City: Santa Fe, NM

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (505) 983-2567 (Historic Santa

Address: 545 Canyon Rd.

Description: This long, rambling Territorial-style hacienda, with its lovely garden, was named El Zaguan, “the passageway,” because of the long hall running from the patio to the garden. Early floor plans show two patios, a central patio that served as the entry from the street with larger, more formal rooms opening onto it, and an east patio, which was the center of household activities. The house, today with 14 rooms, once had 24 rooms, including a chapel, a “chocolate room,” and a library that once housed the largest collection of books in the Territory. The property was bought by Adolph Bandelier—the anthropologist for whom Bandelier National Monument is named—in 1890. It was converted to apartments in the 1920s by two artist sisters. In 1962, preservationists purchased the property, and today one of its apartments is an office shared by the Historic Santa Fe Foundation and the Old Santa Fe Association. El Zaguan remains a thriving artist community, with six small low-cost apartments available for rent by artists and writers annually. The Historic Santa Fe office is open 9 a.m. to noon and 1:30 to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday; the garden, which may be rented for events, is open Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free.