Española, New Mexico
Tuesday, October 24, 2023: On Tuesday morning, we left our Santa Fe casita (😰😰😥) and headed to Taos by way of Abiquiú and Ghost Ranch. We only passed through Española, but we couldn’t help stopping to check out the fabulous murals there. Also, we drove over the Río Grande which we had followed intermittently from the border of Mexico in Big Bend National Park.
Georgia O’Keeffe’s Abiquiú house
We stopped first in Abiquiú (pronounced A-bih-kyoo) to see Georgia O’Keeffe’s beautiful house. We were lucky to get into the 11:00 tour of the house. Reservations were required and we didn’t have them but we called about a half hour before we were due to arrive and someone had just cancelled. The tour guide, Frank, was fabulous and very knowledgeable about Georgia O’Keeffe and her house.
The O’Keeffe home and studio reflect a blend of Native American and Spanish Colonial building styles. The oldest rooms of the house were likely built in 1744. The house was expanded in the 19th century into a pueblo-style adobe (mud brick) hacienda, with rows of rooms organized around a common open space, or plazuela.
O’Keeffe lived in the house for the last 35 years of her life. She loved its location in the midst of northern New Mexico’s beauty and for how it inspired her artistically. She especially felt she had to have a particular door in the courtyard that she painted numerous times. She said, “That wall with a door in it was something I had to have.”
She owned two homes in New Mexico, including the one at Ghost Ranch, about 12 miles away from her Abiquiú home. O’Keeffe purchased the larger home in the village of Abiquiú for its well-irrigated garden and the comfort it offered in winter. She stayed at Ghost Ranch in summers.
O’Keeffe loved her garden, which provided her with fresh fruits and vegetables.
We took a peek through the window into the sitting room of the house, which is now in neutral colors. Frank showed us a photo of a more colorful room. O’Keeffe changed the color scheme as she became increasingly enamored with the monotone colors of the desert.
The 5,000-square-foot compound was in ruins in 1945 when she purchased the home from the Catholic Church. For the next four years, O’Keeffe supervised its restoration, which was carried out by her friend, Maria Chabot. O’Keeffe finally made Abiquiú her permanent home in 1949, living there until 1984. She died in Santa Fe on March 6, 1986, at the age of 98. The O’Keeffe Home and Studio was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1998 and is now part of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum.
The kitchen area was beguiling, with the light and the spare but cozy atmosphere. I loved perusing the dishes, cookbooks, teas and spices in her cupboard.
The artist’s studio, accessed across an open courtyard, had amazing views over the Abiquiú Valley.
Finally, we saw O’Keeffe’s bedroom, which had fabulous views of the valley. I could imagine waking up in this room everyday with great pleasure.
Our guide Frank told us that O’Keeffe traveled extensively. She didn’t travel for travel’s sake or because she liked to travel. She said, “I go around the world… to see what’s there — and to see if I’m in the right place (1968).” I can understand this sentiment and feel like this myself; I’m always in search of the place I’m meant to be, which is definitely NOT where I live in northern Virginia. This northern New Mexico landscape is definitely one in which I can envision myself being “in the right place.”
Georgia O’Keeffe Museum
After the house tour, we perused the small Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, where we found items from her travels. She kept some souvenirs as decorative items, like the seashell necklace and Italian velvet shoes. Others reflect the unique style of the country she visited, such as silver brooches from Peru, or to highlight the country of origin, like a “Mexico” wallet and “Korea” handkerchief. O’Keeffe even purchased cooking ingredients abroad, such as saffron from Spain. Hanging above the case are two scarves, one from her visit to India featuring a block print design, the other featuring a mermaid that possibly came from Fiji. Between them is a jacket from Mexico that O’Keeffe regularly wore.
The reproduction of a painting of Mount Fuji was kept by O’Keeffe in her personal collection, and speaks to her love of Japan. The artist traveled there twice in 1960 and both times she visited Mount Fuji and stayed at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Georgia O’Keeffe collected Japanese kimonos and wore them in her daily life. The one included in the Museum, featuring a hand-painted rendering of Mount Fuji, was purchased during a visit to Japan. She also purchased many bolts of fabric while abroad, including a printed cotton which she used to replicate a popular Western pattern at the time — “The Hollywood Girl” outfit — which consisted of an apron blouse and skirt.
O’Keeffe was a collector of handheld fans. Each in the collection features a unique design and material, ranging from the inexpensive paper fan from Japan and plastic fan from India to the intricate lace fan from western Europe. Hand fans have been used to provide relief from heat since ancient times and are still offered all over the world. They make perfect souvenirs when traveling to warmer climates.
Abiquiú Inn
After our visit to the museum, we wandered around the grounds of the adjacent Abiquiú Inn, located along the ancient Rio Chama, north of Santa Fe and southwest of Taos, in beautiful Abiquiú. It offers a great variety of lodging choices and the grounds are stunning.
Bodes & the Río Chama
I had read in our guide book that Bodes (pronounced BO-deez) General Store in Abiquiú had green chile cheeseburgers 🍔, along with gas and a lot of other stuff. I had been hankering for a green chile cheeseburger during our entire trip. So we stopped and waited for the burgers to be assembled right off the grill and then savored bite after bite of pure deliciousness. Yum!
While eating at Bodes, we chatted with a young woman who had recently bought a piece of property nearby and had made her house out of a shipping container. It seems people living in these parts are rugged and adventurous people.
We stopped on the way to Ghost Ranch at an overlook where we could see magnificent views of the striking valley formed by the Río Chama.
Ghost Ranch
Ghost Ranch today is a 21,000 acre retreat owned by the Presbyterian Church. It is best known because Georgia O’Keeffe owned a small parcel of the land and maintained a studio there. We could see Chimney Rock, one of many hikes on the property.
We didn’t stay long; we only went to see Georgia O’Keeffe’s studio and small house here.
Low Road to Taos
We sadly left the Abiquiu area behind to take the Low Road to Taos. About 90 miles north of Santa Fe, Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, formerly known as San Juan Pueblo, sits on the east side of the Rio Grande River. People have been living at the site since A.D. 1200. The neo-Gothic stone and brick church of San Juan Bautista seems strangely out of place in comparison to the one-story adobe buildings surrounding it. The church reflects a long history of interaction between the Spanish and Pueblo Indians in New Mexico. Originally, Mission San Juan Bautista was founded as part of Don Juan de Oñate’s first settlement in New Mexico that dates from 1598.
Although the Spanish settlement moved, the Franciscan priests maintained Mission San Juan Bautista until it was turned into the local Catholic parish in 1826. Today the pueblo is one of the Eight Northern Pueblo Tribes. Both San Juan Pueblo – renamed Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo in 2005 – and the Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto – part of the historic brick church that replaced the adobe mission – are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
The Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, built in 1889-1890, was conceived as a place of pilgrimage for people of faith wanting to honor the Virgin. It was built on or near the site on which the third parish church was built in 1645 and later destroyed in the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. The shrine is one of only 19 buildings in the United States built entirely out of lava rock.
San Juan Pueblo (Ohkay Owingeh) was the end point of the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (Royal Road of the Interior Land), also known as the Silver Route, a Spanish 2,560-kilometre-long (1,590 mi) road that led here from Mexico City. It was used from 1598 to 1882. It was the northernmost of the four major “royal roads” that linked Mexico City to its major tributaries during and after the Spanish colonial era.
We continued on the Low Road to Taos, which follows the winding Río Grande up into the mountains, mostly on Rt. 68. We stopped near Embudo to see the Classical Gas Museum, a front yard filled with old service station accoutrements. It wasn’t actually open, so I hoped the owner didn’t mind that I walked on his dirt driveway and took a few photos.
We stopped at a couple of overlooks just to admire the pretty river snaking its way through the yellowing cottonwoods.
We arrived in Taos at around 4:00, after enjoying one of the most scenic days on our Tex-New Mex Road Trip.
Steps: 5,100; Miles 2.16. Drove 172.1 miles. Weather (Abiquiu) Hi: 69°, Lo 39°.
~ wander.essence ~ 
What an amazing experience to visit Georgia O’Keeffe’s home! I was intrigued by her kitchen too – is that just how she left it, 40 year old spices included?!
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We were so lucky because we hadn’t planned ahead and reserved the tour. We lucked out as we called a half hour before we got there to find out someone had just cancelled. There would have been no way to see the house on our own. I loved this experience so much and really got a feel for O’Keeffe and her life. I don’t remember if the guide said they were the original spices. I would think they would attract bugs! So maybe the jars and cans were empty?
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Anyone would be inspired to paint with those gorgeous views to look at every day. Aren’t those kitchen cupboards beautifully organised.
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Those landscapes were amazing up there in Abiquiu, Carol. I could absolutely live in that part of New Mexico. The problem is, it’s so far removed from everything and we have too many plans for enjoying our retirement, not the least by traveling! I loved looking at the artist’s cupboards, so perfectly organized.
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What a house, Cathy! And what a landscape! Thanks so much for sharing it.
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Thanks, Jo. It was an amazing house and a gorgeous landscape. I know now where Georgia O’Keeffe got her inspiration. I could live in this place!
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Save a guest room for me 🤭🩵
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I certainly will!
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