Los Luceros and Murder at the Hacienda

 

Two posts in one day!!!  I really am catching up!  Murder at the Hacienda, the 4th in my 1920s Santa Fe mysteries (w/a Amanda Allen) just came out, and I am so excited to get caught up with Maddie and her gang again.  I was also excited because it's one of my favorite mystery tropes--a locked-in, snowed-in whodunit.

It's also based on a real place, and estate about a hour's drive from my home in Santa Fe.  Unlike the house in my book, it's a beautiful, peaceful place, with a wonderfully restores hacienda and acres of pasture (sheep herds!  Apple orchards(, near the Rio Grande with lots of walking trails.

Los Luceros (run by the Museum of New Mexico Foundation) is a 148 acre estate north of the little town of Alcalde and east of the Rio Grande, and it has a very long history, long used by Native pueblos.  By the early 1700s, it was part of the Serrano Land Grant, one of the earliest sites of apple orchards in the area (which are still there!  At their harvest festival open house, you can taste their cider).  It consisted of the main hacienda, the fark, cottages, and a chapel.  By the early 20th century, it had fallen into disrepair until purchased by Boston heiress Mary Cabot Wheelwright (also of the Wheelwright Museum in Santa Fe), who restored it and made it a haven for artists of all sorts, especially for women.  When she died, it fell into neglect again, but is not wonderfully restored and a joy to tour.  (Look for the Olive  Rush murals on the fireplaces!  Rush is often a character in my novels).  It was the scene of many parties, and there are even a few ghost stories...

If you're ever in the area, be sure and stop by, look at the house and walk by the river!  And there's a wonderful bio of Wheelwright, Mary Wheelwright: Her Book by Leatrice Armstrong, and Wheelwright was also an author and historian in her own right

More info for your visit

Ghosts of New Mexico

 It's my favorite month of the year, October!!!  I love the cool mornings, the golden light, the golden aspens and chamisa here in New Mexico, apple cider, and especially Halloween.  I've always been fascinated by ghosties and fairies, and there are plenty here.

It also means next month I have TWO books coming out!  One is the fourth Amanda Allen 1920s mystery, Murder at the Hacienda.  Maddie, David, and their friends (and police inspector frenemy) are snowed in at a remote hacienda for Christmas, when, of course, there is a murder.  One of the people trapped there must be the killer, but which one??  And who will be next?

I based the setting on the real-life rancho, Los Luceros, which is located just outside Espanola and is now a museum/nature center (and a gorgeous place to visit, any time of year).  A bit of its history, according to Atlas Obscura:

Nearly 1,000 years ago, the unassuming spot next to the Rio Grande River was home to the ancestors of today’s Tewa residents of Ohkey Owingeh Pueblo (meaning “Place of the Strong Ones”). The ancient pueblo, Po’yege, is an archaeological site now, but the legacy of the Strong Ones lives on. The people of Ohkey Owingeh, located just downriver from Los Luceros, was one of the first sites to resist Spanish colonization and cruelty in the 1680 Pueblo Revolt. (The Pueblo is the only one with a stone Catholic Church (others are adobe or wood) because the Strong Ones burned it three times.)

At the time of the Revolt, Los Luceros was part of the Sebastian Martin Serrano land grant. The original hacienda, encased inside the 19th-century renovations, dates to the 1700s. It is one of the earliest sites in the Spanish colony where apple trees were planted. There are over 1,000 trees still on the property. 

The Ortiz family, who owned the property in the 1800s expanded the Hacienda and constructed the present capilla, or chapel, onsite. It is still owned by the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.

In the early decades of the 20th century, the site had fallen into ruin and was part of a larger dude ranch. But a wealthy Bostonian, Mary Cabot Wheelwright, came west after the deaths of her parents. She fell in love with the site, purchased it, and had it restored. Hiring noted artist Olive Rush to paint murals on the kiva fireplaces. While spending time at Los Luceros, Wheelwright met two-spirit Dine weaver Hasteen (or Hastiin) Klah. She and Klah collected Native arts from throughout New Mexico, creating the original collection for what would become the Wheelwright Museum.

Marie Chabot, a young woman seeking her place in the world, came to New Mexico from San Antonio, Texas. She was working as a magazine writer. Chabot found her way to Los Luceros where Wheelwright was hosting gatherings of “New Women” like Georgia O’Keeffe, Mabel Dodge Lujan, Carol Stanley, and others. Chabot stayed on, living for a while in the Hacienda and, later, in a nearby casita. Chabot inherited Los Luceros upon Wheelwright’s death. She would go on to have a relationship with O’Keeffe. In those days, they would have been referred to as having “Boston marriages.”

The site is a hidden gem with a deep and complex history. More than one ghost story has been told about the hacienda. If you don’t come for the history or the ghosts, then definitely come for the flock of Churro sheep that graze out back. 

And, of course, it has ghosts!  Apparently, there was a 1998 TV show called "Hauntings in America" that featured the property (before restoration, and in bad condition), but which was mostly untrue legends about hanging trees and women pushed down stairs.  There ARE many reports of windows and trap doors opening and closing by themselves, women crying, sounds of a party, etc, all to be expected in such an old property.  I was able to incorporate some ghostly tales in Maddie's Christmas visit!  Stay tuned all this month for more Santa Fe ghost stories here on this blog...

A few links to info about Los Luceros:

New Mexico Historic Sites (with visiting info)

"Love and Hate at Los Luceros"

The Accidental Angel

Paranormal Claims at Los Luceros