Martinez Hacienda

The Martinez Hacienda is a Spanish Colonial house in Taos with thick adobe walls surrounding two interior courtyards and containing twenty-one rooms in a fortified layout. The structure features no exterior windows, reflecting the protective building methods used during the Spanish colonial period.

This house was founded in 1804 by Don Antonio Severino Martinez after he relocated from Abiquiu to Taos, expanding from its initial four rooms as the owner prospered. The growth reflects the rising success of the founder in a frontier region.

The property served the Martinez family as both a home and a marketplace, connecting local communities to the wider Spanish colonial trade network. Visitors can still observe how different rooms reveal the working life of a family that balanced family affairs with commercial activities.

The site operates today as a museum where visitors can watch artisans demonstrate blacksmithing, weaving, and woodcarving techniques from the colonial period. Set aside time to explore the various rooms and observe the traditional skills that were essential to daily life at that time.

The Martinez family controlled an agricultural empire spanning roughly two square miles where they employed Navajo and Ute workers. This system allowed a single family to dominate much of the regional economy in this remote corner of the territory.