4 Magdalen

It was purchased by photographer Dani Brubaker in 2022 from long time resident Yolanda Ortiz y Pino. Yolanda lived in the home for 63 years. 

Dani worked with artist Patricia Larsen to maintain the authentic old world charm. The home is completely updated with new electrical, radiant heating, new plumbing. 

“I wanted the house to have the feeling of an old adobe, yet have all the modern luxuries of today. 

“I've been a fan of Patricia's for many years and emulated her style as much as possible. She has this way of stopping before it's perfected. A sign of a true artist. I knew I needed someone like her in this house. 

“We discussed the kind of workers we wanted to use on the finish plaster. We decided on people that weren't craftsmen. We felt the learning process was exactly what this house needed to feel authentic.”

Gracing the 3-bedroom house is a door with painted designs by Fremont Ellis.

The property’s abstract, a thick volume that shows the first transfer dated 1866. The original home could have been there a long time before that first change of hands.

The family name relates to the late 1800s, when Concepcion Pino, who was living on the east side of Galisteo Creek, married mercantile owner Juan Ortiz II. Juan’s son, Jose Ortiz y Pino (1874-1951) became a “sheep baron.” He married Pablita, the daughter of Sylvester and Josefita Davis y Ortiz, according to the April 1999 nomination by David Kammer of the Galisteo Historic District to the State Register of Cultural Properties. They built a family compound that included an earlier residence as well as a store, a cantina, a wool warehouse and, eventually, a gas station.

Don Jose: The Last Patron, in 1981. The elder Ortiz y Pino “formed one of the largest grazing empires in New Mexico and emerged as the village patrón, providing work, credit at his store and cantina, and advice to many villagers as well as tending to their general welfare.” The Agua Verde Ranch once occupied much of Santa Fe, San Miguel and Torrance counties. Hundreds of local men worked for the rancher, caring for his Karakul sheep and his cattle.

After Ortiz y Pino died, his vast holdings were broken up. Even the Galisteo parcel shrunk over time. “The family used to own over where [clay artist] Priscilla Hoback lived. The big warehouse where they kept all the wool was next door to Priscilla's studio. They owned a  big general store where [painter] Woody Gwyn is now.”

The famous rancher’s daughter was María Concepción “Concha” Ortiz y Pino de Kleven, who grew up to be a three-term New Mexico legislator, a champion of Hispanic women’s rights, and a pioneer in bilingual education. She died in 2006 at age 96. Concha’s brother was Frank Ortiz y Davis, the father of José Ortiz y Pino III (Yolanda’s husband) and María Ortiz y Davis. An interesting comment on that branch of the family was found in a 1951 newspaper story about the engagement of María Ortiz y Davis. The notice said her family “traces its ancestry to the Spanish conquistadors and their forerunners at the court of Spain. A cardinal, a cathedral architect at Santander, and a bishop who served Charles V during the Inquisition are included in the family’s direct lineage.”

José Ortiz y Pino III attended New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, was commissioned first lieutenant and served in the U.S. Army in Germany after World War II. “He finished college at New Mexico State University, then we came back home and lived at the ranch where my father-in-law had his home,” Yolanda remembered. “José was a county commissioner for two terms, then he served as a state senator, then he was a special aide to Gov. David Cargo. After that he quit politics. He had to take over his father’s ranch.”

Over the years Yolanda and José had a general store, a restaurant called La Mancha — in 1979, Yolanda published Original Native New Mexican Cooking — and also a museum and an herb store, José’s Remedios y Yerbas.