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Three and a half years of transformation — mostly managed from thousands of miles away in California, with flights down as often as possible to check progress, make decisions and occasionally watch in barely concealed terror as walls came down and entire rooms disappeared.

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Sunset Suite, now Casa Botanica's most spacious and elegant accommodation, was originally three separate rooms. When the new staircase went in, someone realized rather urgently that walls were needed to prevent future guests from stepping directly off the edge of the building.

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Furnishings made their way down in three trailer loads from California over a couple of years. Items carefully chosen by Thora from garage sales, thrift stores and family heirlooms, all hauled by Shawn and Thora, and carefully arranged with future guests in mind.

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Casa Botanica is a family endeavor in every sense. Built on trust. Tended with love and considerable effort. Run with the kind of personal investment that only comes when something is genuinely yours.

 

Thora manages the property with the same philosophy that guided her years leading the Santa Fe Garden Club — that beautiful environments change people for the better, that plants deserve to be taken seriously and that the details matter enormously. Shawn makes it all possible in ways that matter most and that guests see but have no idea the effort that goes into it.

 

Together they have built something that neither of them could have imagined standing outside that dark, termite-ridden building in 2018 — and that continues to surprise them both.The orchids are blooming on their own schedule. The bananas are heavy on the trees. The palms have reached the roofline and show no signs of stopping.

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