Santa Fe Opera Collage

The architecture of the new opera house is controversial but it was impossible to walk anywhere around the site without finding beautiful sweeping lines that jutted out to the surrounding mountains and desert. My favorite architect is Frank Lloyd Wright and the opera embodies one of his basic principles - that the structure should look like it came from the surrounding earth. It is almost an organic extension of its surroundings. When you walk around it, it feels just like that.

Santa Fe Opera Tour

The opera season here is almost the opposite of the New York season. It lasts for 8 weeks from late June to late August with 40 performances. The opera house itself is surrounded with buildings which house cast and crew in season. I can't wait for the season to start, but doubt if I can afford the opening night tickets that range from $1,700 to $3,000.

The Santa Fe Opera

Many consider the Santa Fe Opera second only to the Metropoliton Opera in New York. This is saying a lot for an opera in a town of 68,000 people but it is born out by numerous publications and guide books, and definitely by any of the locals. Everyone takes great pride in our opera and it is one of many reasons why I decided to move here. One of my first trips after getting settled was to drive north to see it. It took about 20 minutes to get there and the drive, once it leaves the city, is beautiful. It seems to change in the blink of an eye from conjested city to desert surrounded by mountains. An exit off the main highway takes you winding up a 2 lane road to the opera house itself. I was very lucky because this is not opera season and workers had left the gates open so I helped myself to a tour around the structure.

Xeriscape Santa Fe Style

Because it is part of the high desert, water is scarce and everyone is encouraged to let nature take its' course. Landscapes of naturally growing plants and trees are everywhere, because they have adapted to the dry conditions. Yards are typically rocks or sand with beds of lavender, sun flowers or other wild plants that require almost no water. A few die hards do have grass but they are the exceptions. This is the view of the arroyo from the living room of my house. There are magnificent mountains in the background and a walking path that follows the dry stream bed throughout the neighborhood. In the mountains the aspens are now turning to a brilliant gold as the cold weather approaches. Where did I pack those socks?

On the street where you live....

Almost all houses and businesses in Santa Fe look like variations of the original adobe houses that were here originally over 600 years ago. Building is tightly regulated to give the entire city a historic feel. There is a beautiful historic area in the center of the city, but even suburban developments like mine adhere to the building guidelines.

Santa Fe Casa

The inside of the house is filled with light, and there is plenty of light in a city that is almost 8,000 feet above sea level. The living room has 30 foot ceilings with pine beams running across the width. Most houses have the same type of fence outside made of bundled sticks. It is called a "coyote fence" for obvious reasons. The desert area has coyotes as well as mountain cats and other interesting critters.

Mi Casa in Santa Fe

To check out Santa Fe to see if it is everything the travel books say it is, I flew out. Checking out the different neighborhoods I found a small house on the edge of an arroyo (a natural valley made by a stream). Like all structures in Santa Fe it is adobe in a pastel color to match the surroundings. I fell in love and within 3 weeks I was moving in.