Steve Baer died in May 2024. Holly Baer has also recently passed. Their son Jose Baer is the executor of the combined estate. The Baer House in Corrales, New Mexico — built 1971, still standing and photographed in working condition as recently as 2015 — is likely now available for sale.
With both original owners gone and Jose holding executor authority, the property could move to market quickly. Executor duties run to the estate's beneficiaries; that financial reality shapes every conversation. The preservation window is open now. It will not remain open long.
The Baer House is a cluster of connected zomes — zone-dome polyhedra — built by Steve Baer in Corrales, New Mexico beginning in 1971. It was the first full-scale testbed for every major Zomeworks invention: the DrumWall thermal mass system, the Skylid® insulated louvers, and the Sunbender® reflector/shade panels. The Cool Cell and Double Play product lines that Zomeworks developed through the 1990s and 2000s are refinements of ideas that first ran here.
The house has heated and cooled itself using only sunlight, water, and the night sky for 55 years. That fact — a passive solar system in continuous operation since 1971 — is the single strongest argument for its preservation.
The 2025 Kayatekin paper (ICON: Journal of the International Committee for the History of Technology, vol. 30, no. 2) establishes the house in the academic record as the physical origin of a significant and overlooked chapter of American engineering history, rooted in the New Communalist counterculture and tracing forward to 21st-century passive thermal systems.
The house is not primarily significant as a residence. It is a working demonstration. The following elements must be preserved as a functional unit, not just as artifacts:
Structure
Systems (must remain functional)
Documentation before transfer
The systems must be commissioned and measured before any change of ownership. A passive solar building that has been operating for 55 years contains performance data simply by continuing to function. At minimum: IR thermometer surface measurements across seasons, temperature logging through a full seasonal cycle, written inventory of all Skylid canisters and DrumWall drums with condition assessment. This data has independent value regardless of ownership outcome.
National Register of Historic Places eligibility
The house likely qualifies under two criteria:
A National Register listing does not require ownership; the nomination can proceed independently. Once listed, demolition becomes politically difficult and federal rehabilitation tax credits apply to eligible work.
The 55-year operation argument
A passive solar house still performing without mechanical systems after five and a half decades is not just architecture — it is empirical proof. The building is a running experiment. Its significance grows with every year it continues to function. Framing it this way to funders converts an old house into an ongoing scientific demonstration.
The academic record
The Kayatekin paper establishes the house in international scholarship. That 2025 publication — timed just after Baer's death — means the scholarly case is already made. Preservation advocates can cite it directly.
Jose is acting as executor with fiduciary obligations to the estate's beneficiaries. Any approach must acknowledge both dimensions: the legacy value and the financial reality.
What to lead with
What to offer immediately
Warm introduction paths
Jose as a direct preservation partner
Before approaching any third party, it is worth exploring whether Jose himself has interest in continuing his parents' legacy. Options that keep the house in the family while protecting it:
Docomomo US — Documentation and Conservation of Buildings, Sites and Neighbourhoods of the Modern Movement. The Baer House is directly within their scope: 1971, coherent modern design philosophy, innovative technology, significant figure. A Mountain West chapter affiliate exists. Unlikely to be a direct purchaser but critical for establishing significance and unlocking other networks.
National Trust for Historic Preservation — Denver field office covers New Mexico. The Trust's Preservation Action Fund makes emergency loans for at-risk properties. The Trust also holds preservation easements as a long-term protection mechanism on properties it does not own.
New Mexico Historic Preservation Division (SHPO) — Administers the National Register process, provides survey funding, and controls state historic tax credits. Early engagement is essential — a SHPO determination of eligibility strengthens every other funding application.
Society of Architectural Historians — Endorsement carries weight with funders and regulators. Do not own properties but their recognition is valuable.
University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning — The strongest candidate. Corrales is 15 miles from campus. UNM has existing passive solar research connections and the NM passive solar community as a natural constituency. A field research station or living laboratory for passive systems is a genuine academic asset with grant potential.
Contact: Director of Architecture; Environmental Design faculty. The pitch: a 55-year passive solar demonstration available for continuous monitoring, student research, and public education — with grant eligibility through National Register listing.
University of Colorado Boulder — Drop City was near Trinidad, CO; the counterculture architecture thread connects. CU's environmental design and ATLAS programs could make a case for a research partnership if not direct acquisition.
New Mexico State University — College of Engineering has applied energy research programs. Less obvious fit than UNM but NMSU has a New Mexico-focused mandate.
Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) — Basalt, CO. RMI's campus demonstrates passive solar design; they have the institutional sophistication to understand the significance and the donor relationships to act. Strongest non-academic institutional candidate outside New Mexico.
American Solar Energy Society (ASES) — Boulder, CO. The Baer House is the physical origin of ASES's most technically rigorous lineage. Policy and advocacy capacity; limited property acquisition history but useful for endorsement and donor network.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) — Golden, CO. Federal lab with a mandate to advance renewable energy. Less likely to purchase directly but useful as a source of technical assessment, documentation funding, and federal grant partnerships.
Solar Fools network — The most proximate steward candidates. Bruce W. Davis and Karen Terry understand every system in the house and have direct relationships in Albuquerque. They may not have acquisition capital independently but could serve as:
Zomeworks Corporation — Zomeworks as it existed under the Baers no longer exists. The company passed to sole ownership of Benjamin Rodefer (Wikipedia, May 2024). Benjamin Rodefer has not yet done anything visible with it and may not have the technical knowledge of the Skylid and DrumWall systems that Baer-era staff possessed. The Solar Fools network (Bruce Davis, Karen Terry) and former Zomeworks staff are more reliable contacts for system expertise.
Village of Corrales — A landmark designation by the Village provides some protection without requiring acquisition and costs the estate nothing. Corrales has a historic preservation ordinance. Village engagement also signals local political support to state and federal funders.
New Mexico Community Foundation — Has capacity to hold conservation easements and could serve as an intermediary vehicle.
Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts (Chicago) — Has funded documentation and preservation of architecturally significant structures. A long shot for acquisition but realistic for documentation funding.
Aga Khan Trust for Culture — Funds documentation of culturally significant vernacular buildings. Worth approaching for a documentation grant regardless of ownership outcome.
Option 1: Preservation easement, family or private ownership retained (preferred starting point)
Jose Baer or a subsequent buyer retains ownership and continues use. A preservation organization (National Trust, New Mexico Land Conservancy, or a purpose-created nonprofit) holds a structural and systems easement requiring: maintenance of the zome cluster, DrumWall, and Skylid systems in working order; prohibition on demolition or incompatible alteration; public access for research purposes. The easement runs with the land in perpetuity and survives any future sale.
Advantages: Lowest cost, lowest disruption, most likely to be acceptable to Jose as executor. The estate receives full market value from any sale; the easement travels with the deed.
Option 2: 501(c)(3) acquisition as living demonstration
A purpose-created or existing nonprofit acquires the property for use as a passive solar demonstration and research facility. Guided visits, student research, continuous system monitoring.
Requires: Nonprofit vehicle (existing or new), acquisition capital at market rate for a Corrales residential property, operating budget. Realistic funders: Heising-Simons Foundation (climate focus), Kendeda Fund, Bloomberg Philanthropies, NREL demonstration project funding, UNM research partnership funding.
Option 3: Academic institution acquisition
UNM or another institution acquires the property as a field research station.
Requires: Institutional commitment at dean or provost level. The house would need insurance assessment, ADA review, and compatibility with institutional property requirements. The pitch: ongoing grant eligibility, student research access, and a unique 55-year passive solar data set.
Option 4: Private purchase with deed restrictions
A sympathetic private buyer — architect, preservationist, or solar advocate — purchases under deed restrictions requiring preservation of the zome structure and thermal systems. Less reliable long-term than an institutional easement, but faster and simpler. The Solar Fools network may know candidates.
Option 5: Jose Baer as preservation partner
Jose retains the property under a family foundation vehicle with a mission of continuing his parents' work. The foundation accepts tax-deductible donations, leases the property for research access, and holds a board that includes Solar Fools members and preservation professionals. This keeps the house in the family while providing institutional structure for its maintenance and public benefit.
1. Approach Jose Baer before the property lists (highest priority)
Through a warm introduction — Bruce W. Davis or Karen Terry (Solar Fools) — express preservation interest and offer concrete assistance: National Register nomination help and a free condition assessment of the thermal systems. These are gifts to the estate regardless of what Jose decides to do.
2. Engage UNM Architecture and the Village of Corrales simultaneously
A joint expression of interest from an academic institution and the local government carries more weight in estate negotiations than any single party. Either can move quickly; together they create institutional momentum.
3. Commission a National Register nomination
A professional historian or preservation consultant can prepare this for ~$5,000–15,000. Does not require ownership. Once listed, the property's significance is in the federal record permanently and demolition becomes politically costly.
4. Document the systems in operating condition
IR thermometer measurements, temperature logging through a seasonal cycle, Skylid canister inventory and condition, DrumWall drum count and condition. This documentation has independent value and demonstrates serious intent to Jose.
5. Contact Docomomo US Mountain West
Their formal identification process and endorsement unlocks preservation networks nationally and strengthens a National Register case.
The Baer House in Corrales, New Mexico is the physical origin of American passive solar architecture's most technically rigorous lineage. Built in 1971 by Steve Baer — who died in May 2024, followed recently by his wife Holly — it has been continuously heating and cooling itself using only sunlight, water, and the night sky for 55 years. The DrumWall, the Skylid louvers, and the Sunbender reflectors were all invented and first tested here. The 2025 Kayatekin paper in ICON establishes the house in international scholarship. Their son Jose Baer is the estate executor. The property is likely available now. There is no second chance.