Los Santos

Los Santos is the main home on the compound, a historic adobe behind Museum Hill. The history of the property dates way back: it was designated a Spanish land grant by Spain in 1745. We have a copy of a letter from the King of Spain, and the letterhead reads La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís, the name the Spanish gave to Santa Fe when they arrived in the late 1500s. It is important to note that the Native Pueblo Tewa culture was here long before the Spanish, and they had their own name, Ogha P’o’oge, often translated as “White Shell Water Place.” The house keeps the proof in walls more than a foot thick, wood vigas overhead, and built-in bancos.

The interior is an homage to the Spanish colonial period, which brought Europe and many foreign influences and materials to New Mexico. Note the hand-painted windows in the sala, showing the Spanish in the 1800s, and the museum-quality tin sconces throughout the house. We restored it lovingly, with just enough modernity to work well, and it still holds an immense amount of charm: a quintessential adobe of European yesteryear, filled with antiques, objets d'art, and rugs gathered over decades of travel. Guests call it a bit eccentric and very comfortable. We take both as compliments.

The grand sala is the main living room, with ten-foot ceilings, a large fireplace, a nine-foot dining table, and very comfortable seating for parlor games or quiet reading. The master suite has an ensuite sitting room with a kiva fireplace, kept for candles rather than fires, a lovely place to read or watch TV, and it opens to the covered portale for dining outside or watching the wildlife. The guest room sits on the other side of the kitchen, with a large walk-in closet. It is the sanctuary for a couple traveling with a friend or relative, and it fits three nicely.

“The historic main adobe home reads like an Old World cabinet of curiosities.”

Kris, the creatress