WELL TRAVELED: CASITA DE ARREBOL - A HIGH DESERT HEALING OASIS

*Casita De Arrebol, Image copyright 2023 by Jenna Ohnemus Peffley*

For all the challenges that social media can present, it also has the ability to be a beautiful portal for connection and discovery and support from strangers who become friends. I’m honestly not quite sure how I stumbled upon Casita De Arrebol, or who connected first, but I’m sure it came from a deep dive down the pathways of hashtags and other people’s posts. I’ll leave it to the magic and the mystery and the serendipity of finding the people we’re supposed to find in life.

Over time, Courtney (the homeowner, along with her husband Shaun) and I started commenting on each other’s posts, and then sending each other private direct messages, slowly getting to know more about each other, and realizing how like minded we were. I knew I wanted to visit the casita, and I loved that it was dog friendly. I was always hunting for beautiful places in New Mexico that would allow big dogs, because ours went everywhere with us. He’d traveled to 34 states and had been cross country multiple times, and he loved New Mexico as much as I do. Every time we would cross the state lines, I felt his energy shift into the same peaceful calm I felt - perhaps he loved it because he knew how much I did, but I like to think he felt the magic too.

We had planned to take Bubbs there as one of the stops on our upcoming 6 week road trip - a trip that we figured would be his final trip as he was nearing 15, but our lives shifted as he began to rapidly decline a few weeks before we were set to leave. As the end was fast approaching and I knew there wasn’t much time left, Courtney was there with words of support and kindness and an understanding that only those who have loved a pet child deeply can provide. She also gave us the gift of providing us with her magical home as a place of deep healing two weeks after he passed. I had no idea how much we would need it, or how much medicine it would provide, but it proved to be one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever received. I left a piece of my heart there, along with a gift of some of Bubbs hair to the land, and I can’t wait to return.

Nestled on 52 acres in a very small town near another small town - Abiquiu - a landscape of earthen rock formations and sagebrush and blue skies made famous by Georgia O’Keffee’s paintings, just about a 20 minute drive from Ghost Ranch and about a 15 minute drive from Abiquiu Lake, down a 2+ mile bumpy dirt road, isolated from any other humans but full of a variety of wildlife, lies this magical property with vistas as far as the eyes can see. I knew it was going to be spectacular, but photos on instagram can’t prepare you for the awe that washes over as you cross the river bed (AWD / 4WD is a must - thankfully Daisy the Subie did great) and arrive at this beautiful home. I’d been to Abiquiu before - I knew what to expect with the landscape, but what I didn’t expect was how much I would fall in love with the home. I’ve stayed at over 50 vacation rentals in various parts of the US and all over the world, and I can say, with certainty, that this is the most magical and well appointed vacation rental I’ve ever been in. I’ve never felt so cared for - from the moment the directions were sent to the moment we walked in the door, to the moment we locked up to leave - everything we needed was right there waiting for us (and so many things we didn’t know we needed, too).

Built out of traditional adobe brick and strawbale, this two bedroom two bathroom home was - dare I use my favorite word again - magical! From the cozy radiant heated floors and kiva fireplace (with plenty of wood stocked to have a fire burning the entire time we were there) to the thoughtful touches of a welcome bag with teas and a souvenir wood carving, to every kitchen gadget I could ever want because I love to cook everywhere I go (including an Instant Pot!!) to comfortable beds and amazing linens and great pillows and clean ingredient products and good olive oil - it was literally like I had come and pre-stocked the place for myself. I’ve never experienced this much thought and care in such a peaceful environment. We had the perfect place to find healing as we grieved the loss of Bubbs - a place I could allow my tears to be my medicine, a message my (now inhabiting the spirit world) medicine man friend Standing Deer had once told me. And they flowed and flowed, and the medicine was provided as this land and this home held us.

Every corner of the home had purpose, designed for living and experiencing and relaxing. Nothing too precious, but everything beautifully designed and functional, this house had it all. So much was locally sourced, and the back story of the artist who built it is hidden in her book inside the house. So many treasures and such good energy flowing throughout the space.

Doing dishes in this kitchen would never get old (although there’s a dishwasher too, which is a welcome thing to have when you cook as much as I do). There were teacups made from a local potter (Whiskey and Clay) and custom branded non-toxic soaps and recipes and plants and hand painted tiles made by the original owner of the home. Every window has a view that made me gasp.

With the high desert weather in the Springtime in New Mexico being…well, high desert weather - we were able to have a fire in the 18 degree mornings followed by the windows open mid-day (when you’re at 8000 ft elevation, 40 degrees and sunny can be tank top weather) and another fire at night to keep the house cozy. Curling up by the fireplace was pure magic, especially with Eric playing the mini Martin guitar that came with the casita.

I cooked amazing meals to serve in this super special dining room, all with local ingredients from the co-ops in Taos and Santa Fe. I sat at this table for hours drinking tea and staring out that window, pretending to get a little work done but daydreaming of building my own straw bale home here one day.

The view out the front door at sunset is absolutely stunning.

This cozy little corner was another perfect spot to read one of the many books about the local area, and all the blankets were amazing to snuggle up with too.

The bed was unbelievably comfortable. I don’t think I’ve ever slept as well as I slept here. It’s so quiet, and the stars in the sky are vast. With the new moon, you could see every single constellation.

Eric played guitar for hours in this spot while I listened and - for the first time in a long long time, relaxed. Caring for a geriatric senior big dog through a pandemic for three years, and then witnessing his decline and having to say goodbye did a number on my spirit and my stress levels, and I had no idea how tired I really was. The time spent here recharged me in ways I’ll never be able to explain in words.

Little details everywhere to make life easier - like the charging pad (that’s actually not ugly) next to the bed, the amethyst, and the plants throughout, plus beautiful textiles and comfy linen linens.

This shower. The views from this shower. This color palette. The beautiful products. The thought and detail. All of it. Just SO good.

When I saw that the bathroom was stocked with Cymbiotika Magnesium spray, I knew I’d found my people.

Handpainted tile depicting the Taos Pueblo - one of my favorite places on earth - line the bathroom wall, behind a stone sink set into a piece of rustic wood furniture makes for the perfect vanity.

This porch off the primary bathroom was the perfect place to get some full body vitamin D before the storms rolled in, and then was the perfect spot to watch the storms roll in (storms in the high desert are really spectacular - especially if you have nowhere to go).

One of the many trails on the property, leading to special little sacred spots - there’s so much here, you never need to leave.

Eric walking the labyrinth (I just had to google how to spell that).

There’s a Kiva hidden on the land that we were fortunate enough to be given permission to access for a sacred personal ceremony to honor Bubbs. Interestingly, Standing Deer, my medicine man friend, told me that I would have a kiva in my life as part of sacred healing. When I found out about this, I knew this was what he was talking about. The gifts of this place keep showing up.

One of my favorite teas from my favorite local tea shop in Taos, Tea.O.graphy, perfect for mornings spent reading at the table.

We left a gift behind on the land, a heart facing the mountain, in memory of Bubbs.

Reading through the guest book was a beautiful reminder of how this home has been a place of healing for so many. What a gift.

One of the many tasty easy meals I made - local ground Yak with veggies and local sprouts, topped with olive oil.

I’m a sucker for a ristra. You’ll even find one hanging outside our home in Los Angeles.

We were supposed to have Bubbs with us on this trip. He passed a week before we left, and when we picked up his ashes, we knew the best place for them was this weird vintage clown cookie jar that we got at a family white elephant christmas exchange this year. We had joked about it at the time, not realizing Bubbs time was coming just 2 short months later. We’d always taken fun family photos with Bubbs everywhere we went - it was a tradition. Just as we were packing up the car to leave for our 6 week road trip, we got the idea to bring “Cookie Jar Bubbs” along for the adventure, and take photos with him along the journey. At the time it seemed insane, and yet incredibly inappropriately appropriate for who he was, and for who we are. Carrying around a weird clown cookie jar on a 6 week road trip had it’s challenges, but it gave us a lot of laughs, a lot of tears, and a lot of memories. I’m glad he got to experience Casita de Arrebol with us, even if it wasn’t in the form we originally planned. What a gift his life was to us, and what a gift of healing this place was.

A final dusting of snow the morning we left - the perfect send off (and the frozen water in the riverbed crossing helped me slide right across while driving…I was a little worried about potentially getting stuck and I’m not the most snow savvy driver - this trip broke me in perfectly).

WELL TRAVELED: CASITA DE ARREBOL - A HIGH DESERT HEALING OASIS

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