New Mexico is home to many quiet villages and two of the most beautiful are Galisteo and Lamy. Only 18 minutes south of the Plaza, Galisteo and Lamy provide both exquisite, charming adobe village homes and beautiful view homes on acreage.

Named for Archbishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy, the village of Lamy became the location for the local train station In 1896 the Fred Harvey Company built the luxurious El Ortiz Hotel here, signifying that Lamy had become an important railroad junction. The Amtrak Southwest Chief still stops here daily on its run between Chicago and Los Angeles.

The Lamy Railroad and History Museum, located in the historic “Legal Tender” restaurant building, is dedicated to preserving local history and heritage, with emphasis on the railroads and their impact on the area. The museum buildings, formerly the Pflueger General Merchandise Store (built in 1881) and the attached Annex Saloon (built in 1884), are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Galisteo, centered in the magnificent Galisteo basin is an all adobe village of some 250 residents and includes an incredibly diverse artist population. These artists, drawn by the natural beauty of our high desert surroundings and breathtaking sunsets, have made Galisteo their home.

The annual Galisteo Studio Tour allows you to wind your way through the many studios of Galisteo where you’ll find photography, paintings, pottery and ceramic art, retablos, jewelry, bronze sculpture and weavings.

Galisteo has served as a filming location for a number of major motion pictures. Nearly all have been westerns (including The Cowboys, Silverado, The Hi-Lo Country, Young Guns and Crazy Heart), though the town also served as backdrop for fantasy blockbusters Legion and Thor.

The area around Galisteo is called the The Galisteo Basin Preserve – an ecological region of fragile beauty and diversity celebrated for its scenic, cultural, and wildlife values. The Galisteo Basin Preserve is planned to conserve and restore more than 13,000 acres of open space as well as promote thoughtful, stewardship-oriented community development.