Santa Fe Dreamhouse: Encounters in the Land of Enchantment

by Reed Stevens

I came to Santa Fe straight from the 1952 Roy Rogers matinee in East Hampton, Connecticut. That and a 1982 New York Times travel article about Chaco Canyon.Like Lewis and Clark with a U-Haul, Reed and Jim leave Philadelphia and head to Santa Fe, New Mexico to establish a new home. With their knack for renovating, Reed and Jim purchase an old adobe, and then face the challenges of making their dream inhabitable.Here you'll find the joys, the trials-the costs!-of fixing up the old mud house, buying horses, and attempting to be good citizens. Everyday happenings, such as running for city council, tutoring ESL students, and real estate sales teach them lessons about a Santa Fe that tourists do not see.Fascinated with Santa Fe's history, the pair becomes involved in the lives of fascinating people who come to Santa Fe, and sometimes leave it, seeking the magic the old city offers. When their money runs low, they learn to survive where jobs are as scarce as desert water. Over their ten years in the Land of Enchantment, Reed and Jim find their wounds heal and their romance thrives.Immerse yourself in the adventures of strangers who come to a strange and beautiful land to renovate a dilapidated house. If you have dreamed of starting over, Santa Fe Dreamhouse is the unforgettable place to begin.

252 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Martha]

Reed Stevens’ memoir paints a glorious New Mexican landscape in which her midlife blooms with passion and adventure when she and her lover transform a Santa Fe adobe wreck into a paradise of renewal. Through the unfettered light of internal honesty, Stevens conjures a magic akin to that created by Frances Mayes in Under a Tuscan Sun.