Enjoying 360º views, this breathtaking site evokes images of the past—pre-history to the present. The deck on the south side of the house looks out over the Galisteo Basin. Eons ago a Cretaceous Sea covered the serene panorama, once referred to as the heart-center of the planet by Shirley McLain’s spiritual mentor who runs an institute in the basin.

The basin’s prominent geologic features—the remains of volcanic activity—remind us of New Mexico’s turbulent, fiery formation. Within view, lies an exposed lava rock ridgeback dotted with Native American petro glyphs (Indian rock etchings) scrawled by natives as they traveled the trade route that stretched south to the home of the Aztecs. Once the greatest concentration of Pueblo communities, the basin conceals several ancient Pueblo ruins—now plant-covered archaeological mounds—just below the ground’s surface in view of this extraordinary home.

The exceptional vistas from all sides of the house take in six mountain ranges. The distant Jemez (hay-mez) Mountains across the Rio Grande to the west once constituted the largest volcano on the planet. Volcanic ash (tuff) deposited by the explosion and washed away by subsequent precipitation eroded into spectacular honeycombed mesas that provided primitive homes for natives over 1,000 years ago. Mt. Taylor can be viewed over 100 miles away in western New Mexico. To Native Americans, this majestic peak is one of the seven sacred mountains.

Many of these ancient locales are preserved today as national, state, and local monuments surrounded by natural geo-thermal hot springs—a favorite respite for locals from present-day stresses.

During the early 20th Century, the Ortiz (or-teez) Mountains produced the country’s sole deposits that contained both hard and soft coal. Claiming the ghost town of crumbling company houses abandoned by miners, hippies renovated the shacks and founded an anti-establishment colony in the 1960s. The resulting art village remains a fascinating step back in time—another pleasurable weekend getaway.

Hugging Santa Fe, the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range to the north—an exquisite excursion—offers some of the best skiing and snowboarding in the winter and diverse hiking and outdoor activities during the spring, summer, and fall.

Also to the north, one can see the remnants of the historic Santa Fe Trail that contributed to the country’s “Manifest Destiny” that absorbed New Mexico’s state capital—the oldest in the country and one of the most desirable destinations in the land. This small, dynamic “City Different” exists as the second largest art market in the U.S. and was the only U.S. city out of nine worldwide selected by UNESCO as one of the most culturally creative centers on the globe.

From that same mountaintop deck hanging out over the Galisteo Basin, you can also delight in the soft colors of sunrises to the east and the dynamic color pallets of the always-unpredictable

New Mexico sunsets to the west. Including incomparable stargazing, this is one of the finest locations in the country from which to pursue astronomy.
The home’s owners breathe in fresh, pure New Mexico air as well as reflect on the drama of thunderstorms that sweep across the endless vistas and mists of time that envelope this totally unique location.