Historic Santa Fe Foundation Inc

Protecting Historic Properties Historic Preservation (Architectural Conservation)1. Performed conservation work on Foundation-owned property, 545 Canyon Road, and made earth plaster repairs on property wall, restored historic wood screen door elements, reglazed historic window panes, and maintained plumbing and lighting fixtures. Repairs to historic brick paver bedding and rodent intrusion mitigation. Earthen plaster re-coating on areas of the main structures north face. 2. Performed conservation work at the Edwin Brooks House, 553 Canyon Road, including roof repairs and restoration of its William Penhallow Henderson-designed entrance gate. 3. Engaged with the Santa Fe Extension Master Gardeners for ongoing maintenance of the garden at El Zagun, 545 Canyon Road.4. Continued to refine the process for monitoring and management of all preservation easements held by the Foundation. Annual visits and inspections with owners of existing easements held by the foundation were made.

Research and Education1. The Member Lecture Series, Salon El Zagun offers monthly informational lectures to our membership base, as well as the general public. For these lectures, we bring in experts in their fields to discuss a variety of topics, related to Santa Fe, New Mexico, History and/or all of the above. This year we had Nicolasa Chavez on the history of chocolate; Julianne Burton-Carvajal on Josefa Bustos; Chuck Wolfe on Urban Observation in Santa Fe; Elizabeth Comer on the Roots of James L Johnson; Sylvia Rodriguez on Acequias and Acequia Culture in New Mexico; Mulham Alkharboutli on discoveries made during his Preservation Internship with HSFF; Lillian Makeda on the History of the Santa Fe Style of Interior design; Tours of La Fonda with a trained Docent; and a docent-led tour of the Gustave Baumann exhibit at the New Mexico Museum of Art.2. Presented, along with the City of Santa Fe Historic Preservation Division and the Old Santa Fe Association, the Heritage Preservation Awards in May 2025 at San Miguel Chapel, 401 Old Santa Fe Trail. Produced an advertisement with local paper for the awards. 3. Presented two Architectural Stewardship Awards in 2025. The first was to the Dorothy McKibbin House, in recognition of the owners model stewardship, maintaining the exterior and interior of the house, outbuildings, and landscape, conscientiously applying preservation practices, great care and effort, planning, design, and execution of the renovation and remodels of their house. The second was to the owners of the Plaza Chamisal compound for their significant preservation, restoration, and renovation of their homes over the past 25 years. 4. Held monthly art exhibitions for El Zagun resident artists and invited outside artists. Exhibitions included a joint exhibition with Carla Caletti, One Hundred Percent Exhibition (group show), Mary Olson, Wendy Fay, Julia Tait Dickenson, Esteban Ismael Duran, Robert King, Elizabeth Chiles, Rebecca Lee Kunz, Jacob Sisneros, Dominic Capello, Mulham Alkharbourli and Bette Yozell. The following artists gave talks: Carla Caletti, Dominic Capello, Bonnie Bishop, Mary Olson, Wendy Fay, Juia Tait Dickenson, Esteban Ishmael Duran, Elizabeth Chiles, Rebecca Lee Kunz, Jacob Sisneros, Mulhan Alkharbourtli and Bette Yozell.5. University of New Mexico graduate student Ryuichi Nakayama completed his work as the Foundations Mac Watson Fellow. He completed his research and writing and the Foundation approved his nomination for the Plaza Balentine Compound. Under the mentorship of Dr. Audra Bellmore, University of New Mexico professor and curator of the John Gaw Meem archives, Nakayama completed the research and wrote the nomination for the Plaza Balentine Compound.6. Approved and added the listings of the Plaza Balentine Compound and William Penhallow Henderson Studio to the HSFF Register of Properties Worthy of Preservation.7. Continued with the online blog with articles from staff and student writers for dissemination of activities and news of the foundation, including conference updates, tributes to former board directors who passed and their impact on the foundation, and students writings on their time at the Foundation and research they completed.8. Published two printed newsletters containing substantial articles, interviews, and preservation news.9. Held the annual meeting of Foundation members in the El Zagun garden in June with guests from the School for Advanced Research and presentation by Melanie McWhorter on the state of the Foundation and various people speaking in tribute to Nancy Owen Lewis.10. Maintained and updated website for the Foundation with events, event calendars, and information on all related properties owned, easements, and the Register of Properties Worthy of Preservation. 11. Expanded the YouTube page with several Salon recordings, gallery walkthroughs, and El Zagun related videos. Uploaded Salon Talks (5), Gallery Walk-throughs (9), Gallery talks (4), other El Zagun videos (4).12. Continued to develop the related mobile application for Old Santa Fe today, 5th edition, and released it to app stores and the public. 13. Held walking and shuttle bus tours including Modern Elder Academy, La Fonda Hotel, and Dar al Islam. This year, the first Preservation Symposium at the Santa Fe History Museum was launched, bringing in experts and locals to discuss preservation in Santa Fe. A year-end fundraiser and musical performance by Mariachi Sonidos del Monte was held at San Miguel chapel. 14. Hosted four fundraising events for our Stewards group at El Buen Hogar, The Eleanor Bedell House, Plaza Chamisal, and the Hunt House. 15. Partnered with the Santa Fe Extension Master Gardeners for tours and workshops in the El Zagun garden.16. Trained one volunteer to work at the front desk and assist with other staff tasks. Five front desk volunteers that were trained in previous years have continued. Four volunteers were trained to work in the archives. 17. Partnered with the Santa Fe Teen Center, 6600 Valentine Way, to teach students about architecture, history of architecture in New Mexico, and adobe. The class designed and built a bench out of adobe, modeled after a sphinx. 18. The High School Research Fellowship program continued in 2025. In Spring 2025, there was one student. She researched, designed, and presented on her informational panels for John Gaw Meems Architectural Offices which are now Santa Fe Preparatory Schools Arts building. Seven juniors and seniors from Mandela International Magnet School, Santa Fe Indian School, and Santa Fe preparatory school were selected to participate in the 2025-2026 session. They met monthly with various professionals to learn more about history, research, and writing history papers. Fellows started research on their interests and will continue in 2026. 19. The Edwin Brooks House, 553 Canyon Road, began to function as the Eugene and Clare Thaw Education and Research Center. Staff continued to relocate files to the building to turn it into the Foundations storehouse for records, books, and paintings. Three talks, three High School Research Fellowship sessions, and one fundraiser were held there. A photography show featuring Sharon Stewarts Timeless Waters: Acequia Culture in New Mexico was displayed and interpretated in this space. Regular open hours were held so the public could view the show. A fundraising dinner for the show was held here, and Acequias: The Legacy Lives On was screened. Designing and Preserving in Santa Fe: Towards an Authentic Architecture featuring designs by AIA Santa Fe members was hung in this space. 20. Docent tours were written and two volunteers hosted them. The tours tell the history of El Zagun and the Brooks House and introduce participants to preservation. 21. HSFF hosted a graduate student from Dominican University for an archive practicum. Two high school volunteers also assisted in the archives from Santa Fe Preparatory School.22. HSFF hosted a St. Johns Professional Pathways Intern for eight weeks during the summer. He assisted in archival tasks, mud plastering the front wall, painting a fence, keeping open hours at the Eugene and Clare Thaw Education and Research Center, and all salons and events. 23. Created and hired for the new position of Office Manager and Community Liaison.