By Jessica Rath

​When Janice and Michael Quinn bought their property in Rio Chama near Medanales, they were quite intrigued by the strange and decidedly unique structure which was part of it: a small building without any straight lines. It looked like something that had grown out of the earth, with undulating curves, bulbous outcrops, round and colorful windows. It had been abandoned for a while and wasn’t in great shape; raccoons and other critters had moved in. Janice and Michael didn’t know much about who built it, but one thing was certain: it was something special that deserved to be restored.
 
The Quinns started on a Sherlock-Holmes-inspired journey.  Talking to neighbors and former residents, they managed to piece together the story of the original owner and builder of the Hobbit Hut, a man every bit as eccentric and colorful as the building: Franklin MacFie. An artist, musician, actor, performer, who single-handedly built the free-form house all by himself. Well, people helped him, neighbors and friends. But he designed and planned the dwelling all by himself, although he wasn’t an architect. 

​I figured this would make a fascinating story for the Abiquiú News, and the Quinns kindly agreed to give me a grand tour of the Hut. Michael had been hard at work for weeks and months (“forever”, Janice corrected), sealing the roof which had several water leaks and renovating each room, to make it habitable.
 
But first of all they shared some great news with me:  on June 14, 2024, the Cultural Properties Review Committee listed the Franklin MacFie House in the State Register of Cultural Properties and recommended that the nomination be forwarded to the Keeper of the National Register for listing in the National Register of Historic Properties. With the help of New Mexico’s State and National Register Coordinator Steven Moffson, Janice and Michael had filled out a lengthy application to have the Hobbit Hut formally recognized as a site of historic relevance. If you’re interested, here is the link to the nomination; it has a lot more information than I could fit into this article. 

​Why did they apply for this? I wanted to know.
 
“Frankly, it just seemed like a good idea”, Michael told me. “I don't even remember how I discovered that we could apply – just looking  around the internet, I guess. What do we hope to get out of it? We hope to get a plaque”, he laughs. “And then maybe some financial and professional help. Because we do everything ourselves. And we pay everything with  cash, so it takes a long time. I think my primary goal is to preserve the building, and make sure that it stays a stable, viable building into the future when we’re gone”.
 
One reason why the site is historically relevant may be the fact that it was built with a unique construction technique: Ferrocement. It’s a composite material which uses a skeletal framework of steel rods which is then covered by fine-meshed chicken wire and burlap, and lastly plastered with a layer of cement mortar. Although this is only between 1 3⁄4 and 2 1⁄2 inches thick, it’s an extremely strong shell: Michael claimed that one could drive a car on top of the roof, and it would not cave! Whether that’s indeed possible I have no idea, but a number of Franklin’s friends have been documented dancing happily on the roof.

I got a better insight into the way Ferrocement was used when Janice and Michael took me on a tour of the house. The most pressing part of the work to be done is fixing the leaks, Michael explained.

“This mesh makes Ferrocement work”, Janice added. “That's why it doesn’t have to be heavy concrete but can be thin. So this whole thing is made out of rebar, chicken wire, burlap, and Portland cement. It’s a wonderful way to build actually, and it's waterproof. They still have ships that the hull is built out of Ferrocement. There are huge stadiums in Europe which are built of Ferrocement. It's amazing, eco-friendly stuff”.

Ships? Built with cement? This sounded somewhat counterintuitive (and I have to admit that I’m rather clueless as far as engineering is concerned). But sure enough, there’s even a Wikipedia page about Concrete Ships, click on the link for some interesting images. And here you can find some other amazing buildings made of Ferrocement.
​
From the outside, it looked as if this would be some dark, cavelike abode. But once we stepped inside, I was surprised to see how light-filled and airy the house was! 

​From the entrance, the living areas undulated in every direction, sloping down naturally, following the hillside. There were no straight lines anywhere, and the few dividing walls all had arches and openings. The house looked alive, breathing, moving, changing. I was utterly enchanted. 

​Janice pointed to the ground: “All of this was dirt, which got muddy whenever it rained. Michael worked hard to install concrete floors; that was one of the first things he did”. 

Next, we looked at the kitchen, and Michael showed me everything that had been done so far, and his many future plans. “The electricity is here for a refrigerator; and there is a sink with a cabinet;  and cabinets over there are on the backside of a closet which will be in the bathroom. There will be chairs here and a breakfast table. So, we could rent it out for a couple of months in the Summer; I have plans to put in a mini split system for  heating   and air conditioning”.
​
“The bathroom  will have a shower right here, a toilet there, and the sink, and the washer and  dryer will be here, and a water heater”.

By this time, after walking through different rooms and getting a better sense for all the amazing details – there were so many windows, for example, and every one was unique and different, some round, some arched, some colored glass church windows – I wanted to learn more about the man who built this. Franklin MacFie. I asked Janice and Michael how they learned about him, and what they learned.

Janice told me: “We loved the Hut at first sight, and asked our neighbor Dean Jeffers who lives below the ditch to the south, what he knew about it. From him and another neighbor (Reynel Maestas, the one whose grandmother had owned all these properties), we heard lots of stories. Dean told us that Franklin had moved to Portugal to nurse his partner Jean Michel Belluc who died of AIDS. And that Franklin had died soon after that! That’s why Michael was so surprised to see a very much alive Franklin at our door in 2008!”

They had met him! How exciting! I wanted to hear all about it. Michael had quite a story to tell.
“We were sitting in the hot tub. And it was the time of year when the moon comes up and projects light out of all the windows and auto tail lights in the Hut. And we were thinking, ‘It's the spirit of Franklin’. The next morning I was home alone, and there was a knock at the door. And there's Franklin with one of his friends from Santa Fe, and the lady from Portugal”. Michael had told me  earlier that Franklin had built a round cement and adobe addition to a house in Portugal (he traveled all over the world),  and that he had wanted to show his friends from Portugal the house he had built much earlier in New Mexico. So this was that visit. “I opened the door and there's this guy and says  ‘Hi, I'm Franklin MacFie’. I couldn’t believe my eyes! ‘Franklin MacFie! The rumors of your demise have been greatly exaggerated!’ was all I could say.  He thought that was funny, and he explained that he was here with friends and he wanted to show them the hut. And if it was okay. I said, of course it's okay. Do you mind if I come along? And so we walked down there”.
​
“They weren't here for very long, I don't think they had much time. But that's when the picture of Franklin and me by the window was taken”.

“So that was my first connection with Franklin, before I knew anything about him. I didn't know he was sick at the time. I didn't know anything about him, except that he built that place. Which meant a lot to me. Many years later  Carol Bondy was here and we talked about the Hut and Franklin. She did some research and found the WordPress website. And that's when we started learning all about Franklin's eccentricities, his life and accomplishments”. He died shortly after this visit.
​
Please take a look at the site if you want to learn more about Franklin MacFie. It’s a memorial put together by some of his lifelong friends, celebrating the artist, film maker, world traveler, theater director (he organized the Espanola Valley Theater where he worked with teen drama students and played in “Bye, Bye Birdie” in Santa Fe in 1978),  an altogether gifted and brilliant man who lived in New York City, San Francisco, New Mexico, Morocco, Turkey, Portugal, and lots of other places. I guess it’s more a labor of love and less of an organized historical document, but somehow this is totally fitting for Franklin’s character. 

Janice told me another funny story, which she and Michael heard from Ray Stevens, a life-long friend of Franklin’s.

“Franklin and his partner Jean Michel, who was  French, wanted to make Camembert cheese. And they had a cow. Jean Michel called somebody up in Wisconsin who made cheeses and who also happened to be French.  The story goes that they just talked fluidly in French for like 30 minutes on the phone, and Jean Michel got the recipes. And so they started making Camembert cheese. Jean Michel would go to Santa Fe, with his rounds of Camembert cheese and in scantily cut off leather shorts and sell them to restaurants in Santa Fe”.

 “And Ray told us that sometimes the cheese wouldn't sell and they would bring it back and mix in some herbs and things, reformat and go back to town to try to sell it again, for even more money!”

Isn’t it strange to have such a strong connection with another person's life? To gradually learn more details about a unique, creative, and rather eccentric individual? Some people might think that the Franklin MacFie House is too weird and unconventional and not worth saving. I applaud the Quinns for recognizing Franklin’s vision and for putting so much effort into the preservation of the building. They see and understand its beauty. I hope they’ll get some funding so that they can finish this labor of love sooner, rather than later. If you have questions about the Hobbit Hut, or have personal stories to share, please email TheHobbitHut@lunadanza.com.
And thank you so much for showing me around, Janice and Michael – I’m glad I could learn something about Franklin and his original spirit.

Contemporary Mexican Photography Lecture
 Sunday, August 4, 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. ​

​The Abiquiú Inn proudly hosts a compelling lecture by Mexican photographer Cristina Kahlo. Cristina, the great-niece of Frida Kahlo, is one of Mexico’s most prominent contemporary photographers.  Cristina’s artistic career follows in the footsteps of her great-grandfather Guillermo Kahlo and father Antonio Kahlo, both celebrated photographers.
 
Cristina will guide us into various themes treated by Mexican photographers in recent decades, from the magical to the political, and from documentaries to the surreal.  She will also discuss her family lineage and special family memories in this lecture. 
 
Cristina employs multiple photographic printing techniques in her work, including platinum, cyanotype, heliogravure and color interventions.  Her subjects include the feminine universe, geometry, rituals, music, architecture, dance, and childhood disabilities. 
 
Cristina’s most recent work was photographing and cataloging the Frida Kahlo Museum collection for its 65th anniversary. Cristina also recently curated the groundbreaking exhibition “Kahlo: An Expanded Body” at the Parrish Art Museum (New York), focusing on Frida’s dramatic medical history and its profound impact on her art.  Her photography has been exhibited in numerous European galleries as well as throughout Latin America and the United States. 
 
Seating for this event is limited, so plan to arrive early.  For more information, contact: Carlos Rovelo at 214-505-6549.
 

By Trip Jennings,  New Mexico IN Depth
This story was originally published by New Mexico In Depth

It’s on. 

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham called New Mexico legislative leaders’ bluff, signing a proclamation Wednesday afternoon to demand state lawmakers return to Santa Fe for a mid-year special legislative session scheduled to begin noon Thursday.

Lujan Grisham signed the proclamation during a state capitol press conference in Santa Fe surrounded by a phalanx of public officials that included Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller, leaders from Farmington, Las Cruces and other communities, and three Pueblo governors. 

The officials showed up en masse to support the governor in her call for state lawmakers to tackle several public safety measures she says cannot wait until January, when lawmakers are scheduled to regularly return to Santa Fe. 

Her chances of success are anybody’s guess, especially during an election year when lawmakers would prefer to be home, particularly those running for re-election. When they’re in session, lawmakers cannot solicit campaign contributions, although they can accept them. 

State House and Senate leaders have told Lujan Grisham that their fellow lawmakers haven’t reached a consensus on her legislative priorities. Governors have the power to call special sessions, but doing so without an agreement forged with leaders during negotiations prior to the session is risky — and rare.

Reaction was swift Wednesday afternoon from progressive organizations who have publicly expressed their concern about the governor’s agenda. In an email, Bold Futures, Equality New Mexico, the ACLU of New Mexico, and the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness denounced her decision to move ahead while ignoring community members and experts who said the governor’s measures will harm vulnerable populations. 

Special sessions are usually short and narrow in scope. Fourteen of the 25 special legislative sessions held since 1990 have lasted six days or fewer. And of the seven that lasted 10 days or more, four of them involved lawmakers’ once-a-decade responsibility of redrawing lines for legislative and congressional districts, which generally take much longer than other special sessions.

Without an agreement in place, this week’s special session could drag on for days. Or state lawmakers could gavel themselves out of session.

A simple majority of lawmakers in each chamber could vote to do that. 

Or one chamber could work while the other is adjourned, which happened when Gov. Bill Richardson was in office and the Senate adjourned while the House stayed in special session. As was the case with the state Senate that year, the adjourned chamber must come back every three days to gavel itself back into session and then adjourn — unless the other chamber says it is OK to be out for longer than three days.

Sundays do not count toward the three days.

Here is the governor’s agenda according to the proclamation sent out by her office Wednesday afternoon:

(1) amending certain procedures and requirements relating to criminal competency laws 

(2) amending the definitions of “harm to self” and “harm to others” in the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code and the Assisted Outpatient Treatment Act 

(3) requiring local law enforcement agencies to submit reports on crime incidents, ballistics information, and other relevant information to the Department of Public Safety on a monthly basis

(4) enacting the Unsafe Use of Public Highways and Medians Act to ensure safe use of medians and roadways by pedestrians 

(5) increasing the penalties for felons and serious violent felons found in possession of a firearm

(6) amending the Racketeering Act to add various predicate offenses, expand the definition of “enterprise,” and add various crimes relating to racketeering activity 

(7) increasing the basic sentence for crimes involving the possession or trafficking of fentanyl
 
(8) appropriating funds to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Public Assistance eligible applicants that have been approved for FEMA public assistance funding for projects to replace or repair public infrastructure damaged by fire, flooding, or debris flows that were addressed as part of Major Disaster Declaration DR-4795-NM 

(9) and appropriating funds for the expenses of the Fifty-Sixth Legislature, First Special Session, 2024. 

​OFFICE OF THE STATE ENGINEER, INTERSTATE STREAM COMMISSION, BUREAU OF RECLAMATION AND USACE-ALBUQUERQUE DISTRICT PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Water Managers continue to respond to sediment plug on Rio Chama: State and Federal partners coordinating to ensure safety and access to water

SANTA FE, N.M. –The Office of the State Engineer and the Interstate Stream Commission, along with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the Bureau of Reclamation, continue to work closely together to manage Rio Grande water operations and establish a channel for the river after a sediment plug formed in the Rio Chama following an intense rainfall on June 20.

USACE is conducting flood control operations by managing releases from Abiquiu Reservoir within their authorities to minimize effects. To ensure that water rights holders receive the available water and to maintain compliance with the Rio Grande Compact, the OSE/ISC has provided Reclamation with state funding to mobilize crews and specialized equipment to clear a channel through the sediment plug, which was approximately 100-feet wide, 4 to 5 feet deep, and over a mile long. Until channel capacity in the Rio Chama can be restored to safely release higher flows from Abiquiu Reservoir, flows on the Rio Chama will be restricted and San Juan-Chama Project water may not be released from Abiquiu Reservoir. This is resulting in lower flows through the Middle Rio Grande.
​
The state and federal agencies will continue to monitor and respond to the situation and work throughout the Rio Grande Basin to ensure that New Mexicans remain safe and have access to their designated water allocations.
---
The Office of the State Engineer is charged with administering the state’s water resources. The State Engineer has power over the supervision, measurement, appropriation, and distribution of all surface and groundwater in New Mexico, including streams and rivers that cross state boundaries. The State Engineer is also Secretary of the Interstate Stream Commission.
​
The nine-member Interstate Stream Commission is charged with separate duties including protecting New Mexico’s right to water under eight interstate stream compacts, ensuring the state complies with each of those compacts as well as investigating, conserving and protecting the waters of the State, in addition to water planning. https://www.ose.state.nm.us