Hacienda del Sol

An 1804 hacienda on the north edge of Taos, where Mabel Dodge Luhan housed her guests — D.H. Lawrence, Georgia O'Keeffe, Carl Jung — in the 1920s before Mabel's main house could fit them. Thirteen adobe rooms on two acres, kiva fireplaces, viga ceilings, and a sight-line straight to Taos Mountain. Adults-only, and quiet enough that you hear the chamisa rustling.

The current Hacienda del Sol has been a small inn since the 1970s. Its claim is the building itself: original adobe walls in places three feet thick, a literary provenance worth talking about, and a setting that hasn't been suburbanized.

The setting

The inn sits on Hacienda Road, a half-mile north of the Taos Plaza, on land that backs directly onto Taos Pueblo trust. From the rooms on the back side, you look across open pueblo land to Taos Mountain, with no electric lines or rooftops in the frame. That view is unrepeatable — adjacent land cannot be developed. The drive into town is two minutes; the walk through cottonwoods on the Camino del Medio is about twenty.

Taos itself is at 7,000 feet; the air is thin, the light is sharp, and afternoons in summer get monsoon thunderheads over the mountain by 3 p.m.

The building

The main house is a true Spanish-Colonial hacienda — flat roof with vigas projecting through the parapet, hand-troweled mud plaster, Saltillo and brick floors, kiva fireplaces in nearly every room. Public rooms are a small library with a fireplace, a glass-walled garden room, and a small breakfast room. New Mexican folk art, weavings, a few period santos. The materials list is stone, timber, and adobe — no faux-anything.

The rooms

Thirteen rooms, all named, all distinct. Most have kiva fireplaces, viga ceilings, and beds piled with wool. A handful have private patios with hot tubs facing Taos Mountain. Bathrooms range from clawfoots to large tile walk-ins. From-rates open around $285 in season, including a full hot breakfast. No televisions in some rooms by design. The Mabel suite, on the original side of the house, is the historical book.

Food & drink

Breakfast only — full, hot, served in the garden room. There's no dinner program. The walk into Taos Plaza is short, and Lambert's, Love Apple, and El Meze are the obvious dinner picks; Doc Martin's at the Taos Inn is the long-running classic. The inn keeps a list of who's open on which night, which in Taos still matters.

On the property

Two acres of grounds, the garden room, a small library, and a hot tub for guest use. There's no pool, no spa, no gym. What's here is silence, the mountain, and a fire to sit by in the evening.

• Adults-only
• Full hot breakfast included
• Hot tub
• Walking distance to Taos Plaza
• Open year-round; winter adds the high desert snow program

Who it's for

• Couples on a third anniversary, not a first
• Readers who know the D.H. Lawrence-O'Keeffe-Mabel triangle and want to sleep where it happened
• Architects on weekends — the building is the artifact
• Anyone allergic to modern resort polish

Who it's not for

• Families with kids — adults-only
• Travelers who need a pool, restaurant, or gym on-site
• Pet owners (no pets allowed)

Nearby

The Taos Pueblo, a UNESCO site continuously inhabited for over 1,000 years, is ten minutes north and the most important thing to see in Taos. The Millicent Rogers Museum is five minutes for jewelry and Pueblo pottery. Arroyo Seco, fifteen minutes up Highway 150 toward the ski valley, has Taos Cow Ice Cream and a few good galleries. The Rio Grande Gorge Bridge is twenty minutes west — drive over it slowly. Taos Ski Valley is forty minutes up the canyon for winter and summer hiking both.