For over a century, the house across the street from the San Miguel Chapel has been known as the oldest house in the city. While the structure is labeled the “oldest building” on the J. J. Stoner Bird’s Eye View of the City of Santa Fe, N.M. 1882, its actual age is not known. While tree-ring specimens taken from wooden vigas date to about 1740–67, portions of the lower walls of one room in the house are made of puddled adobe, an indigenous building technique that predates the adobe mud bricks introduced by Spanish colonists. Even though its age remains debatable, it is a tourist destination that demonstrates how long tourism has been an important part of Santa Fe’s economy.
From Old Santa Fe Today, 5th edition by Audra Bellmore with photographs by Simone Frances.
