Albuquerque, New Mexico · Est. 2025
Diabolical Discoveries combines New Mexico's earthen building traditions with modern technology to lower the cost of affordable housing — starting with the supply chain that makes it possible.
The problem
Construction costs have risen more than 30% since 2020. The U.S. faces a shortage of 3–4 million homes. In New Mexico and across the Southwest, low-income families bear the brunt — priced out not just by rents, but by a system that makes building new homes economically impossible.
Adobe is cheaper, more climate-appropriate, and locally available. The problem isn't the material — it's that no one has built the supply chain to make it competitive. Adobe orders take weeks. Every other material ships in days. That gap is the entire barrier.
Our approach
We're combining earthen building traditions with technology and supply chain thinking — making adobe competitive with conventional materials for the first time.
We're working to reactivate a 53-year-old adobe manufacturer in Albuquerque — creating the first on-demand adobe supply chain in the Southwest. The goal is simple: contractors should be able to order adobe and receive it within 48 hours, just like any other building material.
We're deploying that material through a pipeline of permitted adobe casitas on existing residential lots in Albuquerque. These projects do double duty: they add housing and they train the next generation of adobe contractors — workers who understand the whole building system, not just their individual trade.
A homeowner intake platform and AI-assisted demand forecasting connect the supply chain to real demand — so inventory is produced before orders arrive, and homeowners have a clear path from initial inquiry through permits and financing.
Team
A decade of program design at the intersection of housing finance, community development, and public policy. Virgil has built equity-centered programs, managed large grant portfolios, and worked with CDFIs, state housing agencies, and local government partners.
A licensed New Mexico real estate broker and software developer with deep roots in the Albuquerque market. Phoebe builds the technology that makes the model run: homeowner intake systems, demand forecasting, and the tools that connect materials supply to real construction demand.
Working with
Get involved
We're looking for partners, collaborators, and funders who believe affordable housing has a materials-supply solution.