Mexico's colors come north to Tucson's Barrio Historico - renovating and decorating historic adobe buildings; includes a related article on technique

Sunset, Nov, 1991

WITH THE FLAMBOYANCE reflected in its street-scape T-shirt, Tucson's Barrio Historico has donned a mantle of color. And nowhere in this inner-city neighborhood does color appear more vividly than in the houses touched by the trowel, brush, and sponge of artist-builder John Lovegrove. While renovating historic adobes and erecting historically compatible new in-fill houses, he has developed easy techniques for applying both subtle and saturated color (see page 132).

As a geologist on field trips to Mexico, Lovegrove was fascinated by the lively hues of buildings there. He recalled the images when a career switch brought him to the Barrio's ripening restoration scene. Self-effacing in the extreme, he lets his joyous color--and his neighbors--do the talking for him. One gently ribs him about his experiment with powdered stucco pigment, sprinkled, triple strength, onto a freshly poured concrete floor and troweled in. (Don't try it--the color rubbed off.)

Lovegrove is one among a dedicated band of people at work reviving the Barrio. Their spirit of camaraderie in shared adventure spills from house to house. Drop by any structure where work is complete or under way, and within minutes you'll be guided next door, around the corner, or blocks away, to check on progress at other properties.

You'll meet owners shoring up crumbling adobe walls, replacing long-gone roofs with recycled timbers, or trading recipes for authentic lime stucco.

Community action is also behind the color. In 1978, when the Barrio's two dozen blocks of adobes and brick houses (dating from the 1840s through the 1920s) were designated a historic district on the National Register, they came under the protection of historic zone ordinances, which in most cases strongly controlled use of color. (Explorations into old layers of plaster and paint revealed that whitewash--the classic mix of lime, water, salt, and sometimes the juice of nopal, the prickly pear cactus--was the commonest original treatment, occasionally tinted with laundry bluing. The Victorian era ushered in improved paint in fashionable pastels and somber hues.)

Unlike homeowners renovating in Tucson's other designated historic districts, the ones in the Barrio Historico opposed guidelines restricting color choice. They cited another bit of history: the origin of the neighborhood's nickname, Barrio Libre (free zone), referring to the freedom that 1880s settlers from Mexico had from the enforcement of local Anglo laws.

Based on this freewheeling tradition and the vibrant use of color on buildings in the nearby Mexican state of Sonor--the ancestral home of many Barrio dwellers--neighborhood residents collectively opted for total freedom of color choice under the ordinances.

You can see the results any time, just south of Tucson's newly expanded Convention Center. Boundaries of the National Register district are roughly S. Stone Avenue on the east, Osborne and Samaniego avenues on the west, W. 14th (Cushing) Street on the north, and W. 19th Street on the south. Street parking is easy.

For an inside look at the colorful houses, plan to visit during the Barrio Historico open-house tour, planned for April 5 next year; call (602) 624-1817 to double-check. Hours are 1 to 5. Tickets ($5) go on sale at noon at Carrillo School, 440 S. Main Avenue.

The T-shirts showing three streets in the historic district help raise funds for a local nonprofit social service agency, Information & Referral Services, Inc. The price is $15. Shirts are for sale at El Minuto Cafe (354 S. Main Avenue, shown upper right on the T-shirt); or order directly from the agency by calling 323-1303.