Thanks for all your wonderful comments about the transformation of Casita Alegria and the ghost story that accompanied it. Your insights inspired me to close this allegory with an expression of [...]

Although Casita Alegria had been transformed into a lighter, happier little house, I had to face the fact that I was sleeping in a haunted adobe. While lying awake during my first night alone [...]

In retrospect, not only did the downstairs of Casita Alegria feel creepy, so did the upstairs. The curved steps in the entry that wound their way up to the second level ended at an empty, shallow [...]

The magical remodel of Casita Alegria’s lower level was finally complete. The old adobe allowed me to remove both walls of the creepy hallway to expand the tiny kitchen and family room on either [...]

I loved the way Casita Alegria’s chunky chocolate brown lintels defined the adobe’s entryway, where a flamboyant spiral staircase literally floated up to the second floor. But the scrawny [...]

For much of my adult life I dreamt of buying an old adobe in Northern New Mexico. Finally, one crisp summer night in the tiny town of Galisteo, a few miles southeast of Santa Fe, I shared my [...]