Our House is a Very Fine House

A little over a year ago a huge decision was made and it changed life as we know it. I don't think we really knew what to expect or how it would work out, but once the decision was made we couldn't and didn't turn back.















I'll start with the history. I honestly don't know how many generations my family goes back in New Mexico. On my dad's side, my ancestors arrived with Onate and on my mom's they arrive shortly after the reconquest of Santa Fe in 1692. I am not going to debate the politics or the defend the history of my ancestors in this post. It is what it is and so, given the 16 generations or so my family has been here, it's pretty clear I'm part of this place and its history. Santa Fe and much of New Mexico is known for its Tri-Cultural heritage where Native American, Spanish and Anglos have lived side by side for generations.


However, Santa Fe in the last 60-70 years has been changing. When my mom was a kid, it was still very much a small town, filled with local people and a lot of newcomers as well. As the years have gone by, property in the area where she grew up became very expensive and many of the local families have sold out to wealthier people coming in from out of state. Property taxes are at a premium and many of the local families who have been in their homes for generations or on their lands for 100s of years have sold out because they cannot afford to pay them. It is a huge loss for some of these old neighborhoods where you don't see any of the old faces, the stories are lost and you lose a sense of the history of the neighborhood. Now you see newly renovated historic homes often owned by part-time residents and newcomers and the old-time residents move elsewhere. I don't begrudge these new residents. Often they fix up old, decaying homes and bring them back to life, they contribute to the economy of this town by opening up businesses and employing locals, but sometimes they just don't fit it. That's not really part of this story either, however, this story fits into that part of Santa Fe.

We have an old home on Canyon Road. It's been in my mother's family for at least 150 years, if not more. The home is at least 200 years old, maybe more. It's shown on the "King's Map of 1912" which is kind of like the social registry of property in town, though, I suspect it's on older more historic maps of when New Mexico was part of Spain, then Mexico and finally a US territory and then state in 1912.

This home is highly valued on this street. It's part of my legacy and I'm very blessed that my father and mother have been excellent caretakers of this historic property. I'm fortunate that they have maintained ownership and it will one day be passed down to me.

This home, in which my mother was raised, later became apartments when my mom and the aunt who raised her moved into a brand-new house on Cerrillos Road. (It's next to Varela Real Estate.)

She moved back into the Canyon Road after she married my dad. I grew up there until I was 5. We had three apartment rentals here till 1988, when my dad retired and accepted an offer to lease out the whole house and turn it into a gallery.

 At the time, Canyon Road was booming, it was an art mecca, it still is, but I see signs that things are different as a result of the new economy,  new thriving art communities in the City and new ways of doing business. It's still a huge art community and many galleries are still thriving, opening and making a good living. Others have closed and are struggling to survive. That is what happened here. We had a tenant that was struggling, despite having amazing inventory, a beautiful and ideal location, it was getting harder and harder for him to stay afloat.


 A year ago, we made a decision that we felt was best for us. My mom, now a widow and struggling with a new diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis and continuing Age-Related Macular Degeneration, couldn't live alone, so we met with our tenants and after a contentious few meetings, we decided to terminate the lease so that we could occupy the house as a residence again.

We contacted a local contractor to see about renovating the house and by Thanksgiving the house was vacant and we now were starting a new chapter in our lives.

It took the tenants a while to close up and move. We had hoped to start work in the fall and be done by Christmas. Well, that didn't happen. The tenants vacated in November and we didn't want to go through renovations through the holidays or the winter so we decided to wait. But, we didn't want to have the house sit empty.






Meanwhile, with our pets, Iggy and Luna, David and I started hanging out in the empty house more and more. We'd bring furnishings that would make it comfortable for us for the short term, and little-by little we felt like this was home and made just about every excuse to check on it. We knew that we would be here as much as possible.

The energy felt right. Our cat, Luna Blue, ran from one end of the house to the other enjoying ever minute she was there. She felt at home right away. For a cat to settle into a new space like this was amazing. Our dog, Iggy, is happy no matter where he is if his people and his kitty are there. He, too, felt like this was home.

We purchased a bed and spent our first night here over Thanksgiving Weekend. Naturally, that got us excited for the holidays.

Christmastime in Santa Fe is always lovely; Christmastime on Canyon Road is gorgeous. We got to enjoy our first Christmas here.

We thought we would spend weekends here, as we only had a bed and a few pieces of furniture, but I think December 19th, 2014 was the last night we slept in our townhouse in Park Plazas.










We knew that we wanted to spend Christmas here and we started making plans to host a Christmas Eve open house for our friends and family who were participating in the Farolito Walk. We set up our tree here, instead of the other house, which still was our home, but in time, we knew it wouldn't be our "home." We had a lovely time, despite a blackout and the sea of people walking up and down our street. It was truly a sight to see.





And we've never looked back. Little by little we moved into the house. We applied for a loan to do the renovations and moved my mom in at the end of February.





And that is just the first chapter of this story. More to come. 

So Much to Say, So Much to Say.

Watch this spot. I shall be chronicling our renovation of our home on Canyon Road. I'll sum up with the story of how we got here and where we are going. But in the mean time, here's a photo.