The fountain runs in January. The gate latches at ten.

This is a working yard: breakfast, shade, a fire bowl after October, and rules posted on a card by the cottonwood. It is not a cocktail garden.

The tree

A cottonwood older than the inn’s current name.

Rosa planted nothing here. The tree was already in the yard when she took boarders in 1951. Elena has had it trimmed twice: 1998 and 2014. We do not string lights in it. We do not name the inn after it. We eat under it.

Breakfast is set from 8 to 10:30. If you want a tray, tell the desk the night before. Coffee is in the lobby from 7:15 because some guests walk Canyon Road before they eat. Chairs stay out until we close the gate. In winter the blankets are on the bench; take one, put it back.

Garden rooms open onto this yard. If you stay in Cottonwood or Chamisa you will hear the fountain and, at eight, the scrape of chairs. That is in the guest book on purpose. Piñon is the quiet garden room. Tower rooms look down on the tree without sitting in it.

Courtyard plant against adobe at Casa Sol

Hours

When the yard is open

7:15amCoffee in the lobby. The yard is unlocked. Chairs may still have frost.
8–10:30Breakfast under the tree, or on a tray. Tomás plates; Elena pours.
10:30–6Shade, reading, the fountain. Not a workspace for calls; take those to the street.
After 6Guests only. Visitors from dinner wait in the lobby.
10pmGate latched. Garden-room doors should be closed so Cottonwood can sleep.

Rules

Posted by the fountain, also here.

The courtyard is not a bar. Wine with dinner is at the table, Thu–Sat 6–9.
No glass past the portal. Mugs and water are fine. Broken Saltillo is our problem; glass in the dirt is yours.
Children are welcome at breakfast. After 8pm we ask for quiet toward the garden rooms. The walls are adobe, not magic.
Fire bowl after October, when Elena lights it. Do not start it yourself. Wood is stacked on the north wall.
Do not pick the herb wall. Tomás cuts oregano on Thursday for posole. Rosemary is for the pork.
The fountain is not a wishing well. Coins go to the desk if you insist; they go to the chimney fund.
Smoking on the street, not in the yard. Santa Fe wind will take a cigarette into a ristra and we will remember you.
Day visitors are welcome until 6 if a guest brings them. After 6 the yard is for keys only.

By season

What the yard actually does.

Winter

The fountain is a trickle. We still fill it so the pipes do not freeze. Breakfast moves to the long table inside if the temperature is below 28°F. Blankets on the bench. Fire bowl most evenings. Check-in is still 3pm; the adobe holds heat if the kiva has been lit at noon.

Spring

Wind. Chamisa starts along the wall. Breakfast stays outside unless it is blowing grit. Indian Market in August is still months away; this is when the three-night rooms start to lock. If you want Cottonwood in August, book it now.

Summer

Shade is the point. The cottonwood earns its keep from 11 to 4. Monsoon afternoons can soak the Saltillo; we put the chairs under the portal. Dinner guests walk through the yard to the table. After 6 it is keys only, even in July.

Fall

Fiesta (early September) is a three-night minimum. The yard is quieter in the morning because the plaza is louder. Elena lights the fire bowl as soon as the evening drops. This is the season West Portal books out for the light.