El Zaguán

El Zaguán is most closely associated with successful merchant James L. Johnson, who came from Maryland in 1845 and purchased the property in 1854, creating one of the finest homes in Santa Fe. The Johnson family added numerous rooms and Territorial Style details to the original adobe home, remaining tenants into the 1920s. In 1928, Margretta Dietrich and her sister, artist Dorothy Stewart, purchased the property. It was Dietrich who named the property El Zaguán, the Spanish term for its architectural element of the breezeway or hallway. Today it is the headquarters of the Historic Santa Fe Foundation, which preserves and maintains the property as an important local landmark.

From Old Santa Fe Today, 5th edition by Audra Bellmore with photographs by Simone Frances. Additional photographs of El Zaguán’s garden and northside by Hanna Churchwell.