Dorado Magazine - July/August 2016 by Ballantine Communications

DORADO MUS ICIAN S WE LOVE

S A N TA F E ’ S B U R N I N G M A N

H AYC AT I O N , A N YO N E ?

Weekend Getaways {

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REFINED LIVING, BIG ADVENTURES

From SMALL-TOWN Colorado and Texas HILL COUNTRY to an epic TACO TOUR across Arizona, get out and enjoy the very BEST OF SUMMER in the Southwest

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AT THE HEART OF NEW MEXICO BEATS THE PULSE OF A VIBRANT CITY

Photo © MarbleStreetStudio.com

It is difficult to describe Albuquerque. Both ancient and cutting edge, equal parts cool & quaint — there is truly no other city like it. Each person experiences something completely unique and leaves Albuquerque viewing their own world in a whole new light.

Change your perspective.

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VISITABQ.ORG/PERSPECTIVE • #TRUEABQ

Just minutes from the charm and culture of downtown Santa Fe sits Las Campanas, a private golf and recreational community at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo mountains. It’s all here now, ready for you to enjoy, including two Jack Nicklaus Signature courses; a 7-court tennis pavilion; a state-of-the-art ﬁtness center with indoor/outdoor swimming pools; an industry-leading equestrian program; and a warm and inviting Hacienda Clubhouse. Come and see why over 750 families already call Las Campanas home.

Discovery Package

CALL US TODAY TO FIND OUT ABOUT OUR SPECIALLY-PRICED INCLUDING ONSITE ACCOMMODATIONS AND GOLF LasCampanas.com |

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Homesites from the $70’s. Custom Homes from the $600’s. Brand new models from the $800’s. This promotional material is not intended to constitute an offering in violation of the law of any jurisdiction. Lot reservations or conditional sales only may be currently offered in certain neighborhoods. No binding offer to sell or lease this property may be made or accepted prior to delivery of a disclosure statement for the property that complies with applicable state law, including the New Mexico Subdivision Act. These materials and the features and amenities depicted herein J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 1 6 • D O R A D O are based upon current development plans, which are subject to change without notice. All lot owners are eligible to apply for membership to the private clubs; however, lot ownership is separate from club membership and does not provide any guarantee of acceptance. Additional membership fees and restrictions apply. Prices and incentives are subject to change without notice. c2016 Las Campanas Residential Holdings, LLC and Las Campanas Realty, LLC. All rights reserved.

A better way to Santa Fe Red Sage · Wo’ P’in Spa · Towa golf Course · AAA Four Diamond Resort Book your stay today 505.455.5555 hiltonbuffalothunder.com

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[ LONE STAR ] State of the art.

A Horse, of Course, 2016. 30 IN x 40 IN

A lighthearted artist, musician and family man, John Lowery draws inspiration from the natural beauty surrounding his land in Burton, Texas. Visit the gallery in Round Top for original paintings and prints, or purchase online at humbledonkeystudio.com.

Reflection Creek, 2016.

Milky Morning, 2016.

y time you buy

John at work in his studio.

t, a donkey gets its wings.

192 Henkel Circle | Round Top, Texas 78954 | 979.249.3814 | HUMBLEDONKEYSTUDIO.COM

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D O R A D O â&#x20AC;¢ J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 1 6

SANTA FE G FINE HOMES A COLLE CTION OF

LIVIN

The dream of Santa Fe Living ...

It’s our 30th anniversary, and we’re proud to present our redesigned 2016 Santa Fe Living Magazine — now infused with more amazing listings in every corner of town, unique local content and unrivaled broker perspective. To start, we added a map of “must-see” destinations to get you around town efficiently and then crafted a calendar of events built for fun. We also included new sections with our picks on restaurants, galleries and museums. But the pièce de résistance of Santa Fe Living is “The Broker View,” a sidebar with our associate brokers’ advice on regional living, fabulous dining and exploring The City Different. We’re confident you’ll enjoy their insight — for thirty years it’s what’s consistently earned Santa Fe Properties the respect as the top independent real estate brokerage in town. That fact that we’re family-owned and operated makes us selective. We maintain our integrity by choosing associate brokers who share Santa Fe Properties’ vision, sensibilities, and dedication to the community. Take for example our broker involvement to support our non-profit sponsorships, including this year’s Santa Fe Showhouse, where local interior designers practice their craft to raise money for Santa Fe schools. Moreover, many of our brokers are either natives or long-time residents of the neighborhoods they sell in. We compliment their sales process with the best in support — from brochure design to SEO, we’re working hard behind the scenes to give listings the maximum exposure for both buyers and sellers. When your dream of Santa Fe Living begins, put it in the hands of the Santa Fe Properties. ¡Bienvenidos! We look forward to seeing you.

Find Santa Fe Living all over downtown Santa Fe. Call us or go online to request a complimentary copy.

(505) 982-4466 J•U LYsantafeproperties.com /AUGUST 2016 • DORADO 5

TABLE of CONTEN TS

54 40

FEATURES Tour de Taco It’s the Southwest’s most iconic and beloved food. Set out across Arizona on a mission to taste the many delicious incarnations of the taco.

by Peter O’Dowd

The Burning of Zozobra Part pagan ritual, part town party. Revel in the pageantry and the community spirit of Santa Fe’s Zozobra festival.

The Hills Are Alive Natural beauty meets cowboy charm in Texas Hill Country, a road-trip-worthy mix of quaint towns, good food and endless fields of wildflowers. photography by Wynn Myers

Into the Woods Summer’s outdoor adventures call for a rugged nature and easy-going style. photography by Ashley Camper

by Sam Moulton

on t h e c ove r : Fishing along Christopher Creek, Arizona, photograph by Ashley Camper

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LEFT, ASHLEY CAMPER; RIGHT, TOP: JEN JUDGE; BOTTOM: MARK LIPCZYNSKI

JULY/AUGUST 2016

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$109

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DEPARTMENTS OUTDOORS

26 High and Mighty

Find your Rocky Mountain high in the natural wonders towering over Colorado Springs.

IN TOWN

Vacation getaways on working farms are popping up across the Southwest.

AT HOME

71 A Sense of Place

Los Alamos has grown into a center for big science and bona fide outdoor adventure.

PA N O R A M A

ON THE ROAD

36 Haycation, Anyone?

32 Boom Town

DORADOMAGAZINE.COM

Texas’ Spanish colonial history inspires this elegant hunting lodge. Plus: Leather accents.

A SNA P SHOT OF T HE SOU T HWEST ’ S EV ENTS, C U LT U R E & P E O P L E MUSIC

15 From small-town

festivals to outdoor amphitheaters, here are five artists not to miss.

GEAR

18 Gear up and get out

with these finds that are equipped to take you from trail to stream.

EVENT

20 On this trip through 80 M Y

DORADO

Arizona-based entrepreuneurs find fresh opportunities and inspiration in the Sonoran Desert.

Colorado, it’s hard to tell what’s more impressive: the scenery or the collectible cars.

10 Letter from the Editor • 12 Masthead • 13 Contributors

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EAT

22 Keep the heat out of

the kitchen this summer with these fresh and easy Santa Fe salads from Erin Wade at Vinaigrette.

ART

24 Lloyd Kiva New

revolutionized the design world by incorporating Native motifs into midcentury fashion. Three Santa Fe exhibitions reflect on his art and legacy.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: JOHN WAUGH PHOTOGR APHIC IMAGES, CONSTANCE HIGLEY, INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN INDIAN ARTS (IAIA ), ERIK K VL ASVIK, ASHLEY DAVIS TILLY, VISITCOS.COM

2016 SEASON JULY 1 to AUGUST 27

THE SANTA FE OPERA 60TH ANNIVERSARY

The Girl of the Golden West Roméo et Juliette

GOUNOD

Don Giovanni

PUCCINI

Capriccio

R. STRAUSS

MOZART

Vanessa

BARBER

The 60 th anniversary season is filled with powerful love stories, including Puccini’s The Girl of the Golden West. This Gold Rush-era story, set in Minnie’s saloon, inspired a multitude of western films. Experience an unforgettable evening in an incredible open-air theater setting. Arrive early with a tailgate supper to enjoy the sunset and mountain views.

SantaFeOpera.org

800-280-4654

Photos: Robert Godwin, theater; Kate Russell, tailgate

OPENING NIGHTS SPONSOR

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Ask about a special offer for Opera guests.

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800-955-4455 J U LYwww.eldoradohotel.com /AUGUST 2016 • DORADO

L ET T ER FROM THE E DITOR

Midsummer Escapes There’s something about summer that calls for a bit of adventure. The season’s long, lazy days and warm weather almost demand an escape from our everyday responsibilities. Here in the Southwest, we’re fortunate that this itch for summer adventure is so easy to scratch. A stunning natural wonder or charming small town is just a quick road trip away. That’s why, in this issue of Dorado, we spotlight a series of weekend getaways around the Southwest, from cultural to culinary. Texas Hill Country is the perfect embodiment of summer vacation. Photographer Wynn Myers captures the region’s carefree spirit in The Hills Are Alive (page 46), with a road trip to some of the best cowboy bars, barbecue joints and natural swimming holes in the Lone Star State. Peter O’Dowd also hits the road in search of one of our food obsessions: the taco (Tour de Taco, page 40). His journey from the luxe Enchantment Resort in Sedona to Mission San Xavier del Bac in southern Arizona’s Tohono O'odham Nation reveals what makes the taco — and its many variations — so special. Santa Fe is a popular destination for many travelers, but at the beginning of September, residents embrace their town’s quirky, artistic roots with the Zozobra

festival (The Burning of Zozobra, page 54). Sam Moulton shares why he loves taking friends and family to his adopted hometown’s annual fiesta. No matter your summer pleasure, we’ve got you covered: music festivals (page 15), art exhibitions (page 24), hiking and biking (page 26) — even cheesemaking on a farm (page 36). And wherever the road takes you, we hope you enjoy the ride.

VACATION DAYS Willow Springs Lake and the Mogollon Rim offer a respite for Arizonans looking to get away from the summer heat.

Jeff Ficker

ASHLEY CAMPER

e d itor in ch ie f Dorado magazine

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E D I TO R I A L

Editor in Chief

Jeff Ficker Creative Director

Caroline Jackson Crafton Design Director

Marc Oxborrow Associate Editor/Digital Editor

Ellen Ranta Olson Online Design

Chuck Rose, Aaron Heirtzler editorial inquiries: editor@doradomagazine.com PRODUCTION

Creative Shared Services Director

Christy Pollard Senior Design Manager

Todd Bartz Production/Pagination

Suzanne Duke Vice President of Enterprise Marketing

Kricket Lewis Subscription Services

Aani Parrish production inquiries: customerservice@doradomagazine.com ADVERTISING

Publisher

Chad Rose chadr@bcimedia.com Account Executives

Theresa Monaco

Lauren Reidy-Phelan

tmonaco@bcimedia.com

laurenrp@bcimedia.com

Katy Walker kwalker@bcimedia.com Marketing Coordinator

Brittany Cupp Chief Executive Officer

Douglas Bennett Vice President of Finance and Operations

Bob Ganley To subscribe to Dorado magazine, visit doradomagazine.com. Dorado magazine is published by Ballantine Communications. Creative services provided by Casual Astronaut (casualastronaut.com). Dorado magazine will not assume any responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or materials. © 2016 Ballantine Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means without prior written permission.

1275 Main Ave., Suite 737 • Durango, CO 81301 ballantinecommunicationsinc.com

D O R A D O • J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 1 6

CONTRIBUTORS

Wynn Myers (The Hills Are Alive, page 40) is a lifestyle and editorial photographer based in Austin, Texas. Myers searches for authentic moments in photography and loves to capture the beauty and joy in the everyday. She has shot for Food & Wine, Texas Monthly and The Atlantic. In her free time, you will find her hanging out with her husband, browsing vintage shops and spending time outdoors with her dogs. FAVORITE PLACE IN THE SOUTH W EST Zapata Ranch, Colorado “The great sand dunes are a quick car ride away. You can hike up to the top of the dunes for an amazing view and then take a dip in the cold water at the base of the dunes.”

Phoenix native Peter O’Dowd (Tour de Taco, page 48) has spent a good deal of his career covering the West for public radio. Though most of his work today is in Boston as a guest host and reporter for NPR’s midday news program Here & Now, O’Dowd says his heart is still in Arizona. The former news director at NPR member station KJZZ, he helped establish a network of Southwestern bureaus that spanned the Mexican border, from San Diego to San Antonio. FAVORITE PLACE IN TH E SOU THW EST Ooh-Aah Point at the Grand Canyon in Arizona “Appropriately named, this solitary view of the Grand Canyon will make you marvel at your tiny place in the world.”

Sam Moulton (The Burning of Zozobra, page 54) has been a magazine editor and writer for the past 15 years. Along the way, he’s snorkeled with beluga whales in Hudson Bay, skied in the Bulgarian backcountry and tracked polar bears in Nunavik, Canada. His work has appeared in Backpacker, Men’s Journal, Skiing and many others. After eight years as an editor at Santa Fe-based Outside magazine, Moulton is now its content marketing director. FAVO R I T E PL AC E I N T H E S O U T H W E ST Gila National Forest, New Mexico “It’s remote and rugged and raw. When you get into the heart of it, it feels like you’re in another world. It’s like the land that time forgot.”

Photographer Ashley Camper (Into the Woods, page 60) credits a mix of downto-earth Midwestern roots and a welltraveled eye for her unique aesthetic. After graduating from college, Camper split her time between Minneapolis, Maui and London for many years. She has shot for Kinfolk magazine, WSJ magazine and Tiny Atlas Quarterly. FAVO R I T E PL AC E I N T H E S O U T H W E ST White Sands National Park, New Mexico “Last summer was my first time driving across New Mexico, and I was in love with how perfectly white the dunes were and how perfectly set they were in the middle of nowhere.”

Discover A Dozen Vacations in One Destination™ www.durango.org 866.631.7010 J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 1 6 • D O R A D O

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PANORAMA A S N A P S H O T O F T H E S O U T H W E S T ’ S E V E N T S , C U LT U R E & P E O P L E

MUSIC

Sounds of Summer You don’t have to live like a roadie to catch some of the best music in the Southwest. From small-town festivals to outdoor amphitheaters, here are five emerging artists not to miss BY E L L E N R A N TA O L S O N

FR ANK MADDOCKS

Blues sensation Gary Clark Jr. plays the Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre in Salt Lake City on July 31.

PLUS:

| Gear

| Event

| Food

| Art

J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 1 6 • D O R A D O

PANORAMA

Gary Clark Jr. See Sara Watkins Sept. 3 in Pagosa Springs, Colorado.

Sara Watkins A singer-songwriter and fiddler from California, then-8-year-old Watkins made her debut in 1989 as a founding member of the progressive bluegrass group Nickel Creek. This summer, she’s bringing her solo act to a variety of venues, like Bonnaroo and the Kennedy Center. SEE HER: Watkins’ gentle twang is right at home among the pines at the Four Corners Folk Festival, Sept. 2–4 in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. MUST DOWNLOAD: Get ready for a wave of nostalgia as you sing along to “You and Me,” a catchy tune about former friends and flames, then revel in Watkins’ ukulele skills on “My Friend.”

Leon Bridges The Fort Worth, Texas native is only 26, but already earning critical acclaim for his crooning, which evokes the last

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If you’ve ever bemoaned the fact that all the good music died in the 1970s, you haven’t been to a Gary Clark Jr. show. Clark came up playing blues guitar in the clubs of Austin, and even apprenticed under Jimmie Vaughn (Stevie Ray’s brother). This year, he’s taking his classic rock sounds to the stage at festivals like Coachella and Governor’s Ball. SEE HIM: Get tickets now for Clark’s show at Red Butte Garden Amphitheater in Salt Lake City on July 31, before it sells out. MUST DOWNLOAD: Clark introduced himself to the world with “Bright Lights,” which was nominated for a Grammy in 2012, while the psychedelic vocal effects on “Wings” showcase Clark’s willingness to experiment with different styles.

Little Hurricane No stranger to the Southwest’s music festival scene, this San Diego-based dirty blues duo has played Austin City Limits, SXSW and Telluride Blues and Brews in years past. While they may technically be from southern California,

their gritty sound is more Wild West than West Coast. SEE THEM: This year, Little Hurricane is joining the likes of Pearl Jam and Cage the Elephant at the Ride Festival in Telluride, Colorado, July 9–10. MUST DOWNLOAD: The combo of Anthony Catalano’s vocals and Celeste Spina’s drumming is a musical match made in heaven on “Summer Air” and “Sheep in Wolves Clothes.”

Covenhoven For folk singer Joel Van Horne, growing up in Denver meant escaping the city every summer for a cabin in the woods, dubbed Covenhoven. So when he needed a new project and a fresh start to his musical career, he turned to the woods for inspiration, and the one-man band named after a cabin was born. SEE HIM: The Denver native will take to the stage at the Underground Music Showcase, July 28–31, in Denver. MUST DOWNLOAD:

Reminiscent of Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver, Van Horne’s lyrics and soft, melodic voice shine on “See You in the Spring” and “My Search Party.”

Covenhoven takes the stage at Denver’s Underground Music Showcase July 28–31.

SUMMER FEST

Visit doradomagazine.com/festivals for more can’t-miss shows of the season.

LEFT: MA ARTEN DEBOER RIGHT: STEVE STANTON

century’s best soul artists. “I’m not saying I can hold a candle to any soul musician from the ’50s and ’60s,” Bridges writes on his website, “but I want to carry the torch.” SEE HIM: Bridges will be burning it up at the Mesa Arts Center in Mesa, Arizona, on Sept. 20. MUST DOWNLOAD: The first single off his debut record, Coming Home, “River” is an emotional ballad that’s nothing short of stunning, while the title track makes it easy to see why Bridges has been tagged as the next Sam Cooke.

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PANORAMA GEAR

Rule the River

Gear up and get out with these finds that are equipped to take you from trail to stream — and beyond BY DINA MISHEV

Fuel for Fishing

RO C K A N D R O L L

With the Filson Summer Packer Hat, you can rock the look of a fedora, then roll it up without worry. Bonus features? It’s lightweight, waterrepellent and breathable.

Even if Field Trip Jerky didn’t make flavors like roasted sesame, honey spice, crushed chilies, and cracked pepper, you’d want it as your snack: It’s nitrate-, nitrite-, gluten-, MSG-, artificial preservativeand corn syrup-free. $6.50, fieldtripjerky.com

Hot Rod

Sage’s new MOD fly rod includes plenty of fancy technology and materials, but what matters most is that it’s fun to fish with and no other rod out there is better suited to trout fishing in the West’s rivers. When paired with Sage’s CLICK reel, fish will fear you. MOD from $850, CLICK from $259, sageflyfish.com TOP: K YLE FORD

$55, circle7online.com

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Bugs Away

authentic.

Look good and keep bugs at bay with White Sierra’s lightweight, breathable and colorful Kool Gauze Scarf, treated with Insect Shield repellent. $28, rei.com

Tackle Any Trail

Every so often a company nails its product from the get-go. Meet Chippewa’s Kush N Kollar Chocolate Mountaineer Boot, perfect since its 1969 debut: waterproof leather with a steel shank and Vibram lug sole. From $410, chippewaboots.com

B AS K E T CAS E

It’s beautiful enough to use as art in your home, but L.L.Bean’s wicker creel is also functional: The lacquer finish protects the wicker in the water while the leather strap has a rustproof buckle. $79, llbean.com It’s About Time

simple.

Luminox’s RECON Team Leader merely starts with telling time. A tachymetric scale measures distance walked, it’s waterproof to 100 meters, and the strap has inch/ centimeter markers so you can measure your catch. $795, luminox.com

classic. River to Restaurant

G.H. Bass’ Mountain Twill Shirt is just enough extra warmth for windy days on the river and more than enough style for whatever you have planned afterward. $74, ghbass.com

Fine Apparel · Hats · Jewelry Handbags · Belts · Giis

acowgirlspromise.com 530-409-5982

J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 1 6 • D O R A D O

PANORAMA

EVENT

A Grand Tour Take a trip through Colorado with some of the world’s most collectible cars. It’s hard to tell what’s more impressive: the scenery or the autos

Rare and exotic cars from around the world tour Colorado's Western Slope Sept. 12-17 for the annual Colorado Grand.

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JOHN WAUGH PHOTOGR APHIC IMAGES

BY CELESTE SEPESSY

hen Bob Sutherland drove 1,000 miles through the Brescian Raceway in Italy’s legendary Mille Miglia race, the cars were exquisite but the pace was exhausting. So in 1989 the Boulder, Colorado, native (who died in 1999 at age 56) founded a tour — not a race — in his own backyard: the Colorado Western Slope. Every September, nearly 100 participants from around the world gather in Vail to drive The Colorado Grand in sports cars dating back to the 1910s. The 1,000-mile, four-day charity tour winds through barely traveled mountain byways in the Rockies, dipping into tiny, time-preserved towns. The route changes annually, with this year’s event (Sept. 12-17) looping through Telluride, Ouray, Silverton, Durango and Dolores. “They’ve never seen country like this,” says Frank Barrett, The Grand’s route planner and self-declared Alfa Romeo guy. “It’s a huge thrill for someone from Connecticut or California to drive down the Dolores River.” The Colorado Grand is the oldest and most exclusive tour of its type in the country, featuring an “ever-changing collection of cars,” says Michael Kunz, manager of Grand sponsor MercedesBenz Classic Center. On any given tour, you might see a car worth $20,000, or one worth $40 million, like a one-of-a-kind 1955 Mercedes 300 SLR w196 usually protected in a garage. No matter the price, the vehicles have to be interesting, rare and fun to watch. “You’ll see cars and think, ‘There’s one of those in the world, and that’s it going by,’” Kunz says. Although every year inevitably brings newcomers, many attendees have driven The Grand many times, like Richard Procter, who’s participated 13 years in a row. Procter’s driven a number of cars in the tour — a 1927 Bentley, a 1928 Bugatti, a 1934 Frazer Nash, a 1936 Delahaye Grand Prix — oftentimes shipped from his home in the United Kingdom. And like many drivers, Procter says going topless is key to the experience. “Open-topped cars give me a greater sense of the vastness of Colorado,” he explains, noting some of his cars don’t even have windshields, necessitating goggles and a leather helmet. “The weather has not always been kind.” This is the norm for The Grand, though. “We take on a changing-climate route, so you might have a hot day, a day with snow or a rainstorm,” Kunz explains. Sometimes, it’s a combination in the same day thanks to Colorado’s roller coaster of elevation; for example, Grand Junction sits at 4,583 feet in the high desert, while former mining community Silverton tops 9,300 feet. The result? Million-dollar cars with drivers dressed in trash bags — sometimes “driving a little faster so the rain goes right over your head,” Kunz says with a laugh. But that’s the adventurous spirit of the event.

ENJOY UP TO

20% OFF

CALL 1-888-728-0355 EMAIL FRANZKLAMMER@FAIRMONT.COM OR CONTACT YOUR TRAVEL PROFESSIONAL

J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 1 6 • D O R A D O

PANORAMA

Salad Star BY E L L E N R A N TA O L S O N

Watermelon + Blue Cheese + Spinach

Corn + Feta + Cherry Tomatoes

Peach + Burrata + Prosciutto

The contrasting flavors of sweet watermelon and salty blue cheese pair perfectly, while the spinach adds a bit of balance.

Take your sweet corn off the cob and pair it with tangy feta and acidic tomatoes for a dish that is great on its own or perfect with grilled steak and shrimp.

Juicy peaches combined with creamy burrata cheese and salty prosciutto make for an entrée salad that’s worth skipping the grill for a night.

Keep the heat out of the kitchen this summer with these fresh and easy salads from Erin Wade at Vinaigrette

PRO TIP: “How you cut your ingredients has a huge impact on flavor in a salad,” Wade says. “I like to cut thin triangle wedges of watermelon, so they are thin enough to meld with the other flavors into perfect bites.” GET THE RECIPE: Visit doradomagazine. com/watermelon for Wade’s Spinach Watermelon Salad with Bacon, Chives and Creamy Blue Cheese Dressing.

ith the abundance of fresh produce available at farmers markets across the Southwest, now is the time to add a salad to your daily menu. Erin Wade — farmer, chef and owner of salad bistro Vinaigrette in Santa Fe, Albuquerque and Austin — offers up three ways to use summer’s bounty that’ll make you happy to skip the meat and potatoes tonight. “Summer is such a fun time to draw on nostalgia for inspiration,” Wade says. “School-free summertime memories are shot through with recollections of food. A bowl of juicy peaches, shark-fin slices of watermelon, buttery corn on the cob — they’re all great building blocks for summertime salads.”

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PRO TIP: When grilling your corn, turn the ears often but allow them to blacken and char in parts for extra flavor. GET THE RECIPE: For Wade’s Fire Roasted Corn Salad with Feta and Cherry Tomatoes with Lime-Paprika Citronette, go to doradomagazine. com/corn.

PRO TIP: Wade says she likes to use fresh peach juice to create a complementary and flavorful vinaigrette. And if it isn’t quite sweet enough, add a touch of honey to bring out the flavor. GET THE RECIPE: Visit doradomagazine. com/peach for Wade’s Peach & Burrata Salad with Prosciutto, Corn and Scallions in a Honey and Peach Juice Vinaigrette.

CONSTANCE HIGLEY

E AT

DAYDREAMS, delivered. Get your dose of big adventures sent straight to your inbox every other week with the Dorado e-newsletter. VISIT DORADOMAGAZINE.COM TO SIGN UP NOW.

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PANORAMA

ART

Lloyd Kiva New revolutionized the design world by incorporating Native motifs into midcentury fashion. Three Santa Fe exhibitions reflect on his art and legacy BY ASHLEY M. BIGGERS

In the 1940s and '50s, Lloyd Kiva New (pictured) infused his successful fashion line with native symbols, Southwestern colors and bold, graphic prints.

supple plum leather handbag with a metal sun medallion. A structured dress cut from an original textile blending desert colors as though shimmering in summer heat. These are the physical legacies of fashion designer Lloyd Kiva New, but his influence as an educator and co-founder of the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) stretches far beyond the tactile. “Lloyd’s ultimate influence was based in his concept of taking Native art out of this preconceived box and opening it up to

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THIS PAGE, TOP AND BOTTOM, AND OPPOSITE: JASON S. ORDA Z, INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN INDIAN ARTS (IAIA ); THIS PAGE, CENTER: COURTESY IAIA .

Native Awakening

Lloyd Kiva New Centennial Exhibitions

Lloyd Kiva New: Art, Design and Influence The Museum of Contemporary Native Art, through July 31. iaia.edu/museum Finding a Contemporary Voice: The Legacy of Lloyd Kiva New and IAIA The New Mexico Museum of Art, through Oct. 10. nmartmuseum.org A New Century: The Life and Legacy of Cherokee Artist and Educator Lloyd Kiva New The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, through Dec. 31. indianartsandculture.org

20th-century people,” says Ryan Flahive, a co-curator of one of three exhibits in Santa Fe, celebrating the 100th anniversary of New’s life this year. Born Lloyd Henri New in 1916, New grew up in Oklahoma, the son of a wiry Scotsman and a stalwart Cherokee mother. His mother was his tether to Native culture, though he struggled with cultural identity walking in two worlds. He followed his nascent art talents to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, from which he was the first Native American to graduate. His brief stint teaching at the Phoenix Indian Boarding School that followed disillusioned him about the traditional methods of art education. In 1946, he adopted the trade name Lloyd Kiva and established Kiva Studio, his Scottsdale, Arizona, showroom. Here customers found contemporary 1950s fashions — full, midi skirts for women, tailored button-down shirts for men — with Native touches, whether they be Kiva’s vibrant textiles, or belts and buttons with Native symbols. Reaching an acclaim never before seen in Native fashion design, he left a lucrative creative career to become the first art director of IAIA in Santa Fe in 1962. The move coincided with a sea change moment in the history of Western art, when ethnicity, culture and personal narrative were more readily welcomed not only as means of expression but also as mainstream contemporary art. He taught his students textile design as an entré to experimentation. Bolts of the colorful results hang in a Museum of Contemporary Native Art exhibit. According to Flahive, New overthrew the notion that Native American students must restrict themselves to making “roadside trinkets” and even traditional art forms. “At IAIA, Indian youths have the opportunity to study what is artistically the best, what is artistically enduring, and what is artistically transferable to the modern world from their unique traditions,” he said.

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OUTDOORS

HIGH A ND MIGHT Y From Pikes Peak to the red sandstone spires of Garden of the Gods, Jen Murphy finds her Rocky Mountain high in the natural wonders towering over Colorado Springs

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f you’re afraid of heights, you’re going to have a tough time in Colorado Springs. In the last 24 hours, I’ve spent more time in the air than on the ground. The mountains are the star of Colorado’s second-largest town, particularly Pikes Peak. Nicknamed “America’s Mountain,” the iconic 14er inspired the lyrics to "America the Beautiful" and is the second most-visited mountain in the world after Mount Fuji. In the 1880s a two-day mule ride was required to make the 14,115foot ascent. Today, a 13-mile trail leads hikers to the summit, and cars can drive the 19-mile Pikes Peak Highway. But, the Pikes Peak Cog Railway is the most effortless way to appreciate the famous views. I notice passengers buying oxygen before they board. Even though we won’t be expending any energy, the altitude at the top can be dizzying, the conductor warns. The red Swiss rail cars seem to defy physics as we crawl up the 8.9-mile track. Ponderosa pines and blue spruce give way to a lunarlike tundra

POINTS OF VIEW

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Clockwise from far left: The Pikes Peak Cog Railway sets out for its 8.9-mile ascent; scaling the red-hued Garden of the Gods; a roadside view around every bend; The Broadmoor resort's scenic Restaurant 1858; Colorado Springs' high altitude makes it an ideal spot for the 35-acre U.S. Olympic Training Center.

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NIGHTFALL

area of Cheyenne Canyon passes through old railway tunnels carved into the mountainside. “Locals say if you leave a white car in the tunnel overnight it will be covered with handprints from the ghosts of miners the next morning,” says Andy, my guide from Adventures Out West. Andy explains how the 1858 Pikes Peak Gold Rush ignited Colorado’s mining industry. Hikers and mountain bikers have now replaced gold-seekers in these mountains, but the expanse of the trail network means you can still avoid crowds. Andy leads me up the Seven Bridges Trail, a moderate hike that hugs North Cheyenne Creek crisscrossing seven wooden bridges. Most people turn back after the last bridge, but Andy promises the meadow that lies just beyond is worth the extra scramble. Driving back down Gold Camp Road, we pull off at a lookout. From above, The Broadmoor resort looks like a town within a town. The gold rush may have brought the first settlers to Colorado, but it was the opening of The Broadmoor in 1918 that brought tourists. Today, the 3,000-acre property boasts 10 restaurants, six tennis courts, three golf courses, a spa and fitness center, and four satellite wilderness resorts. I could spend an entire week here and still not experience half the property. In 2014, The Broadmoor purchased Seven Falls. A 10-minute shuttle from This series of seven waterfalls cascades dramatically the resort, the series of seven waterfalls cascades dramatically down a 1,250-footdown a 1,250-foot-wall box canyon and, like most Colorado wall box canyon and, like most Colorado Springs attractions, the falls require a vertigo-inducing climb. The thought of Springs’ attractions, requires a vertigo-inducing climb. lunch at Restaurant 1858 motivates me to tackle the hike to Inspiration Point as we creep above the tree line and see the snowy before I descend back down the 224 steps. Opened peaks of the Continental Divide looming in the dislast September, the restaurant sits beneath the falls, tance as if floating on clouds. When we reach aptly and its menu is an ode to the immigrants who travnamed Windy Point, snow gusts obscure our view. eled West heeding the cry “Pikes Peak or Bust!” Wild At 12,129 feet, we are just below the summit but the boar chili-topped nachos and barbecue trout fritters conductor informs us that we’ll need to turn back served with tangy Creole mustard are the perfect because late-spring snow is blanketing the tracks rewards after a morning of outdoor adventures. ahead. There’s no better way to end the day in Colorado Now that I’ve gotten a bird's-eye view of Pike Springs than with a sunset hike in Garden of the National Forest, I’m ready to explore its trails. The Gods, a free public park where the draw, not surdrive along Gold Camp Road to the popular hiking prisingly, isn’t flowers, but towering sandstone rock

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Day or night, Seven Falls is one of Colorado Springs' great natural sights.

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HEAVEN AND EARTH

A National Natural Landmark, Garden of the Gods is a forest of red rock spires and otherworldly formations.

rock wilderness in 1859, one suggested it would be the perfect spot for a beer garden. formations. When two surveyors discovered this red rock wilderness in 1859, one suggested it would be the perfect spot for a beer garden. His companion, a more poetic man, replied it was a place “fit for the gods to assemble.” In my opinion, both were right. A registered National Natural Landmark, the park centers on a cluster of otherworldly red cliffs popular with local climbers. I prefer to keep my feet on the ground and follow the Palmer Trail to the Siamese Twins, two adjoining towers that perfectly frame Pikes Peak as it takes on a golden glow in the distance. I awake with aching calves, yet one last climb awaits. Colorado Springs is home to the U.S. Olympic Training Center, and on a tour of the 35-acre

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complex I observe athletes preparing for this summer’s Olympic Games. I'm humbled by their athletic feats; my hikes now feel like a mere warmup. “If you want an Olympic-worthy workout,” says my guide, "you have to do the Incline.” I’m up before sunrise to test my fitness against Mother Nature’s StairMaster. The trail starts at 6,600 feet and climbs just over 2,000 feet in less than a mile. My jog turns to a slow and steady march, but when a man in his 70s sprints past me I double my efforts and reach the top in just under 40 minutes. When I catch up with the man, he high-fives me, then asks if I’m training to hike Pikes Peak. I’m surprised to find myself breathlessly nodding yes. Maybe it’s the lack of oxygen to my brain, or maybe I’ve finally acclimated to Colorado Springs' high-altitude thrill.

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IN TOWN

BOOM TOWN Once a top-secret locale for developing the atomic bomb, Los Alamos has grown into a center for big science and bona fide outdoor adventure. Stephanie Pearson investigates New Mexico’s coolest mountain hub

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cooper’s hawk lands on a black snag above red tuff, flushing lesser winged creatures toward a western mountain ridge once heavy with ponderosa pines. The ridge burned in the Las Conchas fire of 2011, an inferno that engulfed 150,000 acres surrounding this once-secret city of 18,000 residents that sits at 7,200 feet on a high-desert plateau. I’m watching the Darwinian drama unfold from inside a wall of windows at Pajarito Environmental Education Center, a soaring $4.3 million glass and timber structure that opened in Los Alamos on Earth Day last year. It overlooks Acid Canyon, a cleaned-up hazardous waste dump from World War II. The scene illuminates the irony of Los Alamos’ existence: J. Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist charged with building the atomic bomb, chose this northern New Mexico site back in 1942 not only for its isolation, but also for its beauty. Everything and nothing has changed in Los Alamos since Oppenheimer’s days. Drive up the winding canyon road from the Rio Grande and, rather than being stopped at an intimidating security gate, you'll see a welcome sign that reads “Los Alamos: Where Discoveries Are Made.” The top-secret vibe may be diminishing, but it’s still a surreal mountain town where world-class scientists — 338 of which hold post-doctorate degrees — meld minds at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Yes, they design nuclear

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP RIGHT: PATRICK COULIE; LESLIE BUCKLIN (2); MINESH BACRANIA (2)

weapons, but their work has expanded to include stockpile stewardship and research in physics, chemistry, metallurgy, materials science and bioscience. Think world-changing solutions like biochemists who are searching for ideal algal strains to produce large amounts of oil; ecologists who are studying forests worldwide to determine how a tree’s size impacts its response to drought; or researchers who have created a portable laser tool that can detect concealed nuclear material. “It’s kind of an odd mix up here — brilliant geniuses who love the outdoors,” says Brad Nyenhuis, a Chicago transplant who moved here two years ago to start Fusion Multisport, the city’s first full-service bike, climbing equipment and running shoe store. “It’s an incredible recreation town.” Connected by bike lanes and walking paths, the city sits on a plateau bisected by deep canyons and connected by bridges. NATURAL SELECTION Central Avenue, the one Clockwise from top left: Local beers at Bathtub main street, is anchored by Row Brewing Co-op; the charmingly anachroPajarito Environmental Education Center nistic CB Fox Department celebrates Los Alamos’ Store, which is a few blocks natural wonders; Fuller Lodge, a former boys from Ashley Pond Park, school, now houses a where kids flock after school historical museum and an arts center; local color at to skateboard and bands Bathtub Row Brewing. play all summer. Just across the street is the famous Fuller Lodge, the headquarters of a rustic boys school that the U.S. government appropriated for the lab back in 1942. Down the road is the nature center, which sits right next door to the country’s highest-elevation indoor Olympic-sized swimming pool. Paths leading to Los Alamos County’s 100-plus miles of multiuse trails emanate from neighborhoods where 1950s prefab houses sit next to freshly built mountain adobe McMansions. One newly approved, yet-to-be built 30-mile mountain biking trail will flow from the top of Pajarito Mountain ski area, into town and into the canyon. Within a 20-minute drive of the city are three national parks: the recently designated Manhattan Project National Historical Park that commemorates Los Alamos’ vital role in building the bomb; the Ancestral Pueblo cave dwellings at Bandelier National Monument; and the 1.25 million-year-old, 13-mile-wide volcanic crater of Valles Caldera National Preserve. “I have 70 miles of trails out my back door for trail running, hiking and mountain biking,” says Anna Kiep, a consultant for Apple and an ultra-endurance mountain bike racer whose husband, Gary Parker, is a scientist in charge of the lab’s High Explosives J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 1 6 • D O R A D O

ROCK AND ROLL

Thermal and Mechanical Response Team. When he’s not blowing things up in the name of safety and national security, Parker is an accomplished rock climber who has more than 1,000 established route options — like The Dungeon, a sport-climbing crag — within 30 minutes of Los Alamos. The recreation here has always been world class. One of the first clubs that lab scientists established, in 1952, was the Los Alamos Mountaineers. “In the early days it was a lot more extreme than it is now,” says current president, Evan Rose, a retired lab radiographer who specialized in laser fusion. “The club did a lot of the first descents around New Mexico.” Perhaps that’s because the average age of the scientists back then was 25. These days, the club, which has 150 members, kicks off the summer climbing season by offering a six-week, $250 climbing school at the “It’s kind of crags near White Rock, a Los Alamos “suburb” an odd mix up with surrounding cliffs that offer some of the best here — brilliant climbing in New Mexico. After downloading geniuses who a free hiking app at the love the outdoors. nature center (that works even when the phone is of cell range), I set It’s an incredible out off toward downtown find out what other recreation town.” to kind of wildlife the city has to offer. I start at UnQuarked, a mellow wine bar where Los Alamos County’s open-space specialist, Eric Peterson, is enticing a cluster of well-intentioned locals to volunteer at one of four trail cleanup days over the summer. As Anna Kiep told me, “Los Alamos has a long tradition of volunteers — even the ski hill was built by scientists.” I find the real action, however, is across the strip mall parking lot at Bathtub Row Brewing Co-op, so named because the brewing collective sits directly behind “Bathtub Row,” the street where, in the austerity of the Oppenheimer days, the smartest scientists lived and theirs were the only houses allowed bathtubs. The co-op is packed. Even in their time off, it seems, the scientists can’t stop tinkering. There are 14 brews here, and that’s just what’s on tap. I have to admit they know their chemistry: The Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout is one of the most finely balanced beers I’ve ever tasted.

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LESLIE BUCKLIN (3)

From top: The Valles Caldera National Preserve, Ancestral Pueblo cave dwellings at Bandelier National Monument and Pajarito Mountain's hiking, biking and ski trails are all within a 20-minute drive of downtown Los Alamos.

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ON THE ROAD

HAYCATION, ANYONE? Farm stays — vacation getaways on working farms — are popping up across the Southwest. Jayme Moye rolls up her sleeves at Colorado’s Avalanche Farm & Dairy and finds agrarian bliss P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y A S H L E Y D AV I S T I L LY

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n the hamlet of Paonia, Colorado, an oasis of small family farms, orchards and dairies, I turn at the sign marking Avalanche Farm & Dairy, home to nearly 600 goats, 150 chickens, three llamas, two dogs and, for the next three days, my city-dwelling family of four. I drive past the farmer’s two-story residence, onto a dirt road that traverses the goat pasture, and presumably leads to our lodge — which owner Wendy Mitchell had described to me on the phone as “a renovated shotgun cabin.” When the rustic wood structure comes into view, set against an imposing backdrop of 11,402-foot Mount Lamborn, I realize I have no idea what to expect. Back when we’d planned the trip, my kids, ages 12 and 14, were jazzed to sleep on a farm. “How close to the animals will we be? Can we pet them?” I was a bit more hesitant. My limited farm experience — visiting Ohio’s Amish country and staying at a dude ranch in Colorado — hadn’t exactly struck me as serene. Sure, the land is pretty (and the animals are cute), but raising livestock seems like hard work — hard, dirty, smelly work. I wasn’t sure how well the setting would jibe with summer vacation. Farm stays originated in Europe, in the early 1980s, as a way for farmers to capitalize on the agritourism movement, which was just starting to gain

momentum. Italy was the earliest adopter, setting up the first national agritourism board. Today, the country boasts 20,000 individual farm stays, followed by 7,200 in England, and 5,000 in France. In the U.S., Vermont was the first state to promote the concept, in the mid-1990s, as part of a local government initiative to keep small farms alive by diversifying farm income. But the trend really didn’t catch on until recently, catalyzed by the popularity of farmers markets and the locavore food movement. “In the last five years, we’ve seen lots of growth,” says Scottie Jones, executive director of the U.S. Farm Stay Association and founder of the website Farm Stay U.S. (farmstayus.com). “We’re likely up over 1,000 farm stays at this point.” Colorado leads the Four Corners states, including Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, with 35 registered farm stays. Driving through the North Fork Valley to Paonia, it wasn’t hard to see why. The verdant region is stunning — think Sonoma Valley with snowcapped mountain peaks and red rock mesas. More than 75 percent of Colorado’s apples come from this valley, as well as 71 percent of its cherries. The state’s second-largest peach harvest happens here, and its second-largest grape harvest.

It all looked idyllic through my car windshield. But what’s it like to actually live on a farm? I park my car in front of Avalanche Farm & Dairy’s guest cabin, and take a deep breath. The kids race to the hand-hewn wooden door (it’s open) and press inside. Stepping through the entry behind them, I exhale. The cabin’s interior is rustic, but welcoming, with wood-paneled walls, a vaulted ceiling, a wood-burning stove, plush leather furniture and a modern kitchen. The kids climb the ladder to the attic loft, and claim it as their own. Dad and I take the small, yet tasteful master bedroom, complete with bright white linens, reading lamps and a view of the cherry-red barn in the distance. We get settled in just in time to make the 5 p.m. milking session. The does — their hair ranging from pure white to a mix of brown and black — are out in the pasture with dozens of 3-month-old “kids.” We walk over as two farmhands open the pasture gate and begin ushering the goats through. It’s like a massive migration as the animals parade along the quarter-mile path to the milking stable. “They just walk there on their own?” I ask the nearest farmhand, a young man in his early 20s. “They do,” he says. “The trick is not letting any of the little ones out with ’em.”

SAY CHEESE!

Enjoy the serenity of a farm stay vacation at Avalanche Farm & Dairy, where guests pay to overnight and help out in exchange for good food, a little solitude and the chance to reconnect with the land.

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RUSTIC RANGE

Located near Paonia, Colorado, the North Fork Valley farm is rural perfection — think Sonoma Valley with snowcapped mountain peaks.

We follow the does to the milking stable, where farmhands guide small groups of animals inside to individual stalls and connect bulging udders to hoses. At the flip of the switch, mechanized milking begins. We learn that the dairy sustains the Avalanche Cheese Co., which supplies pasteurized fresh cheeses and aged, raw milk cheeses to some of Aspen’s toniest restaurants, including Meat & Cheese. My kids are more interested in the “babies” that are still in the pasture, so we walk back. “Can we touch them?” Felix, my youngest, asks. “If they let you,” says the farmhand. We step inside the gate and check out the large red barn. A few goats are inside napping, but the majority are outside keeping tabs on the milking procession. As it turns out, Felix needn’t have worried about interacting with goats. Some keep their distance, but most walk right up and nibble anything they can get their teeth on, from shirttails to ponytails. Surprisingly, the young ones enjoy being knuckled on the tops of their heads, like dogs. After an hour of playtime, we start noticing chickens everywhere. “Wow, that’s really freerange,” I say to a farmhand. “Yep,” he says with a grin. “They’re starting to make their way back to the henhouse for the evening.” We follow suit and get cleaned up for dinner, at nearby Flying Fork, lauded for its homemade

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pastas and Neapolitan-style pizzas. At the restaurant, we get the chance to chat with owner/chef Kelly Steinmetz, who tells us he came to the North Fork Valley after working at restaurants in Aspen Snowmass. “It’s heaven here,” he says. Dinner conversation with the family quickly turns to our plans for the next day. We decide we want to help collect eggs the next morning (Wendy had said to expect a few dozen in the henhouse each day). The couple at the table beside us overhears and raves about Avalanche cheese. The Mrs. recommends we do lunch at Delicious Orchards Cafe, located in the neighboring hamlet of Hotchkiss. “Everything is from their garden,” she says, “and they have on-site U-pick for fruits and vegetables.” “Get the tamales,” adds the Mr. I take the opportunity to ask them about their favorite wineries in the valley. Our server stops and joins the conversation. “Azura Winery,” he says. “The owners are artists who sailed around the world. You can buy a glass of wine and a cheeseand-charcuterie plate, and enjoy it outside in their garden overlooking the entire valley.” I realize how happy and relaxed I feel, and how much I’m looking forward to the rest of the trip. And perhaps that’s the beauty of farm stays, the way they embed you with the local agricultural community and all its bounty.

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It’s the Southwest’s most iconic and beloved food. sets out across Arizona on a mission to taste the many delicious incarnations of the taco PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARK LIPCZYNSKI

A FINE LINE

Four of chef David Schmidt's tacos excepcionales at Tii Gavo restaurant: chicken tinga, prime rib, grilled swai with citrus, and slow-cooked pork belly.

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HE MEZCAL SWIRLS IN OUR MEXICAN MANHATTAN

like smoke from a campfire. We’re 300 miles from the border, the first stop on our journey south, but it feels like we’ve already made it. The air smells faintly of juniper and piñon. The high-desert sun is fading away. It leaves us in the shadows of a rock face that burns red in the dying light. I’m with a friend at the Enchantment Resort in Sedona. He knows, like I do, the way that good Mexican food feels like home. When Jeff and I were growing up in Arizona, we had to search for a holein-the-wall to find a good taco. Not anymore.

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MADRE KNOWS BEST

Chef Schmidt is inspired by his Mexican motherin-law's cooking when he creates Tii Gavo's menu at Enchantment Resort in Sedona.

If a dish doesn’t taste right, the chef says, “my wife isn’t afraid to tell me, ‘That’s not .’” “People from other states don’t know authentic Mexican food. They’re seeking it here,” says David Schmidt, the executive chef at Enchantment’s Tii Gavo restaurant. You might ask how this 38-year-old from Wisconsin, bearded and tattooed, has revolutionized Tii Gavo’s menu with a griddled tortilla. Schmidt’s answer is simple: “I married a Mexican girl.” His wife’s family hails from Michoacán, a seaside state in southern Mexico, and it’s clear right away that their talents have rubbed off on him. Two ears of street corn come to the table dripping with warm Mexican crema, queso cotija and a confetti of cilantro.

The next course is the main course. The tacos. The stars of Schmidt’s menu. There’s his original prime rib; a slow-cooked pork belly; grilled swai, a fish that’s flavored with citrus zest, onion and paprika; and my favorite, the chicken tinga. The thigh meat is braised in an achiote sauce so perfect that you’d swear you were at the table of the chef ’s mother-in-law. If a dish doesn’t taste right, Schmidt says, “my wife isn’t afraid to tell me, ‘That’s not how my mom makes it.’” For most of its history, the taco has been an unheralded street food. Food historian Jeffrey Pilcher traces its origin back to 18th-century silver pits in Mexico when miners used “tacos” — explosives

DOUGH HOW

La Sonorense Tortilla Bakery in south Phoenix produces up to a million corn and flour tortillas a week for restaurants and resorts across Arizona.

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Every taco — the best ones, anyway — is served passed down through the years until that moment when it crashes onto our taste buds. wrapped in paper — to extract the ore. Pilcher says that before the 1960s, the taco was essentially unheard of in the U.S. until globalization created the Americanized pre-fried taco shell that has become something of a fast-food cliché. Today, upscale iterations are showing up everywhere, including at luxe resorts like Enchantment that cater to visitors who want a taste of the Southwest. As any good chef will tell you, the key to a perfect taco is the base: the tortilla. Two hours south of Sedona, in a south Phoenix bakery, we get a peek at what it takes to make one right. Jose Hernandez and his father — a native of Jalisco, Mexico — have been toiling away in flour dust for decades, “with four to five ladies making tortillas here by hand when we started in 1984,” he says. Now the operation at La Sonorense Tortilla Factory cranks out up to a million corn and flour tortillas a week. Each one is pressed, moved through the oven and cooled on a conveyor belt in two minutes flat (tortilla joke!). Hernandez sells to some of the best resorts and restaurants around Arizona, and when he plucks one off the stack the moment it comes out of the fire, it’s easy to see why. “It boils down to ingredients and love,” he says, handing us the goods, a pillow of flour, water, shortening and canola oil that tastes like hot heaven. We take two bags for the road. The desert changes as we drive closer to Mexico. The junipers are long gone, and now the palo verde trees bloom in the barrios of South Tucson. Barbacoa. Mariscos. Limonada. Like a poem to Mexico, menus are painted by hand on the exteriors of a hundred taquerias. I see a group of old vaqueros emerge from one looking satisfied. Each wears a cowboy hat on his head and I take that as a sign to stop. At the Taqueria Pico de Gallo, I swallow a tortilla stuffed with the soft cheek and head meat of a cow. Down here, they call it cabeza. Our stomachs are full. But we keep going. Two miles away, the focus turns to fish at the Cocteleria La Palma. We may be in the Sonoran Desert, but the Sea of Cortez is an easy drive over the border from Tucson. Esther Romero and her husband, Mario, have set up their food truck on a busy street corner, and on the weekends, their two children work the tables to make sure gringos like us are prepared for the kick that comes with the chili de arbol salsa. “Be

TACO TUESDAY, EVERY DAY For Chef David Schmidt's pork carnita tacos recipe and a list of our favorite taco spots across the Southwest, visit doradomagazine.com/tourdetaco.

careful. We made it here. It’s very spicy,” Romero’s school-age daughter says as she puts down a plate of cahuamanta. Translation: stingray tacos. Esther is from the border state of Sonora. Mario is from Sinaloa and grew up working in seafood restaurants. Together, they’ve created a unique menu. Their daughter brings us a hybrid taco-quesadilla, an original creation that earned the couple accolades in a Tucson taco competition. It’s big. The tortilla is griddled hot. Inside, melted mozzarella mingles with battered shrimp, long creamy slices of avocado and diced cucumber, a delicious touch that Esther says “gives seafood a different, lighter taste.” “When we started, we built this place paycheck to paycheck. We bought a table at a time, a chair at a time,” she says. “This was our dream.” As my friend and I eat our way south, it’s hard to ignore the fact that families are feeding us. It seems like every taco — the best ones, anyway — is served in keeping with a tradition passed down through the years until that moment when it crashes onto our taste buds. Since the 1950s, Vivian May’s family has been selling fry-bread tacos beneath the same ramada, built by hand from ocotillo branches, a few feet from the Mission San Xavier del Bac. The Spanish colonial church was founded by Padre Eusebio Kino in the late 1600s on what is now the Tohono O’odham Nation, about 20 minutes south of downtown Tucson. Here, at the doorstep of Mexico, tribal cooks like May add baking powder to tortilla dough and fry it in corn oil. The result is an “Indian taco,” a fluffy puff that wraps sweetly around a spoonful of pinto beans and cheese. “I learned from my mom,” she says, as a niece at her side hand-stretches another tortilla. “I started making these when I was 5 years old.” Even in the blaze of summer, May and her family will come here to work over a mesquite fire. On a windy day the smoke might blow south into Mexico.

TACO-PALOOZA! Tucson may be Arizona's unofficial taco capital, with stands and restaurants serving endless variations, from a hybrid tacoquesadilla to fluffy fry-bread versions at Mission San Xavier del Bac.

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THE

HILLS ARE

ALIVE

Natural beauty meets cowboy charm in Texas Hill Country, a road-trip-worthy mix of quaint towns, good food and endless fields of wildflowers P H OTO G R A PHY BY W YNN M YE RS

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SURF AND TURF

From left: A pool with a view at the luxe Tres Lunas Resort in Loyal Valley; Luckenbach General Store offers cold beer and Texas tchotchkes for locals and visitors alike.

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LEISURE CLASS

Clockwise from top right: Lunchtime at Vaudeville, a stylish bistro, home store and gallery; vestiges of 19th-century German settlers are ubiquitous in Hill Country, such as this treat at the Old German Bakery; visitors should be prepared for the occasional run-in with wildlife, including rattlesnakes; the charming Fredericksburg Herb Farm, which includes cottages, a spa and a restaurant.

FREDERICKSBURG

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MEAT MARKET Clockwise from top left: It can be hard to choose at Cooper’s Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que; rustic-chic accommodations at Settlers Crossing Bed & Breakfast; treasures and oddities at Carol Hicks Bolton Antiquities.

LLANO

WHEN SOME 30,000 GERMAN SETTLERS ARRIVED IN THE 19TH CENTURY, THEY QUICKLY ADAPTED TO THE ROUGH AND TUMBLE TEXAS FRONTIER, CREATING A UNIQUE CULTURAL MOSAIC.

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BOERNE

THE GOOD LIFE

Clockwise from far left: Welfare Wine Bar & Cafe serves a German-inspired menu, imported beers and a popular tomato-garlic soup; Andy Rawls handcrafts wood furniture in his Boerne shop; even Willie Nelson is a fan of Luckenbach Dance Hall, which has been hosting live music and dance nights for 150 years; Jacob's Well, a natural spring-fed swimming hole.

WELFARE

THE PACE IS A BIT SLOWER IN HILL COUNTRY, JUST AN HOUR'S DRIVE FROM AUSTIN. THERE IS ALWAYS TIME FOR A SWIM, A GOOD MEAL AND A SONG WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY. WIMBERLEY

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LUCKENBACH

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DRIPPING SPRINGS

PERHAPS THE PRETTIEST REGION IN ALL OF TEXAS, HILL COUNTRY INSPIRES CREATIVITY AND AN APPRECIATION FOR QUALITY AND AUTHENTICITY.

DRIPPING SPRINGS

THE SLOW LANE

Clockwise from far left: Thanks to a beautification plan by first lady "Lady Bird" Johnson, Hill Country highways are lined with colorful wildflowers, like these bluebonnets; digging in at Stanley’s Farmhouse Pizza; Blanco Bowling Club Cafe is an old German-style bowling alley, where the pins are still set by hand and the pies come a la mode; founded by a former Four Seasons (Austin) sommelier, Treaty Oak Distilling Co. has earned a loyal Texas following.

BLANCO

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the

BURNING of

ZOZOBRA

It's part pagan ritual, part town party. Each year, thousands of Santa Feans gather to set fire to a giant marionette stuffed with “glooms.” SAM MOULTON revels in the pageantry and unexpectedly festive community spirit

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The MOANING is

GETTING LOUDER,

As the fire dancer waves his torches in the foreground, taunting Zozobra, blasts of fireworks begins shooting up faster and faster. The mariachi band picks up the tempo, and the crowd, some 50,000 strong, begin hurtling toward escape velocity.

As the tequila-fueled chants of “Burn him! Burn him!” intensify, I become worried that some members of my party, most of whom are visiting from out of town, might be temporarily worried for their safety. I had done my best to explain my adopted hometown’s annual cleansing ritual, stressing that while, yes, it’s a bit bonkers, it’s also (mostly) family-friendly. At my encouragement, many of them had, like me, brought their young children to the spectacle. But now I am wondering if my decision — to downplay how totally and completely unhinged the crowd gets right before Old Man Gloom, as the 50-foot marionette is called, goes up in flames — is a good one. Several quick glances about the group ease my concerns. My nephew Ben is laughing hysterically atop my brother-in-law’s shoulders, waving his glow sticks furiously. I look over to see my cousin Donny yell, “You’re going down, Zozobra!” with alarming fervor. A few moments later, the ritual reaches its cathartic climax. The fire dancer torches Zozobra’s white muslin skirt, an BURNING DESIRE action that sets off a pyroFrom left: Zozobra's festive atmosphere makes it a technic chain reaction: community crowd pleaser; fireworks exploding out a Santa Fean deposits her "gloom" for burning into one of his midsection, more of the official boxes. groaning, flames pouring out of his mouth. Then the entire effigy, the physical manifestation of the entire town’s worries and troubles from the previous year, bursts spectacularly into flames. “I’m not exactly sure what just happened,” my brother-in-law remarks on our way home, “but it was awesome.” THE TRUTH IS, IN THIS DAY AND AGE OF PG-rated fun runs and strict open-container laws, the fact that an event as wild and frenetic as Zozobra not only still exists, but is championed by the city and sponsored by the Kiwanis Club, can be hard to

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THIS PAGE (2) AND PREVIOUS SPREAD: JEN JUDGE. OPPOSITE, TOP: CHARLES MANN/ALAMY; BOTTOM: COURTESY KIWANIS CLUB OF SANTA FE

more guttural. The giant puppet is really mad now, flailing his arms about angrily. His eye sockets are glowing an eerie green, his pupils flickering a menacing red.

comprehend. I should know. When I first moved to Santa Fe, I too had a hard time wrapping my head around the event’s mythology. It wasn’t until I experienced my first “burn” — as locals refer to the evening’s pageantry — that I truly understood it. You’ll sometimes hear locals boast that Zozobra is the original Burning Man, but that’s not quite right. “Something burns, but that’s about where the similarities with Burning Man end,” says Matt Horowitz, the chairman of the construction committee, aka the guy in charge of actually building the big guy every year. A better way to put it: “It’s Santa Fe’s New Year’s,” says Ray Sandoval, the event chairman. The event, held every September, dates to 1924, when a local artist named Will Shuster made the entire thing up from scratch. Every autumn, for the past 300-plus years, the city has held a weeklong event, La Fiesta de Santa Fe, or “the Fiestas” as everyone refers to the festivities, a predominantly Catholic celebration commemorating the reconquering of the area by the Spanish on Sept. 14, 1692, after their ousting by local Pueblo Indians 12 years earlier. It’s a somber occasion, and Shuster and his pals

NOW AND THEN

From top: The festival features mariachi bands, dancers and fireworks, all leading up to the big burn; local artist Will Shuster made up the entire thing from scratch — a prank that became a muchloved tradition.

decided to have their own, lighter-hearted event as a counterpoint. A friend came up with the name Zozobra, a Spanish word roughly translated as “gloom” or “anguish,” and Shuster burned the first one in his backyard to entertain his friends. “There’s a rich history of creativity and eccentricity in Santa Fe going back, well, forever, but it really flourished in the ’20s,” when the city’s bohemian art scene was gaining renown, says Horowitz. According to J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 1 6 • D O R A D O

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THIS PAGE (2): JEN JUDGE. OPPOSITE: CHARLES MANN/ALAMY.

local lore, Shuster, a WWI veteran originally from Philadelphia, was inspired by a trip to Mexico where he witnessed the Holy Week celebrations of the Yaqui Indians, who led an effigy of Judas, filled with firecrackers, around their village on a donkey before setting the effigy alight. Although the original event was essentially an artistic prank, it turns out the Fiestas’ organizers had a good sense of humor. In 1926, recognizing the need to make the Fiestas more accessible to the changing demographics of the BUNDLE OF FUN city, they asked Shuster A fairly family-friendly affair, Zozobra kicks off if he’d bring Zozobra to the weeklong La Fiesta de the public. (Shuster and Santa Fe, or the “Fiestas.” Event proceeds benefit his buddies also came up local children’s charities. with the idea of dressing their pets in costume and parading them around the town’s central plaza, along with a procession spoofing the year’s biggest noteworthy happenings; both events, the Desfile de Los Niños — Pet Parade — and the Hysterical/Historical Parade, are, to this day, a part of the city’s celebration of Fiestas.) Originally, Old Man Gloom was only about 6 feet tall and resembled a conquistador. Over time, he’s gotten increasingly taller, but his signature look — a scary clown with big ears, a bow tie and a scowling expression — has remained the same since the ’30s. Every year there are minor variations: earrings, hands on backward, the one time in the ’70s he looked like Nixon. But the central narrative remains the same: “Gloomies” (kids dressed in white sheets) try to set Zozobra free, torchbearers scare them off and then the fire dancer finally appears to do him in. In the ’90s, event organizers began accepting physical “glooms,” tax papers, bills, parking tickets, divorce papers and the like. Officials now put out “gloom boxes” around town and, as of last year, you can now email your glooms to event organizers, who will print them out and physically stuff ’em in the big guy right before he burns. School kids go on field trips to watch Zozobra come to life, and there’s even a ZozoFest a few days before the burn to further stoke anticipation. Despite Zozobra's pagan roots, and a few years where it got unnervingly out of control, the Kiwanis Club and city have pulled off a rather nifty trick, turning Zozobra into something that brings together

You’ll sometimes hear locals boast that ZOZOBRA is the original BURNING MAN, but there’s a better way to put it: “It’s Santa Fe’s NEW YEAR’S.” the entire community. All proceeds from Zozobra go to fund local kids’ charities, and the event now kicks off the city’s celebration of Fiestas. And that’s what’s so great about it. “Grandparents, parents, teenagers, kids … it doesn’t matter who you are,” says Sandoval. “The whole town puts everything aside and comes down to enjoy the moment.” And many, like my brother-in-law, come from far away. A few months ago he emailed me about scheduling a visit. “When’s Zozobra this year?” he asked. “It’d be good to watch him burn again if possible.” Yes, it would, I replied. Yes, it would. The 92nd Annual Burning of Zozobra will take place on Sept. 2 at Fort Marcy Park in Santa Fe. For information and tickets visit burnzozobra.com. J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 1 6 • D O R A D O

Summer’s outdoor adventures call for a rugged nature and an easygoing style

INTO the WOODS PHOTOGR A PH Y BY A SHL E Y CA MPER S T Y L I N G B Y S A R A O S WA L T

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On her: Jumpsuit by Suno, available at ByGeorge, Austin. On him: Shirt jacket by Woolrich. Canvas jeans by Faherty, available at Stag Provisions. Beanie by Under Armour, available at Cabela’s.

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Left: Plaid fringe sweater by Chloé, available at ByGeorge, Austin. Pants by Anthropologie. Bandana by The Hill-Side, available at Stag Provisions. Bag by Rachel Comey, available at Kick Pleat. Blanket by Woolrich. Right: Bodysuit by Apiece Apart, available at Kick Pleat. Trousers by Frame, available at ByGeorge, Austin. Vintage hat, available at Feathers, Austin. Canvas bell tent by Stout Tent.

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Down jacket by Patagonia and coffee mug by GSI Outdoors, both available at REI. Jeans by Leviâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. Boots by Chippewa. Camping stool available at Wood & Faulk.

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THIS PAGE On him: Jacket by Rogue Territory, available at Stag Provisions. Jeans by J. Crew. On her: Linen shirt by Apiece Apart, available at Kick Pleat. Jeans by Frame, available at ByGeorge, Austin. OPPOSITE Sweater by Demylee Rina, available at Kick Pleat. Bikini bottoms by J.Crew. Waders available at Cabelaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s.

Left: Flannel shirt by 5.11, available at Cabela’s. Vest by Saturdays Surf NYC, available at Stag Provisions. Right: Overalls by Filson, available at Cabela’s. Shirt by Save Khaki United, available at Stag Provisions. Boots by Chippewa.

Dress by SVILU, available at ByGeorge, Austin. Poncho by Woolrich. Necklace available at Kick Pleat.

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OPPOSITE On her, far left: Poncho by Baja East, available at ByGeorge, Austin.

On her, center: Shirt and pants by Jesse Kamm, available at Tenoversix, Austin. On him, center: Shirt by RRL, available at Stag Provisions. On him, far right: Shirt by Woolrich. Jeans by Faherty, available at Stag Provisions. Boots by Frye, available at Nordstrom. Watch by Timex for J.Crew, available at J.Crew. Blankets by Woolrich. Models: Leah at FORD/ Robert Black Agency, Ana at Agency AZ, Bradly at Page Parkes Dallas, and Brendan. Hair by Zach Glielmi using R+Co. Makeup by Lillian Fogel using NARS. Food styling by Brendan McCaskey. Shot on location at Willow Springs Lake and the Mogollon Rim in northern Arizona.

D O R A D O â&#x20AC;˘ J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 1 6

AT HOME · ONLINE

RIGHT AT HOME

Visit doradomagazine.com for even more stunning Southwestern homes

A SONORAN DESERT DWELLING Old meets new in this desert modern home in the foothills north of Tucson, Arizona. doradomagazine.com/home-tour-sonoran-desert-dwelling

A CHALET FOR MANY SEASONS Inside out, top to bottom, this creekside Steamboat Springs, Colorado home turns the traditional chalet on its head with a rooftop garden and modern style. doradomagazine.com/a-chalet-for-many-seasons

BACK TO NATURE A haven for anglers, this Colorado fishing retreat reflects a Texas clan’s passion for the outdoors. doradomagazine.com/a-chalet-for-many-seasons

ON THE ROCKS: A MOAB HOME TOUR Deep in the Utah desert, home is where you park your mountain bike at the end of a long day on the trails. doradomagazine.com/a-chalet-for-many-seasons

PHOTO TOUR: THE HOME THAT FRANK BUILT Take a look inside Frank Lloyd Wright’s final residential masterpiece. doradomagazine.com/photos-frank-lloyd-wrights-last-home

ARIZONA MODERN Amid towering red-rock formations, a groundbreaking architectural enclave is rising in Sedona. doradomagazine.com/arizona-modern

CABIN FEVER IN TELLURIDE How do you transform a dark, dated log cabin into a contemporary retreat? Discover a Telluride getaway that combines natural materials, industrial accents and an abundance of glass. doradomagazine.com/cabinfever

D O R A D O • J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 1 6

AT HOME

REFINED SOUTHWESTERN LIVING AND STYLE

Hide and Seek

Add a bit of rugged good looks to your home with these leather accents B Y E L L E N R A N TA O L S O N

Take a Seat

The butterfly chair is authentically Argentine — its inventive design and notable craftsmanship have made it an iconic symbol of modern design. Add vegetable tanned saddle leather, and you’ve got a chair fit for a king. Palermo Chair, $650, the-citizenry.com

J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 1 6 • D O R A D O

AT H OME

Rug It Out

Cowhide rugs have become a mainstay in the design world, and for good reason: They can soften an otherwise modern room or add a dose of ruggedness to more luxe spaces. Bonus: Cowhide is naturally stain-resistant, making it perfect for high-traffic areas. Black and White Natural Cowhide Rug, price on request, texasleathergoods.com

Q&A

Emily Johnson Larkin Owner, EJ Interiors, Dallas

An award-winning interior designer, Emily Johnston Larkin offers advice on incorporating leather accents into your home

Leather is great for shoes and bags, but does it really work for home décor? How do you keep it from feeling overly Western/ranch-y? I love leather in an unexpected color such as navy blue or deep teal. I think using leather in a fun color (versus brown or beige) keeps it looking fresh and modern.

Fired Up

Designed to last for generations, Itasca’s leather firewood carrier is as gorgeous as it is sturdy. Made with a thick oil-tanned hide, the color of the carrier changes with use, making it one of the few things that get better with age. Leaf Firewood Carrier, $194, itascamoccasin.com

Director’s Cut

Rich leather warms up this director’s bench in old-school style. Perfect as dining table seating or at the foot of your bed, the dyed leather will patina with character over time. Leather Director’s Bench, $449, cb2.com

Tossed Around

Go big or go home? Not when it comes to decorating with leather. Incorporate small doses of the material by adding a couple of throw pillows to your existing furniture. Leather Throw Pillow, prices range from $89 – $599, riosinteriors.com

What are other pieces or materials that pair well with leather accents? The juxtaposition of a smooth leather with a fabric that has a lot of texture, like Belgian linen, always looks great. I also think darker leather is stunning with furniture that is “lighter” in appearance such as lucite, painted or metallic pieces. What about faux-leather? Is that a yay or nay when it comes to décor? I actually don’t mind faux leather as it has become increasingly difficult to tell the difference between the two. Faux leather can be the perfect solution for a client that is on a budget. What are some of your favorite Dallas-area design shops? Any hidden gems? There are so many amazing shops near the Design District that it’s tough to name just a few. A couple of my favorite vintage shops are Again and Again and Scout Design Studio. I also love Mary Cates, Mecox and Blue Print for unique furniture pieces and artwork. What piece of décor advice do you always give to clients? Add a touch of whimsy and the unexpected.

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You Don’t Have To Own A Ranch, To Live Like It.

LUBBOCK, TEXAS

W W W. H AT C R E E K . U S

(806) 794-5 0/4 J U4LY AUGUST

2016 • DORADO

AT H OME

A SENSE OF PLACE Inspired by Texas’ Spanish colonial history, this elegant hunting lodge south of San Antonio is infused with Southwestern style and Old World charm. Jaime Gillin surveys a picturesque Lone Star hacienda

SPANISH DREAMS

When a Texas couple decided to build a family hunting lodge on their property in Frio County, Spanish mission architecture and design were top of mind.

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HESTER & HARDAWAY; OPPOSITE PAGE, PAUL BARDAGJY

AT H OME

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THIS PAGE: ERIK K VL ASVIK (2); OPPOSITE: JACK THOMPSON

outh Texas is peppered with traditional single-story ranch homes — “sprawling and not very architecturally pleasing,” in the estimation of one Texas native, who sought something entirely different for the property she and her husband own in the scrub country between San Antonio and Laredo. There was already a 50-year-old hunting lodge on-site, but it was bare-bones, rustic and uncharming. The couple had something much grander in mind. Both husband and wife are passionate hunters and frequently traveled through Spain and Portugal on hunting trips. “When you hunt abroad, you stay in the family ranch home — often a Spanish mission-style building that has been in the family for 400 years,” she says. The European homes they visited had a sense of authenticity and history that greatly appealed to her. She also appreciated their well-proportioned and comfortably scaled living spaces — they felt luxurious without being grand or showy. So when the couple decided to build a family hunting lodge on their property in Frio County, Spanish mission architecture was top of mind. They found a kindred spirit in Michael G. Imber, a San Antonio-based ART APPRECIATION Before architect Michael G. architect with an impressive Imber begins designing a client list (he’s designed homes house, he always spends time on the property doing for Silicon Valley tycoons and watercolor paintings of the a Dixie Chick, among others) landscape. “It might sound corny, but it really helps me and a deep familiarity with the absorb the spirit of the place,” architectural style they sought. he says. “Painting slows all your senses down, so you The couple desired a home in notice a lot more about where harmony with its surrounding you are. It gives you a better understanding of the place.” landscape; for that reason, too, Imber was an ideal match. “It always starts with us making sure a house speaks of its place,” Imber says of his firm, renowned for designing stunning homes inspired by — and often built with materials from — their immediate settings. “For these particular clients, it was important that the house told a story of the land, and of hundreds of years of Spanish influence in Texas. We wanted to embody that history

and culture through the built form and let those influences percolate through the architecture.” The first time Imber stepped foot on his clients’ property, he knelt and scooped up a handful of sandy soil, “noting its nice texture and terra-cotta color,” he recalls. That same earth eventually made its way into the design, pigmenting the plaster that clads the entire 6,000-square-foot complex. “When the sun strikes it in the morning, it has a wonderful glow,” says Imber. “It feels as though the house is literally molded from the landscape.” The home’s primary function — as a hunting lodge — helped shape key aspects of its layout and design. The gracious entry courtyard is where the family and guests load their trucks before heading out for a day hunting dove, quail, turkey and deer. An elegant fountain bubbles in front of a dramatic facade that’s a modern, streamlined take on a Spanish colonial mission exterior, with its graphic, curvilinear parapet rising in front of a clay tile roof. Imber designed the

“It was important that the house told a story of the land, and of hundreds of years of Spanish influence in Texas. We wanted to embody that history and culture through the built form.” facade to “react to the shifting drama of the sky,” as he puts it. “When the sun goes down behind the house, the silhouette becomes even stronger. And at night the stars are just unbelievable. Looking up, you feel like you’re just plucked out of the universe.” The living room, anchored by a large fireplace and spangled with mounted animal heads, contains multiple seating areas to accommodate different-sized groups. The Spanishinspired kitchen, with its farm table and open shelves displaying glassware and plates, is a central gathering place, the site of generous breakfasts and lunches; an

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AT H OME

HOUSE HUNT

In good weather, most evenings end around the “liar’s pit” — a fire pit perched at the edge of the compound, where the hunters gather to tell (and stretch) stories about their day. elegant dinner is served every night in the formal dining room. And in good weather, most evenings end around the “liar’s pit” — a fire pit perched at the edge of the compound, where the hunters gather in the evening to tell (and stretch) stories about their day. Though the home was strongly inspired by a historical architectural vernacular, Imber adapted the style to suit modern living. “As modern human beings, we like more natural light in our homes than the original haciendas allowed,” he says. “But we did it in a way that feels natural to the architecture and doesn’t distract from a feeling of connectedness to history.” In the master bedroom and living room, for instance, Imber eschewed tiny windows — traditionally used to protect the interiors from heat and sun

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— in favor of glazed french doors with transom windows that let light flood in. Super-insulated walls and modern air conditioning ease the need for total sun protection. The interiors, designed by the clients’ daughter, Renee Rolke, help create the transportive atmosphere the family desired. “We wanted everyone who came to our ranch to experience what it’s like to go to a traditional hunting ranch in Spain or Portugal — to re-create the feeling of being in another country,” says the client. “We wanted to get as close to a true Spanish colonial mission as we could.” To that end, she, her daughter and Imber went on sourcing trips to Guanajuato, San Miguel and Dolores Hidalgo in Mexico, and returned with 22 old mesquite doors, custom iron light fixtures, decorative items and Talavera tile. All of the hardware in the house is handmade and custom, in a rubbed bronze finish. The rooms have antique wooden beam ceilings and small, arched entryways — authentic details that add up to a warm and enveloping experience for the family members and their lucky guests. “People are totally in awe when they drive up and see the house,” says the client. “It’s so unusual from anything else in south Texas. When you drive through the ranch and crest the hill, it’s like a vision from the 1800s.”

JACK THOMPSON

The home’s primary function as a hunting lodge helped shape its layout. In the entry courtyard, family and guests load their trucks before heading out for the day.

We Make ake

ELECTRIC ...Too.

J U LY / AQuarter U G U S T 2•0 New 1 6 • DOrleans ORADO bevolo.com • (504) 522-9485 • 521 Conti • 318 Royal • French

MARC MINTZ

M Y DOR A DO ARIZONA’S SONORAN DESERT

We love the desert for its vastness. Visit a forest, and you’ll find a trail in, a frame through which to experience that place. The desert has its trails too, but your eyes find them and let them go. This opening of a landscape, to us, seems to encourage the opening of the imagination. Here we can stretch our eyes to the horizon and know we’re into something new. MAT T COOLEY AND OLIVIA LAUX, ARIZONA-BASED ENTREPRENEURS WHO LAUNCHED CLOTH & FLAME DESERT DINNERS THIS YEAR

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Anderson Lookout The mountains are calling you.

visitlosalamos.org

GATEWAY TO THREE NATIONAL PARKS Manhattan Project National Park, Valles Caldera National Preserve and Bandelier National Monument. visitlosalamos.org M AY / J U N E 2 0 1 5 â&#x20AC;˘ D O R A D O

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