The Santa Barbara School is located in the Santa Barbara/Martineztown Neighborhood in Albuquerque. This former Albuquerque Public School was abandoned in 1986 and later purchased by the City of Albuquerque. A National and State Register building, it had fallen into serious disrepair after having been vacant for a half dozen years. It was condemned, but the neighborhood fought to have it restored and converted to ADA compliant apartments for senior citizens and a community meeting room.

The history of this structure dates back to circa 1908 when it was built as a two-room adobe. The school building grew along with the community and changing ideas of school architecture. From 1908 to 1938, five major additions were made. These additions were made of brick, concrete block, and wood frame with a combination of pitched roofs and flat roofs. Sometime after 1919, the present Mission Style parapet was added. The last major additions took place in 1930. Older rooms at the northwest corner of the building have been preserved in something close to their original state. Santa Barbara School stands as an important record of the growth of local schools.

A feasibility study was done by Dekker/Perich Architects to see if the structure could be used for apartments for senior citizens. Based upon that study, the City of Albuquerque and the State of New Mexico, with substantial backing of the citizens of the adjacent neighborhood, funded the renovation. Cherry/See Architects was selected to do the work with Dekker/Perich consulting on the feasibility, the structural engineering, and the cost estimating.

The program called for eight apartments with attendant security office and laundry. The community wanted a meeting space, and the City Office of Senior Affairs wanted office space. The privacy needs of the residents were met by converting the west hallway and classrooms into the residential wing, and the east classrooms into the Community Room and Offices for Senior Affairs. The residents can go from their wing into the community area, but need a key to return to the residential wing

.In addition to the variety of construction materials, the challenges presented by the building included a burned out roof on the south side. The structure of the remaining roof was so bad that the entire roof structure was replaced. During that work, the false Mission Style parapet on the north side began to tilt. The contractor had to support it, disconnect it, and remove it intact with a crane and place it on the ground. A bond beam was constructed, and the parapet was returned to its location and reconnected. Another challenge was to fire rate the corridor while keeping the wood doors and frames. This was accomplished by installing fire rated metal frames with wood surrounds. The transoms were left in place on the corridor side, with a firerated wall behind.

Cherry/See Architects worked closely with both the State Historic Preservation Office and the City’s Redevelopment Office to assure that the historic character of the structure was maintained. The apartments have huge windows by today's standards and polished wood floors. The corridor looks as it did in the original, even though some of the doors do not lead to apartments. The folding wood door which used to divide classrooms was installed in the community room to divide that space when desired.

The building was opened in 1992, with a neighborhood celebration which included the "Roots and Wings" exhibit of historic photos of families from the neighborhood. The solution resulted in receipt of the Bainbridge Bunting Award from The Albuquerque Conservation Society.