FEATURE

Another Santa Fe style
By Patrick Mehaffey

Although just blocks from the historic Santa Fe Plaza, this Arts and Crafts bungalow seems the very antithesis of “Santa Fe style”—or so I thought when my wife and I decided to buy it. But to buy an old house is to acquire a historical puzzle, and the pieces of this puzzle fit together in a way more authentically Santa Fe than we could have imagined. Now, more than two years later and countless trips to the library and slithers through the crawlspace, I’ve come to believe this house can claim its Santa Fe heritage as honestly as any.

For starters, one Jose Ortiz y Pino purchased the house in 1918, two years after it was built, associating the house with deep New Mexican roots: Earlier generations of both the Ortiz and Pinos were among Santa Fe’s founding families.

Jose’s great-grandfather, Pedro Bautista Pino, was the first native-born New Mexican to return to Spain. He did so in 1812 to petition the royal court for improved military protection, public education, and a seminary for the New Mexico colony. (The court sent Pino back to Santa Fe empty handed.)


Photo © Julie Dean
This historic Santa Fe house breaks with Arts and Crafts convention through its all-adobe construction, while the shady street-facing porch and interior details like period light fixtures, a shoulder-high shelf in the dining room, and neat trim molding reinforce the bungalow pedigree.

Jose himself was an influential rancher, businessman, and politician who entertained some of the most prominent New Mexicans of his day. One of them was famous lawman Elfego Baca. When Elfego’s nephew was courting Jose’s youngest daughter, Mela, Elfego served as dubious chaperone. While the young couple chatted in the living room, Elfego lounged on the front porch smoking a cigar and twirling his six-gun on a finger. Years later, Mela told historian Marc Simmons she was so afraid the gun might go off, she couldn’t wait for the pair to leave.

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Copyright 2003 Hacienda Press