No Place Like Home
Filmmaker and artist Paula Geisler turns her camera on her own historic "Small Green Domicile."
Paula Geisler is making a video on a subject very close to home—her own house! Turns out the Silver City-based independent television producer lives in one of the most historic structures in town, a home listed in Built to Last, a book on local historic architecture by Silver City Museum director Susan Berry and Sharman Russell.
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Silver City television producer
Paula Geisler, by her 1880s Count Rumford fireplace. Her home, the
historic John P. Risque House, will be the subject of "Small Green Domicile," a
documentary film she is making. (Photo by Donna Clayton Lawder) |
Not only is the house historic, it also was owned by a fascinating character—lawyer John P. Risque, who was shot dead from atop a mule in 1882—and it happens to be a quintessential example of sustainable building technique.
"Small Green Domicile: the Historic John P. Risque House of Silver City" will showcase the history of sustainable, green design in the rural Southwest, specifically how the historic house in which Geisler lives is an example of environmentally friendly "green" building. The half-hour video will include extensive, detailed footage of the structure itself, plus interviews with local experts—Berry of the museum, environmental activist Sally Smith of the Gila Resource Information Project (GRIP), and Kevin Humble, a flooring expert and owner of Humble Flooring.
Geisler currently is doing the interviews for the six-month project, and says she has secured permission from local musician Gretchen Van Auken to use one of her classical music pieces as a soundtrack for the video. "The music is based on the topography of this local landscape," Geisler says. "It's going to fit just beautifully."
She secured funding for the project through a grant from the New Mexico Division of Cultural Affairs. "The Division of Cultural Affairs had an ad in the Daily Press," Geisler recalls. "They wanted to focus on all things 'green'—energy conservation, materials, solar. And since my house has been on that GRIP tour ("Creative, Sustainable Architecture and Design in the Home"), and it is a significant structure, the oldest standing structure in town, in fact, I thought it had potential."
She asked GRIP's Marya Gendron to take a look at the house. "I love my house," Geisler says. "When the people from GRIP liked it, too, I thought maybe other people would appreciate it, and even learn things from it."
Paula Geisler Productions has done numerous projects over the past six years, though none quite so personal. Tony Wojsznarowicz is the project's sound editor and videographer, and the main editor is John Martin, retired head of the science department at Western New Mexico University. The team of three has done a number of projects together, Geisler says.
Geisler, who is also on the board of directors at Silver City's Community Access Television (CATS), says the 30-minute video will be released to community access television stations around the country in August. Showings will be aired at Common Ground Gallery, Geisler's gallery within the historic house, during Silver City's Weekend at the Galleries in October. That will also be in conjunction with the second annual sustainable home tour sponsored by GRIP.
Geisler has lovingly restored the structure over the years while enjoying living in it. "It badly needed restoration, and I have done much of it," she says. "I just love feathering my nest! I did this in my last house, and I'm still doing it here. It's an ongoing thing.
"I'm all into Feng Shui," she adds. Two of the home's features—the fireplace in the center and the door on the southeastern side—are auspicious. "I loved the house the minute I saw it. And Feng Shui is just a matter of common sense, too. You just feel good in here."
The house was originally a one-room adobe structure. Risque added onto the house as his family grew. The "fireplace room"—with an 1880s Count Rumford fireplace as its focal point—is one of the home's "green" features, too. "It was the state-of-the-art in thermodynamics," Geisler says. The home's southeasterly exposure, a place for growing shading vines on the front, transoms over the doors for airflow and insulating adobe walls all add to the building's energy-conserving qualities, she notes.
Thinking, as most of us would of our own homes, that she knew the place pretty well, Geisler says she found out some surprising things in researching the house's history for the video. "I found that encased at the base of the bay window, there is an animal buried down there, folded up as if it is asleep. It is very carefully cradled in the space, and I wondered if this might have been some kind of foundation consecration. He (Risque) was a mason, after all. That story is something I am trying to excavate."
She also found interesting facts about the man himself, she says. "For instance, it took 24 years to settle his estate—he died without a will. Not very smart for a lawyer!" Geisler muses that Risque's lack of a will might not have been oversight, but intentional. "His estate was complex because, for one thing, there were so many mineral rights to be determined."
Asked if she thinks others will be inspired by the video to "go green," Geisler says, "Gosh, I hope so! I mean, our own governor, Bill Richardson, is giving us perks to make our dwellings more sustainable. Here in the desert, with the solar power we have, it's just so natural.
"We can learn from the animals—take advantage of sun and shade. We can collect water, make the most possible use of water," she says. She plans to spur such inspired folks with a wealth of information, too. "In the credits crawl, we will list a million links for people to find out about green building, and resources for them to hook up with good suppliers and organizations like GRIP."
And, adopting a mischievous tone, Geisler adds that old building secrets aren't all she will reveal in the video. "I found out the most fantastic, fascinating thing about the man himself," she says almost conspiratorially. "It's a secret, and I will unveil it in the movie. I'm building the whole story around it! I hope people will find it interesting."
—Donna Clayton Lawder
The Historic John P. Risque House is located at 103 W. Kelley St. in Silver City, housing the Common Ground Gallery. Open Wed.-Sun. 11 a.m.-3 p.m. for viewing the gallery's art or house tours. For more information, call 534-2087.
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