El Torreon Hacienda by Deborah Villalobos HorseFly

For years the old hacienda rested out in a beautiful El Prado meadow, serving as host to ravens and magpies that descend from the gnarly branches of surrounding trees. This was the Valdez-Cardenas home and dates back 150 years.

Descendents of the Cardenas side of the family arrived from Abiquiu riding burros. It is said that the Padre Martinez granted the property to this family. They built the main house with a completely enclosed yard, fort-like, for the purpose. of safe-guarding themselves and the few animals they owned from raiders. The tower, once bigger, was used as a lookout post. Defenders had the advantage of positioning firearms around the top of the building. As the men fired their guns, the women would heat lard and pour the hot grease out through the side openings onto the enemy. Legend has it that a lot of blood was spilled near or at the torreon.

Photos follow the daily activities of the family. Men, women and children work at mudding the buildings, growing gardens, playing with the family dog. Palemon Cardenas proudly holds up a fish he's caught. Victoria models a new coat and hat. For me, one dusty-looking photograph stands out from the others. It is a photo of a man and a boy. The boy is a young I.azaro Agapito Cardenas, known to me for twenty years as simply "Laz." He has spent most of his adult life as a shop teacher at the high school as well as a weight training instructor.

Palemon describes the hacienda he grew up in with thirteen siblings. There were tall trees and big orchards surrounding the property. The family raked, plowed, planted. They grew com, wheat, peas, and pumpkins. There was a corral and haystacks, and the family garden was tended in front of the hacienda. Chickens lived near the torreon.

The Cardenas family has been approached over the years by interested buyers, but they all wanted to bulldoze the old place and develop something new. Finally, one woman had a different idea, and the family paid attention.

Allyn Ranson is a preservationist, not a developer. Restoration began last May. A sign informed us that the El Torreon Hacienda was being resurrected. Now the hacienda bustles witli litc and cl)atter. A turquoise boardwalk surrounds the inner courtyard, and a water fountain trickles and sings. Allyn has breathed life into this historic landmark with the help and support of her husband, J.R., and brother, John.

Inside El Torreon is Antonio's, owned by Sarah (once Lucero) and Antonio Matus. The restaurant was an instant success when it opened the weekend of Mother's Day. Outside seating under the portal or the sky is set against the backdrop of Taos Mountain. The cattle low in the fields. The indoor rooms are warm and cozy and smell of Vera Cruz, Mexico. The cuisine is unique to Antonio, who creates recipes from his memories of growing up and watching the women work in his mother's kitchen.

Wabi-Sabi, a shop, displays a variety of Asian items-gifts for the spirited. At Wabi-Sabi, the beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete is modest and humble. The Japanese aesthetic of Wabi-Sabi is associated with the tea ceremony. Cassandra and David Bates weigh down their signs with large stones. A cord is attached to the signs and then to hooks on the wall. The stones lie on the board walkway. Wabi-Sabi. Practical. They have the ultimate Buddhist practitioners' comer. All of the niceties of ritual and ceremony, from candies to icons to special prayers can be found. Blue dishes and place-settings beckon from another room filled with Japanese pottery, calligraphy brushes, papers, place mats. Oh! I could go on and on and on. (Next month.)? Allyn faced many challenges in restoring El Torreon Hacienda and says she decided to accept "come what may". She has been rewarded with warm, hardworking,and creative people inhabilino the hacienda. I saw her scrubbing, weeding and cleaning today.

Pull off the road and experience a little of Taos history. You may be as pleased as Palemon Cardenas and the family.

-D.V. - HorseFly - http://www.taosdaily.com