Mabel Dodge Luhan House - Taos

After taking the scenic "High Road to Taos" we arrived at our lodging in Taos, The Mabel Dodge Luhan House.  I first visited this amazing historic inn while on a sketchbook workshop in 2012.  Both the workshop and Mabel's had a great effect on me.  Before the workshop I had never done watercolor sketching and Amy Bogard opened my eyes to a whole new world.  (If you are at all interested in journaling, sketching, or both please check out her workshop here.)  I also absolutely fell in love with the "house", its history, Mabel, and Taos. 

As you can see above and below, the house is made of adobe and couldn't be more quaint.  I absolutely love the shape of the doorways and the large wooden beams throughout the house.  Staying in an adobe structure is like being held by nature herself.  The first night I awoke in the middle of the night to the bone-chilling sounds of coyotes calling.  I even slipped out of bed and looked out the window to see if I could catch a glimpse but they eluded my sleepy eyes. 

Below is the dining room and it wouldn't be right not to mention the food is wonderful.  The first night we pulled in we were tired and hungry from our drive and the most amazing chocolate mint truffles awaited us.

In these two photos you can see the "vigas" or beams of the ceiling.  We spent quite a bit of time in the cozy lobby sitting next to a crackling fire in the kiva fireplace.

During the 2012 workshop I stayed in the Georgia O'Keefe room which was adorable.  But this time there were three of us and we splurged and stayed in Mabel's room.  You can see photos of more of the rooms in my blog post from that trip here.

Below is a sketch of the front doors of Mabel's from the 2012 trip.  The interesting teal-turquoise color frames the windows and doors.

Our final day in Taos we had to high-tail it out of there because a snow storm was coming.  As we were leaving I turned around to look at the house one more time and it was so peaceful watching the snow fall on the old adobe inn.

If you ever get a chance to visit Taos a stay at Mabel's is a must.  In my next post I will describe some of our adventures around Taos.  There is never enough time to explore everything there.

"In a cold like this, the stars snap like distant coyotes, beyond the moon. And you'll see the shadow of actual coyotes, going across the alfalfa field. And the pine trees make little noises, sudden and stealthy, as if they were walking about. And the place heaves with ghosts. That place, the ranch, heaves with ghosts. But when one has got used to one's own home-ghosts, be they never so many, and so potent, they are like one's own family, but nearer than the blood. It is the ghosts one misses most, the ghosts there, of the Rocky Mountains,..." -D.H. Lawrence, Mornings in Mexico