Taos, New Mexico - Museums and more museums lol Oct 25th

Wednesday morning at 7:30 there are clear skies with a few clouds. Yeah! We are off to Hacienda de la Martinez and a few museums, some of the things that are actually open today. Out the door at 9:45 am as this one did not open until 10am.

Padre Martinez

La Hacienda de los Martinez is one of the few northern New Mexico style, late Spanish Colonial period "Great Houses" remaining in the American Southwest. Built in 1804, this fortress-like building with massive adobe walls became an important trade center for the northern boundary of the Spanish Empire.

Severino Matinez and his wife Maria raised six children in the Hacienda. Their eldest son was the famous Padre Antonio Martinez who battled the French Bishop Lamy to preserve the Hispanic character of the Catholic Church in the territory. The Padre was a dynamic social reformer who created the first coeducational school in New Mexico and brought the first printing press to Taos.

Today the Hacienda's twenty-one rooms surrounding two courtyards provide the visitor with a rare glimpse of the rugged frontier life and times of the early 1800s. Additionally, regularly scheduled demonstrations present the traditional arts and crafts of the region.

Here are Ray's pictures. He went back to the care to get his hat so it warned him before banging his head. lol Very low doorways. It's a great display of an old hacienda.

Horno Oven

Horse Corral

One of two courtyards

Ray's facination of old doors.

Showing all the rooms surrounding the courtyard.

Weaving Room

Original Navajo blanket.

Bristle paddles to work the wool

Santos Display Room

Beautiful carvings.

The Mountain Man Room

This room is the previous servants quarters and contains horse and oxen tack.

Blacksmith Shop

The Kitchen, La Cocina

A cheese board where they made cheese.

The Grainery

The Chapel

Entrance to the Courtyard

After strolling around inside and out it's time for our next stop, The Kit Carson House. This one was not so interesting and very small. The best part is the 20 minute history movie of his life. In fact, his grandson portrays Kit in the movie.

Christopher "Kit" Carson is perhaps Taos' most famous resident. He was a fur trapper among the earliest Western explorers, a scout during the first mapping of the pioneer trails, a cattle and sheep rancher, a trancontinental courier, U.S. Indian agent and an officer in the New Mexico Volunteer Army. Yet, he was more than any of those things. Some people say he was a hero who was instrumental in opening up the West. Others say he was a a rugged frontiersman who understood the ways of Native Americans better than any other Westerner. Still, others ascribe traits written about him in  fictional "blood &  Thunder" publications from the east. He never accepted any of these labels and neither have modern biographers who have portrayed him as an enigmatic and complex man who paricipated in, and helped pave the way for, almost all of the major historical events of america's westward expansion -- the expansion that came to be known as "Manifest Destiny."

More old doors

After this one, we drove a short distance to the Couse-Sharp Historic Site.  We wandered the property a bit before realizing we were at the back and needed to go back to the main road and walk up the sidewalk. We did this and found that it isn't open until later this afternoon. Oh well, we got some pictures of the exterior anyways.

The last museum on our list today is the Fechin House, Taos Museum of Art. Wow this place is amazing. We definitely saved the best one for last!

In 1923, renowned Russian-American artist Nicolai Fechin (pronounced "fay-shin"), his wife, Alexandra, and their daughter, Eya, emigrated from Russia to New York City. In 1926, at the invitation of Taos patroness Mabel Dodge Luhan and the encouragement of artist John Young-Hunter, the Fechin family traveled to Taos and spent the summer at Mabel's place. Then, so Fechin could have the privacy he desired to paint, the family decided it was time for their own home in Taos. In 1927, they acquired the property of Dr. J.J. Bergmans and his wife, Wilhelmina Harkink-Bergmans, who were returning to their native Holland. The Fechins moved into the house until March of 1928 when they concluded the two-story, eight-room, cube-shaped symmetrical adobe failed to satisfy their needs functionally or aesthetically, and they would have to remodel.

For the next five years, the Fechin family labored to make the home theirs. Nicolai planned, and the multi-lingual Alexandra communicated directions to Miguel and Pedro Mirabal, masons from the Taos Pueblo, and Joe Martinez. Nicolai worked day and night. The Fechins' workmen removed all interior, non-load bearing walls and reconfigured the space. They doubled the size of the front porch and added a series of rooms that projected from what was once the central cube.
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​​The construction coincided with the arrival of electricity in Taos in 1928 and a modern sewage system that arrived in 1930. Electricity made it possible for Nicolai to carve and build at night while he painted during the day. The electric stove, oven, and refrigerator were the first in town! With the new sewage system, Fechin went to work installing three new bathrooms.

The final result was a 3,545 square-foot, asymmetrical, adobe Pueblo and Mission Revival house with twenty-four-inch walls. The Fechins created a wonderful home and a masterpiece of Southwest architecture. The spaces within the home were sympathetic to Nicolai's art collections and his carvings of sculpture, furniture, and architectural ornament.

​Working in his father's workshop as a youth provided training for Nicolai as a carver. He absorbed various influences from his Russian heritage and his encounters with Native American and Hispanic cultures. He imported sugar pine and poplar from the NW, which was easier to carve and mostly knot-free to allow for his intricate carvings. First, he adzed all the wood, creating beautiful undulating surfaces. Then, armed with mallet and chisel, he began carving columns, stair rails, vigas, doors, and furniture. The wood was then tinted a uniform color with a thinned stain to allow the natural grain to show still. Lastly, each piece was hand waxed to a beautiful sheen.  

With the local metalsmith, he fashioned light fixtures, door pulls, and hinges. Nicolai was also a coppersmith: The kitchen's copper light fixtures and copper hood are of his own making. By 1933, Nicolai and Alexandra, with their workmen, had created one of the most exciting homes in Taos. Eya stated, "A Russian house evolved out of New Mexico mud."​​

Unfortunately, the family's joy was short-lived. The couple experienced marital problems, and Nicolai, with his daughter Eya, left their home in Taos. Alexandra assumed the responsibility of maintaining the property. She lived in the house until 1946. The house became too much for her to care for at that time, so she closed the doors and moved into Fechin's studio. The house remained untouched for 30 years until Eya returned to New Mexico in 1977, when she was appointed conservator and began the process of restoring the home to its former glory.

​In 1979, the Fechin House was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places and the State of NM Registered Cultural Properties. Living in the studio, Eya created the Fechin Institute and maintained active exhibition and education programs until her death in November 2002.

Lots of fascinating wood doors to look at.

Needless to say, Ray's in "wood carved heaven" lol

Time for lunch. Ray chose the French Latin Fusion place featured in Diner's Drive-in's and Dives. 

Gutiz, the popular Latin-French restaurant co-owned by Jennifer Peterson and Randy Morris, was featured on the show known for doubling an establishment’s business after being featured. "Diners, Drive-In & Dives" (they refer to it as DDD) featured two of Gutiz’ specialties. “They chose to feature our French Toast and the Pollo Borachon. The crew explained that they were looking for dishes that are a little unusual,” explained Peterson. 

Indeed, the now, or soon-to-be, nationally discovered french toast that comes out of Gutiz’ kitchen is unique because it is light on egg and, by caramelizing the sugar, the signature dish has a sweetness that comes from the crunchy, caramel-like sugar. The Pollo Borachon looks every bit as appetizing as it tastes. The chicken-on-the-bone dish is prepared with vegetables in a red wine broth and topped with a thin pastry shell.

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So Ray ordered the French Toast and I the Pollo Borachon (Druken Chicken). Both were outstanding.

This is the link for Guy Fieri taping the making of the Pollo Borachon.

https://youtu.be/csnAK5TmZb8?si=EfbkJXRKOJRLmtBO 

Another cool looking building on our drive home. Pat Woodall Fine Arts.

Back at home for 2:30 pm. Ray says he feels he's getting a cold. Gave him some meds and hopefully that will help. Being in tight spaces on the 2 trains and then the bus ride for an hour back to Chama, maybe he picked up something???? We shall see.