The stated amenities of "La Dera" (the hillside) include that of "desert landscapes."  The developers had travelled extensively in Southern California and Mexico, but not in New Mexico.  A vacation in Spain in 1993 confirmed their attraction to Spanish building styles.  "La Dera" was designed as a marriage between Mediterranean-California styles and Santa Fe style.  This development selects forms of Southwestern pueblos for its version of Santa Fe style.  The townhomes appear to replicate the seemingly haphazard arrangement of the Rio Grande pueblos, with rectangular flat-roofed blocks of rooms not subject to uniform setbacks or uniform levels.  This arrangement is ideal for the preservation of privacy within and between units.  An attempt to replicate tapered adobe walls has been accomplished in sloping the top two feet of the exterior walls.  This stylistic innovation produced difficulties in obtaining building permit approvals: "building inspectors don't understand roofs without overhangs and flashing" (developer).  The carports are also designed as blocks which contribute to a pueblo-like appearance.  Paned windows are small and inset in careful consideration of a key visual element of Santa Fe style: "the less uniformity in windows the better" (developer).  Several units have imitation vigas on facades, reinforcing the regional image of the development.  Gas flues are enclosed in tapered surrounds, another detail contributing to authenticity.  Every third unit has a sloping roof crowned with authentic clay Spanish tile.  These particular units conform more closely to the visual elements of California Mission Revival style than to Santa Fe style.

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