El Delirio is the eight-acre estate developed in the 1920s, initially as a summer home, by two sisters from New York City, Amelia Elizabeth and Martha Root White. With buildings designed and constructed by local artist and architect William Penhallow Henderson, the estate is a primary example of early Spanish Pueblo Revival Style in Santa Fe. The White sisters called their new home El Delirio (The Madness) after a bar they frequented in Seville, Spain. Appropriately, El Delirio became the center of a lively social scene principally derived from the local art colony and settlers drawn to Santa Fe by its reputation as a healthy place for tuberculosis patients. As local property developers and benefactors of numerous social and cultural efforts, the White sisters’ influence continues to be felt throughout Santa Fe and on their former estate, now the campus of the School for Advanced Research (SAR).
From Old Santa Fe Today, 5th edition by Audra Bellmore with photographs by Simone Frances.
