Once a simple adobe farmhouse, the Juan José Prada House evolved and expanded over time into a complex of three dwellings. Owned by the Prada family and their descendants for over 100 years, the property was purchased in the 1920s by Margretta Dietrich, a widow and political activist from Philadelphia (see El Zaguán and the Borrego House). Dietrich remodeled and extended the Territorial Style structure with the assistance of local designer Kate Chapman. The Prada House exhibits several outstanding characteristics, including salvaged structural and decorative items interspersed throughout the house and Mexican-style murals painted by Dietrich’s sister, artist Dorothy Stewart.
From Old Santa Fe Today, 5th edition by Audra Bellmore with photographs by Simone Frances.