El Zaguan, at 545 Canyon Rd. in

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , literal translation, lit. "Holy Faith") is the capital city, capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Santa Fe County. With over 89,000 residents, Santa Fe is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, fourt ...

, is a historic complex started in 1854. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2008. The listing included two

contributing buildings In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic dist ...

, three

contributing structures In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distr ...

, two

contributing objects In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distr ...

, and a

contributing site In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distr ...

on . It is Territorial Revival in style. A

zaguan Zaguan refers to a house plan configuration where a central passageway leads from a front door to a patio or a courtyard. This is found in historic houses in Mexico and in the southwestern United States. Usually rooms are one deep, with each faci ...

is a compound with a street doorway entrance usually leading back to a courtyard, which is surrounded by one-deep rooms. This has also been known as the James L. Johnson House, and is a former residence of Margretta Stewart Dietrich, and later housed the Historic Santa Fe Foundation. It was purchased in 1928 by Margretta Dietrich. Changes were made under direction of Santa Fe designer Kate Chapman. With

History

Historically, the property at 545 Canyon Road was a modest

adobe Adobe (from arabic: الطوب Attub ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for mudbrick. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is use ...

farmhouse. In 1854,

James L. Johnson James Leeper Johnson (October 30, 1818 – February 12, 1877) was an American lawyer and politician; he served as a U.S. Representative from Kentucky. Biography Born near Smithland, Kentucky, Johnson attended private schools. He moved to Owensb ...

, a well-to-do merchant who was linked to the trade network of the

Santa Fe Trail The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri, with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick region along the Missouri River, the ...

, purchased the house for $250. He and his wife expanded the property adding an additional multi-roomed house, large gardens fed by an acequia to which he had water rights. Other structures the Johnsons built include corrals and stables, chicken coops, hog pens and a smoke shed. The Johnsons eventually expanded the El Zaguan into a mansion of 24 rooms with a library overlooking the garden and a private chapel. Johnson was forced to mortgage the property to a local lawyer and politician,

Thomas B. Catron Thomas Benton Catron (October 6, 1840May 15, 1921) was an American politician and lawyer who was influential in the establishment of the U.S. state of New Mexico, and served as one of its first United States Senators. Catron has defenders but ene ...

. In 1881, Johnson defaulted on the mortgage, and the property was transferred to Catron, although the Johnsons continued to live there. In 1918, Caton sold the property to James Baca who was the Johnson's grandson. Later, after it was purchased by Margretta Stewart Dietrich who saved it from demolition, and it operated as a hotel, as well as an apartment complex. Following Dietrich's death, the property was acquired by the El Zaguan, Inc. corporation, owned by

John Gaw Meem John Gaw Meem IV (November 17, 1894 – August 4, 1983) was an American architect based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is best known for his instrumental role in the development and popularization of the Pueblo Revival Style and as a proponent of a ...

, a well-known local architect. In 1979, the property was transferred to the Historic Santa Fe Foundation.

Architecture

El Zaguan is considered one of the "best examples in Santa Fe of the transition from the Territorial to the modern period. The oldest parts of the structure is built of adobe in the Spanish Pueblo style, while latter additions built by Johnson were in the

Territorial Style Territorial Style was an architectural style of building developed and used in Santa Fe de Nuevo México, popularized after the founding of Albuquerque in 1706. Reintroduced during the New Mexico Territory from the time of the Mexican and American ...

, and included a wooden patio with large panes of glass that were unusual in New Mexico at the time. When placed on the National Register of Historic Places, the domestic home part of the property consisted of a one-story Territorial Style adobe structure with brick

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

s along the roof line. The home has a "rambling floor plan connected by a ''zaguán'' (courtyard). There are two attached adobe garages, a

horno ( ; ) is a mud adobe-built outdoor oven used by the Native Americans and the early settlers of North America. Originally introduced to the Iberian Peninsula by the Moors, it was quickly adopted and carried to all Spanish-occupied lands. The has ...

(outdoor oven) and a stone retaining wall. The

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

is 150 feet long, located on the north side of

Canyon Road Canyon Road (formerly known as Great Plank Road) is a major road and partial state highway, which serves as a connector between Beaverton and Portland, Oregon, United States. It was the first major road constructed between the Tualatin V ...

in the

Santa Fe Historic District Santa Fe Historic District is a Historic districts in the United States, historic district in Santa Fe, New Mexico that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. It includes two sites that are individually named U.S. Nati ...

. James L. Johnson installed four tall, double hung wooden windows, with 9/6 lights and three windows with 2/2 lights. Additional casement and double hung windows were installed after the house passed on to Catron. The doors to the ''zaguán'' are wood and green glass.

Historic acequia

In 2022-23 the historic

acequia An acequia () or (, also known as síquia , all from ) is a community-operated watercourse used in Spain and former Spanish colonies in the Americas for irrigation. Acequias are found in parts of Spain, the Andes, northern Mexico, and what i ...

was restored in the garden at El Zaguan. The acequia was built in the 1850s by Maria Jesusita Johnson who was Johnson's wife from Mexico. The stone-lined irrigation ditch is fed by the Acequia Madre, the "mother ditch" of Santa Fe. After the McClure Reservoir was built in the 1940s, water to this section of the acequia was cut off. The current water source for the restored El Zaguan acequia comes from well water. Many of the plantings in the garden were imported from colonial Spain, while others were brought by later homesteaders and settlers.

Gallery

File:El Zaguan, Santa Fe, Historic Santa Fe, facade.jpg, El Zaguan, Santa Fe, Historic Santa Fe, facade File:El Zaguan, Santa Fe, South facade detail, front entrance.jpg, El Zaguan, Santa Fe, South facade detail, front entrance File:El Zaguan, Santa Fe, west patio with restored acequia adjacent to the garden.jpg, El Zaguan, Santa Fe, west patio with restored acequia adjacent to the garden File:Barred Window (12491121733).jpg, ornamental wood-barred window File:El Zaguan, Santa Fe, Historic Santa Fe Foundation plaque.jpg, El Zaguan, Santa Fe, Historic Santa Fe Foundation plaque

References

External links