Your housing in your hands.
Learning to use adobe means you can build, repair, and restore the beautiful and unique adobe architecture of Northern New Mexico, respect the historical and cultural context from which it emerged , and help preserve and proliferate an amazing building technology.
Strengthen
Youth, Family
& Community
Adobe can be as easy as getting a bale of straw, your hose and some dirt. Whether it's a new garden wall repairing that old shed, adobe engages multiple generations, reinforces cooperative building systems and reflects the unique cultural and historical context that created it.
Support Quality
Housing for Everyone
Using adobe helps ensure historic families are able to maintain their ancestral homes, that new home buyers can protect thier equity, and and all adobe homeowners are better equipped to preserve and protect our historic local architecture. It is the least expensive building material available for the owner builder.
Protect the Environment
Adobe construction dramatically reduces the construction related carbon footprint of housing which includes the manufacture, transport, disposal and decay of often toxic materials. Adobe is non-polluting and is readily available anywhere on earth. It is earth. It literally has a supply chain of zero.
Value the
Tradition
Anita Rodriguez traveled the villages of Northern New Mexico and learned these techniques from the elder Enjarradoras, all members of the gobal sisterhood of female mud finishers. At CASA we support women in the construction industry.
CASA is working to make these building techniques accessible to as wide and diverse an audience as possible.
Meet The CASA Team
Anita Rodriguez - Founder and Creative Director
Anita Rodriguez, born in Taos in 1941, has been a visionary force in preserving, teaching, and revitalizing the traditional art of adobe architecture. Growing up surrounded by the pueblos, churches, and villages of New Mexico—the oldest buildings in North America—she absorbed a deep cultural understanding of earthen construction. As the first licensed female contractor in her region, Rodriguez broke gender barriers and reshaped the perception of adobe as both an art form and a sustainable building method.
From the 1970s through the early 1990s, she worked on high-profile restorations, including Bent’s Fort, San Jose de Gracia, and the Martinez Hacienda, preserving irreplaceable architectural history. Her work on sacred and historical sites helped rescue centuries-old craftsmanship from obscurity. She taught across the American Southwest and internationally, tracing the roots of adobe from New Mexico back to its origins in Egypt, where she collaborated with Aga Khan Prize-winning architect Hassan Fathy.
Rodriguez’s writings, lectures, and media appearances—ranging from MS Magazine to Good Morning America—elevated adobe to national attention. Her research remains a cornerstone for modern adobe finishing. By blending tradition with innovation, Anita Rodriguez has not only protected an ancient building practice but redefined its value for future generations.
Today, Anita is a painter - anitarodriguez.com
Shemai Rodriguez - Project Coordinator
Shemai was taught adobe finishing by her mother, Anita Rodriguez, just as daughters have been taught by theri mothers for centuries. This makes her an authentic practitioner of the unique adobe traditions of northern New Mexico. As a child, she was immersed in her mother's love of adobe as she grew up on the job sites. As an adult, she gained decades of professional building experience with mud floors, plasters, fireplaces, hornos, and alisando. She has worked on numerous restoration projects including landmark buildings such as the Martinez Hacienda, Taos Pueblo, and the Ranchos Church. She has traveled throughout Italy, Switzerland, England and Mexico, learning about earth building techniques. She studied architecture at the University of New Mexico and the College of Santa Fe. Shemai also has more than a decade of project management experience, spent five years coordinating corporate training events, and five years in marketing. Today she brings her unique blend of experiences to the CASA project along with a newly awakened passion to ensure that the tradition of "respecto" in which she was raised, and which is a crucial part of Norteño culture, is proliferated.
Megan Beck - Content Creator & Workshop Coordinator
Megan’s lifelong passion led her around the globe working in documentary, fashion, portrait, and commercial photography. After completing a BFA from Ai Colorado which included studies at KCAD, AIU London, and interning with photojournalist Rajesh Dhungana of The Rising Nepal, Kathmandu, she has worked professionally for over 14+ in the photography industry, her emphasis being portraiture and documentary photo, focusing on culture and social justice.
During her travels, Megan was exposed to off-grid/green building and has pursued studies to expand her knowledge base/skill set through Earthship Biotecture 2014 and is a recent graduate from UNM-Taos, 2024. She has built with the earth, for communities in South America/Europe/North America and SE Asia. Her mission has organically evolved into one of creative support- for individuals to have autonomy in their lives through their passions. She provides support for people and their organizations by creating content (photo and web design) and spaces for their abundance to flow (through drafting and building).
Visit Megan at webandmud.com
Angela Francis - Workshop Instructor
Angela Francis is a skilled plaster artisan and earth builder whose work is grounded in a deep respect for traditional craftsmanship. Originally from Philadelphia, she discovered her passion for plaster through hands-on restoration of a Victorian home. Her journey led her into the world of natural building in Oregon in 2011, where she began mastering clay plasters and a wide range of earthen materials including cob, adobe, strawbale, and earthen floors.
For over a decade, Angela has contributed significantly to preserving earthen architecture, from restoring historic adobe churches in New Mexico to working on national park sites across the Southwest. Her six-month apprenticeship with a Japanese Sakan enriched her technique with refined, time-honored methods. Now based in Santa Fe, she continues her work with Samas Design and the CASA team.
Angela’s work is rooted in creating healthy, regenerative, and affordable housing while honoring the deep connection between architecture, land, and community.
Mark Goldman -Jobsite Manager
Mark Goldman, architect and coordinator of the UNM-Taos Construction Technology program, was honored as a 2023 Unsung Hero by the Taos News for his outstanding contributions to the community. Recognized for his leadership in affordable and sustainable housing, Goldman was one of nine Taos County residents celebrated at the 23rd-annual Unsung Heroes event, selected by a panel of past honorees.
A licensed commercial and residential general contractor in Taos since 1989, Goldman has played a key role in shaping the region’s green building movement. He served as Professor of Green Building Technology at UNM-Taos, teaching carpentry, architectural graphics, and sustainable systems. He holds a B.A. in Studio Art from UC Santa Barbara and a Bachelor of Architecture from Boston Architectural College, where he was named a Cascieri Scholar, AIA Foundation Scholar, and received the 2004 Distinguished Alumni Award for Architectural Practice. His work continues to impact both students and the broader community.
Donald Wood - Funding Manager
Donald is a purpose-driven organizational leadership executive and consultant with 19 years of experience leading enterprise-wide culture change for Fortune 500 companies, healthcare systems, nonprofits, and government agencies. As Founder and Senior Consultant of One Eight Create Consulting, he leads a diverse collective focused on equity-centered systems change. His servant leadership style emphasizes amplifying unheard voices, challenging injustice, and fostering inclusive leadership.
Donald is known for designing award-winning equity and inclusion initiatives and navigating complex social systems with truth, healing, and cultural responsiveness. He holds a master’s in communications, focused on civic engagement, from the University of Arkansas, where he also served as an AmeriCorps Fellow.
Deeply committed to service, Donald has held volunteer leadership roles with organizations such as the Racial Equity & Hunger National Learning Network and the Arkansas Peace & Justice Memorial Movement. Now living in northern New Mexico, he enjoys life with his partner Jennifer, their two dogs, and proudly celebrates his daughter’s recent college graduation.
Daniel Sonis - Photographer and Videographer
Daniel Sonis is a Filmmaker, Musician, and Music Producer. His filmmaking has been focused on social justice documentary through which he strives to create positive change. Other filmmaking interest include cinematic short form pieces and music video. He has created dozens of short films for the Albuquerque nonprofit and educational communities. He collaborated with former New Mexico Poet Laureate Levi Romero on “Going Home Homeless”, which won the Local’s Choice Award at the Taos Shortz Film Festival. Another collaboration with Taos poet Olivia Romeo, “Bendicìon del Agua” was featured at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering. As a music composer he composed a theatrical score for a production that won the LA Weekly’s Production of the Year Award, has written an orchestral composition that was performed at the LA County Museum of Art’s “Sundays at Four” concert series, and co-composed a theme for a PBS series. Daniel continues to be active in social justice filmmaking in New Mexico, having recently been the Cinematographer and Editor on a short film about local issues related to development presented at “The Paseo” in Taos.