The historic home of Taos Society of Artists co-founder Ernest L. Blumenschein, preserved with the family’s art, furniture, antiques, and personal belongings.
The house where a Taos art colony became a family life.
The Blumenschein Home preserves the domestic environment of Ernest L. Blumenschein, his wife Mary Greene Blumenschein, and their daughter Helen, along with a substantial collection connected to the Taos Society of Artists.
In 1898, Ernest Blumenschein and fellow artist Bert Phillips were on a sketching trip through the Southwest when a wagon wheel broke outside Taos. Blumenschein rode into town alone to get it fixed, and the two young painters became so taken with the valley that they stayed. The accident is often credited as the spark that helped build Taos into an art colony.
Blumenschein did not settle permanently until 1919, when he bought a four-room house on Ledoux Street from fellow artist W. Herbert “Buck” Dunton. He and his family expanded it into its present layout by 1931 and lived there for more than 40 years. In 1915, Blumenschein, Phillips, and four other painters formed the Taos Society of Artists, which grew to 21 members before disbanding in 1927.
Pre-1820sThe home’s oldest sections were likely built before the 1820s as an adobe Spanish Pueblo style structure with a central courtyard.
1898Blumenschein and Bert Phillips’ wagon wheel breaks near Taos, the chance encounter that draws both artists to the valley.
1915Blumenschein joins Bert Phillips, Joseph Henry Sharp, Oscar E. Berninghaus, E.I. Couse, and W. Herbert “Buck” Dunton to found the Taos Society of Artists.
1919Blumenschein buys a four-room house on Ledoux Street from Dunton.
1931The family finishes expanding the home to its present eleven-room layout.
1962Daughter Helen Greene Blumenschein donates the home and its furnishings to the Taos community, forming the basis of what is now Taos Historic Museums.
1965–1966The property is designated a National Historic Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Inside the Home
Art, furniture, antiques, and the objects of everyday family life.
Rooms were arranged by Helen Blumenschein to look much as they did when the family lived there. The museum preserves both the house and the cultural world that surrounded one of the founders of the Taos art colony.
Blumenschein Family Art
Paintings and works associated with Ernest, Mary, and Helen Blumenschein remain central to the collection.
Taos Society of Artists
Works by artists from the Taos Society of Artists connect the home to the larger history of the Taos art colony.
Antiques & Personal Objects
European and Spanish Colonial antiques, family furnishings, and personal belongings preserve the character of the household.
Plan your visit
Blumenschein Home & Museum
Hours are weather permitting. Confirm current conditions and special programming directly with Taos Historic Museums before traveling.
The E.L. Blumenschein Home and Museum is featured editorially by HeyTaos because it is one of the most historically significant artist homes in the region, not because of a paid relationship. Hours, admission, weather closures, and programs can change. Confirm current details directly with Taos Historic Museums before visiting.
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