Bar M Construction specializes in a variety of custom-made homes, but also features Santa Fe, Pueblo, Southwestern, traditional, mountain, stucco, brick and adobe styles. Throughout their homes they incorporate extensive woodwork, marble floors and countertops, unique plastered walls, vigas and colored and stamped cement. As a full-service contractor, homeowners can start from the beginning with Ernesto and Debbie.

“Our goal is to satisfy our customers,” Ernesto says. “We start by getting to know them, learning about who they are, then we move onto the design of the home.”

They also work hard to preserve the environment around their building sites the best they can, knowing that locations are selected by homeowners based on the surroundings. During one homebuilding project, they removed stone from the site, setting it aside so they could reuse it on stairways and around the pool. In one fascinating wine cellar, Ernesto’s father, 80-year-old Ruben Martinez, completed all the stonework in the cellar from the stone that was harvested.

“It is a unique service and people seem to love it,” Ernesto says.

Bar M Construction is able to provide services at every step of the way, from the initial design of the home, to the land development, to the construction. “We have longstanding and close working relationships with quality subcontractors, most of whom have worked with us for over 10 years,” Debbie says. The workmanship shines and their popularity continues to grow, especially after winning the Building Contractors Association of Otero County Builder of the Year Award for 2000.

“I tell my customers, ‘It’s not a house we are building, it is a service,’” Ernesto says. “We give them choices, then we work with them to come to a decision they want.”

Debbie, who has a knack for interior decorating, gets to know the customers then does some shopping for décor items from Mexico, sometimes on a weekly basis.

“We are able to get a lot done while we are there,” Debbie says. “There are a lot of resources that we bring back, making each home unique and beautiful.”

Debbie and Ernesto, parents to Ernesto Miguel Martinez (Ernie), 8, and Adelina Rose Martinez (Lilley-Rose), 10, remain actively involved in the community despite their busy schedule. When they are not in Alamogordo, they are helping the Casa Hogar Bethel Orphanage in Juarez, Mexico.

“It was something we started and just kept doing,” Debbie says. “As part of the business, Ernesto committed to helping with repairs at the orphanage one day a week.”

The family is able to travel to Mexico every week with the help of their pilot’s license and a small plane they purchased for the trips. While there, they also collect a wide variety of home finishing and numbers for artisans so they can meet the needs of any homeowner. Many of the items they bring back include stone sinks, onyx lights and sink-less sinks.

Currently building in Mesa Village, a booming subdivision just west of the Alamogordo Relief Route, Bar M Construction has model homes open for display to show the type of fixtures and finishing they can bring in from Mexico. The homes also serve to show the vast differences between one Bar M home and another (including Old World, Tuscan and Pueblo styles) but how each shows an incredible amount of sophistication and talent.