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    Great Escape

    The magic of Encantado

    Carol Issak Barden
    Jan 6, 2010 | 5:01 pm

    Bless the ten guys who bought the frumpy old dude ranch, knocked it flat, and built the luxurious Encantado, a sister-resort to Napa’s famous Auberge du Soleil. Located in Tesuque, New Mexico, 10 minutes from Santa Fe’s Historic Plaza, Encantado is all about Southwestern chic but without the rash of hideous décorating that has ruined much of Santé Fe – i.e., antler chandeliers, wagon wheels, and country- western torture.

    The location alone out-grandstands everything else about Encantado. The magnificent 59-acre setting captures the mystery with glorious views of the Rio Grande Valley and the Sangre De Christo and Jamez mountains. Just ask the guests. Evenings they’ll be on the terrace, margaritas in hand, watching the flaming sunset.

    THE ATMOSPHERE: Wear jeans and bring your Stetson. The pretentious, put-your-feet-up- comfortable ranch has an amiable bustle, but all is low-key and accommodating, staff included. The strategy for winning guests over (and over) is deceptively simple: lure them with old-fashioned hospitality, give them fine dining, and pamper them in the 10,000 square-foot spa.

    ONLY AT ENCANTADO: Design rules here courtesy of two of the world’s most sought-after firms: AvroKo for the public spaces and Wilson Associates for the private. AvroKo created Public and other cool New York restaurants. (Not every restaurant, let alone restroom, wins a James Beard Award, but Public won both.)

    Inspired by Native American spirituality, Mission-style architecture, and sacred ceremonies, AvroKO dressed the elegant restaurant, Terra, in dark walnut with dividing walls of rammed earth, then lit it with 16 revolutionary fixtures of blackened steel and glass that seem to preside over the room. “Lighting is so important to us,” says Greg Bradshaw, principal. “The bulbs in these fixtures light the restaurant like church candles.” Indeed. That they create an exotic ambiance suggests something magical and unexpected each night. AvroKo’s whiz- kids also designed the hip lounge and bar which they outfitted with dreamy, sculptural lights – a long line of inexpensive incandescent bulbs, dropped from a cord, that somehow looked like a million dollars while the hand-blown shades reminded me of Venetian glass.

    ACCOMODATIONS: Dallas’ internationally acclaimed Dallas design firm, Wilson Associates, blended high and risky aspirations in the 56 casitas and 9 suites. Guests needn’t forsake city slicker amenities (plasma TV, DVD player, and high-speed internet), yet the rooms and their original artworks are rooted in a sense of place. That’s because, says the design director Jim Rimelspach, “Local iron workers fabricated the fireplace screens and curtain rods, and everything else was handmade, including the rugs – woven to resemble Indian blanket designs – and the Pueblo drums that double as tables. The firm also commissioned titantic bathrooms with deep soaking tubs, down pillows, dark stained bamboo plank flooring, leather headboards, fluffy duvets, all-cotton sheets, and heavy linen blackout drapes. Still, I was comforted most by my enormous private balcony and the glow of my beehive-shaped kiva wood-burning fireplace.

    THE FOOD: I enjoyed one of the best dinners of my life at Terre, where Chef Charles Dale features his “Modern Rustic” cuisine, a blend of Spanish, European and indigenous influences. I arrived the day Esquire magazine listed Terra (its doors barely open), among its Best New Restaurants for 2008. Naturally, we celebrated. Chef Dale poured Chateau La Nerthe Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2004 and whipped up wild-mushroom risotto, tuna bordelaise, and a dessert of banana beignets and macadamia brittle ice cream. Already, TERRE is a word-of-mouth restaurant, shared by initiates like a secret handshake. Local residents come for imaginative food that compliments the cinematic big sky views, and the New World wines that deserve a standing ovation.

    REFRESH, RELIEVE, REVITALIZE IN THE SPA: On arrival head immediately to the spa, whose stress cures will banish the rigors of the road. There are 35 treatments, to be exact, including innovative offerings for men. My favorite was the 90-minute Enchanted Facial which includes a soothing hand and scalp massage. Wrapped cocoon like in flannel sheets and a cashmere blanket, I fell into a deep sleep as facialist April Fair applied her ritual of 25-step cleansing and moisturizing steps. When I awakened, two hands gently kneaded and rubbed my feet with peppermint foot balm. As I climbed off the table, I was smiling. (I suspect the spa will do the same for you.)


    DON’T LEAVE TOWN WITHOUT: Seeing the Railroad District. Hip, happening and newly renovated, the train depot is home to a 10-acre park where galleries of contemporary and avant guarde art are springing up and old warehouses are being reborn as design studios, vintage stores, antique shops, and hip eateries. At the farmers’ market you can shop while a string quartet plays Vivaldi. The supply of great showrooms includes Moss Outdoor, (www.mossoutdoor.com) with its patio and garden furnishings, and the two Cielo stores specializing in bedding and tabletop, (www.cielohome.com). For fans of Asian art and furnishings, visit the gigantic Shibue , (www.shibui.com) with its well-edited selection of Far Eastern treasures.

    WHO YOU’LL MEET: Encantado is the stomping ground of Robert Redford, Ali McGraw, and Robert Duvall, so brace yourself, and there are honeymooners and anniversary celebrants, a casual young crowds hanging out in the bar, and big-name locals dropping in to make their own fun in Pinon, the private dining room.


    WHAT ELSE? Get fit, of course. During my stay I took several early morning walks on the property and swam in the pool. I even did a weight training circuit in the gym. To the delight of dachshund-toting travelers, Encantado is pet-friendly, and Spot gets his very own bowl and a bed made of recycled (400-count) guest linens.

    Having no sense of direction, I happily let the resort’s drivers take me everywhere – to Sante Fe, opera, farmer’s market – in the house fleet of Mercedes Benz SUV’s . There’s also a SL550 for suite dwellers. In Santa Fe, there’s a private concierge lounge where you can leave shopping bags, watch TV, and sip a cappuccino. In short, this resort is ahead of the curve and will take care of all the details. You will more than relax at Encantado; you will be encantado, which, as perhaps you’ve guessed, is Spanish for enchanted.

    Bless the ten guys who bought the frumpy old dude ranch, knocked it flat, and built the luxurious Encantado, a sister-resort to Napa’s famous Auberge du Soleil. Located in Tesuque, New Mexico, 10 minutes from Santa Fe’s Historic Plaza, Encantado is all about Southwestern chic but without the rash of hideous décorating that has ruined much of Santé Fe – i.e., antler chandeliers, wagon wheels, and country- western torture.
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    Preservation efforts

    South Texas mission makes list of America’s most endangered historic places

    Associated Press
    May 21, 2026 | 4:00 pm
    Ruidosa Church
    Facebook/Friends of the Ruidosa Church
    El Corazon Sagrado de la Iglesia de Jesus in Ruidosa, Texas is considered an endangered place.

    WASHINGTON (AP) — A historic South Texas mission joins the Stonewall National Monument, the President's House Site, and the Women's Rights National Historic Park among 11 sites on this year's annual list of the most endangered historic places in the United States compiled by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

    The 2026 list, announced Wednesday, May 20, marks America's 250th anniversary with the foundational principle that everyone is created equal as the theme, said Carol Quillen, president and CEO of the nonprofit organization. The 11 sites offer examples of how, over time, Americans have fought against injustice and for equality, she said.

    “We wanted to think about those ideas, especially this notion that all human beings are created equal and find places, sometimes unsung places ... that not all Americans routinely think about," Quillen told The Associated Press.

    The sites are spread across the United States — from New York and California on the East and West Coasts, to Alabama and Texas in the South, to Michigan in the Midwest and the Four Corners of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah in the Rocky Mountain West.

    At least three of the sites — Stonewall, the El Corazon church in Texas, and President's House in Philadelphia — have been endangered by Trump administration actions.

    “We want to save these places," Quillen said, “not just because the bricks and mortar is important but because the stories these places hold are important."

    For the first time since the list debuted in 1988, each site on the 2026 list will receive a one-time $25,000 grant to help highlight their connections to the principle that all people are created equal and address the threats they face.

    The 11 sites are:

    Ruidosa, Texas: El Corazon Sagrado de la Iglesia de Jesus
    The more than century-old adobe church served as a refuge and place of worship for Mexican and Mexican American farming communities on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border along the Rio Grande River. Vacant since the 1950s, the structure has benefited from continued restoration provided by the nonprofit Friends of the Ruidosa Church but remains threatened by proposed construction of a U.S. border wall that could come within a few hundred yards of the property. (The nonprofit has posted an official statement and more information about the border wall here.) Ruidosa is in far west Texas, roughly 35 miles northwest of Presidio and 46 miles southwest of Marfa, near the rugged Chinati Mountains.

    El Corazon Sagrado de la Iglesia de Jesus A historic photograph of El Corazon Sagrado de la Iglesia de Jesus.Facebook/Friends of the Ruidosa Church

    Montgomery, Alabama: Ben Moore Hotel
    The hotel was a refuge for Black people living under laws that enforced racial separation in the South. Prolonged vacancy has caused structural deterioration and the historic Centennial Hill neighborhood surrounding it faces pressure from development. The hotel housed key players from the Civil Rights Movement, including the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rev. Ralph Abernathy. The Conservation Fund announced in November that it would help preserve the hotel.

    Modoc County, California: Tule Lake Segregation Center
    Initially known as the Tule Lake War Relocation Center, it was set up as a camp but later became a segregation center where Japanese Americans who were thought to be disloyal to the United States were imprisoned. The site is now a national monument managed by the National Park Service. Only 37 acres of the 1,100-acre site is protected. Most of it is at risk of permanent alteration from a proposed nearby construction project.

    California: Angel Island Immigration Station
    It was the largest immigration port on the West Coast between 1910 and 1940, particularly for immigrants from Asia and the Pacific. Hundreds of thousands were processed, detained and/or interrogated there because of their race. The station currently is threatened by physical, environmental, political and economic factors. Additional funding is needed for structural repairs and programming to increase awareness.

    Somerset, Massachusetts: Swansea Friends Meeting House
    Recognized as the oldest surviving Quaker meeting house in the state, it was built in 1701 to serve as a refuge by a congregation fleeing religious persecution and looking for a safe place to worship. The building has been closed for years and needs significant rehabilitation.

    Michigan: Detroit Association of Women's Clubs
    Founded in 1921, the association was one of the first Black organizations in Detroit to own their headquarters building, which was purchased in 1941. But the building has been closed since 2024, when water pipes burst and damaged the interior. Money is needed to help the association reopen the building.

    New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Utah: Greater Chaco Cultural Landscape
    The landscape is an ancestral homeland sustained for over a millennium by the Pueblo and Hopi people, but is threatened by changes to federal land policy that could open up significant portions to oil and gas development. Permanent protections and tribal consultation are needed to protect its cultural integrity.

    Seneca Falls, New York: Women's Rights National Historical Park
    The park tells the story of the first Women's Rights Convention, held in Seneca Falls, in July 1848. It faces a deferred maintenance backlog of over $10 million. Additional funding and support are needed to help preserve the park as a place to teach visitors about the history of women's rights.

    New York: Stonewall National Monument
    The first and only U.S. national monument dedicated to LGBTQ+ history was the subject of administration actions that saw the rainbow Pride flag removed from its flagpole earlier this year before it was restored. The National Park Service had removed the flag in February, citing federal guidance that limited the agency to displaying only the American, Interior Department and POW/MIA flags. But the administration reversed course in April as it agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by advocacy and historic preservation groups that sought to block the flag's removal at the Manhattan site.

    After Trump returned to office, he ended diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and many references to transgender people were excised from the Stonewall monument’s website and materials. The Republican administration similarly has put national parks, museums and landmarks under a messaging microscope, aiming to remove or alter materials that it says are “divisive or partisan” or “inappropriately disparage Americans.”

    Philadelphia: The President's House Site
    The administration abruptly removed exhibits on the lives of nine people enslaved at the site in the 1790s under George Washington, the first U.S. president, who lived there when Philadelphia served as the nation's capital. The exhibits were taken down as part of a broad effort by the administration to remove from federal properties information it deems “disparaging” to Americans. The issue is currently the subject of litigation between the city and federal government.

    Heath Springs, South Carolina: Hanging Rock Revolutionary War Battlefield
    The Battle of Hanging Rock was a key battle in the Southern Campaigns of the Revolutionary War and is considered a Patriot victory that helped boost morale and ultimately weaken British control in South Carolina. Only portions of the core battlefield are protected and open to the public, with the area anticipating population growth and increasing development pressures.

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