House and riding facility on a ranch near Santa Fe

Ando, reluctant at first, only accepted the commission after visiting the site. He chose the siting of the ranch and its two private compounds and designed them. They include a house and an equestrian complex, with a stable for eight horses, an indoor riding ring and an outdoor one. Ando also drew up plans for a second residence, intended for the highest point of the estate. The main house and the riding areas were built under the oversight of the Los Angeles firm Marmol Radziner.

The low house seems to float above a reflecting pool that reaches almost to its door; large windows look straight onto these pools, and a wide walkway cuts across the water.

For the equestrian complex, Ando left his usual rectilinear forms and drew circular riding rings, better suited to riding laps. Both are bounded by a solid concrete wall. The indoor ring is placed in a hollow of the land and capped by a concrete slab marked by the formwork boards; eye-level openings look out over the scrubby terrain and the distant mountains. The outdoor ring is set apart from the rest of the ranch by a reflecting pool, linked by a crushed-gravel walkway. The surroundings are left to natural vegetation, with gravel paths rather than manicured gardens.

It is private property: it cannot be visited.