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How To Retire Without Money
By Bob Belmont
CHAPTER 6
AMERICA'S ART COLONIES
Page 4 of 9
But that's
the way it is in an art colony. Complete informality, no one
better than anyone else. If a celebrity comes to town, no
matter what field he might be in, you'll meet him at one of
the local parties, one of the local bars, or possibly sitting
around on the beach or at a sidewalk cafe. This, of course,
applies to American art colonies as well as European ones.
§
CASE HISTORY
No. I. I mentioned in an introductory chapter that some of the
case histories I planned to use in this book were ones that
concerned me personally and this is one of these.
In my easy
going travels about the United States, I arrived in Taos, New
Mexico in the summer of 1989 and was immediately impressed by
the great beauty of this section which British writer D. H.
Lawrence once described as the most beautiful valley in the
world. It was a time when I was more than ordinarily pressed
for funds because I had been doing a great deal of traveling—just
for the fun of it. I decided to settle down awhile to recoup
my fortunes.
After a few
days in town I found that although rents in Taos proper
weren't particularly high, you could beat them amazingly by
going out to one of the nearby towns such as Arroyo Seco, or
Arroyo Hondo, both of which were about eight miles out of
town.
I looked
about and found also that this area supports some of the most
poverty stricken people to be found in our country. They are
of Spanish and Indian descent and a considerable number of
them, even though they and their ancestors have lived in this
country since before the Pilgrims landed in New England, don't
even speak English. They are usually small farmers, and seldom
very successful at that. In season they go north to herd sheep
in Colorado and Wyoming or to pick fruit or potatoes.
They build
their houses of adobe, finding the materials on their lands,
the wood for the vigas which support the ceilings, from the
forests on Taos Mountain.
I bought a
two room adobe house with two acres of land for $4,000. There
were only three windows and the floor was of mud. There were
no cooking facilities, no electricity, no bathroom— obviously.
A "Chic Sale" in the back yard sufficed for plumbing.
However,
under Rural Electrification, I had electricity brought out for
fifty dollars, and hired two of the local Spanish Americans to
re-mud (adobe) the house both in and out. I also had them put
in a picturesque fireplace which cost me exactly seven
dollars. The adobe floors I had redone with ox-blood and
linseed oil which gave them a rich, linoleum effect, difficult
to describe but of a beauty and nature that goes back to
primitive times.
>>> CHAPTER 6
AMERICA'S ART COLONIES Page 5
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