Santa Fe Domiciles

A look back at various places in Santa Fe where I have stayed over the last 12 years:

Elena Street (2025) was a nice pseudo-adobe that was artfully decorated yet fully furnished. Someone had definitely lived here, the layout of everything made sense, and it was situated in a real residential area. An unmitigated joy, a best-case realization of the Airbnb concept:

East Alameda Street (2023) was over-the-top in its decor, but well-furnished. Another ‘real’ adobe, its open-plan layout wasn't exactly cozy, but its only real drawback was a furnace that sounded like a jet engine:

It was run by a management company, not by an owner who had lived there. It was just off Canyon Road, not really a residential area, but it had an inviting courtyard, a bit chilly in the winter, however:

We were the last people to stay at this adobe house on Sanchez Street, just before Covid hit in 2020, after which the owner removed its listing. It was the home/studio of an artist, and an absolute delight:

It even featured a Buddhist shrine in the back:

I sent a follow up note to the owner when Covid hit, it was a sad situation for both of us.

Our first stay in Santa Fe was at Dunshee’s in 2015, a private rental. It had a ‘designer interior’ that wasn’t very homey but it did have several antiques in the ‘distressed desert’ style:

The owner had mentioned that she wa near retiring and its listing disappeared soon after we had stayed there. Its shady patio would have been nice in warmer temps:

There are numerous offerings of lodging in Santa Fe: some, if not most, are run by management firms and offer a generic experience, like a chain hotel room decorated with a few southwestern-themed furnishings. That is fine, especially if you are the type of tourist who is always on the go and only need a place to sleep. But if you desire a sense of place there are still opportunities to be found there if you look between the lines.