year-round destination where folks can relax and enjoy the beauty and adventure that nature has to offer. With a population of less than 500 people, most of the year-round residents who are not retired earn a living by interacting with the tourists.
Bill Mackey’s interaction with visitors is a bit different than most of his neighbors. He is an architect and building designer, a very good one.
He has been a Red River resident since 2007, along with wife Lisa who is an accountant and until recently worked for the Red River Chamber of Commerce. Bill and Lisa don’t hesitate to express their love not only for the high country but especially for the way they earn a living.
Bill is employed by the Living Designs Group of Taos, providing architectural services for North Central New Mexico and Southern Colorado. He also practices in Red River designing homes and renovating cabins that require modernisation for 21st century owners. His work includes commercial, residential, and institutional projects varying in scale from the very small to the very large and complex.
He attended Texas A&M (Environmental Design), then Rice University (Masters in Architecture) and he worked in Dallas for well-known architect Frank Welch, the “Dean of Texas Architecture.” Bill has been in practice since 1981.
He recently was involved in the renovation of the Pierce-Fuller House on Silver Bell Trail – “That was really a great project.” – and houses in the Upper Valley such as the Rovillo house.
Bill credits wife Lisa for bringing him to Red River. They met while running. She frequently runs in area marathons and organized the Red River High Mountain Half Marathon and 5k which will be held in August 2018.
“We were runners back in Dallas. We actually met at a water fountain. We then started getting interested in hiking, going to different places. She actually found Red River while cross country skiing and then we started coming here to hike during the summers, coming for a week, staying at Tall Pines.”
In one of Bill’s blogs, his direct words say it all.
“One thing I have learned about the very intimate process of designing a home for someone is that everyone is truly unique. Everyone has something that they are passionate about. Even the most benign person that you might think has the same thing for dinner every night of the year has something that they cherish. It might be their wife, a painting, a dog or a hobby but there is something that brings them home with a smile.
Whatever that thing is, it very often becomes a focus point for what I do for them.”