Oldest House Museum (De Vargas Street House), Santa Fe

To get a real feel for how folks lived back in the day, swing by 215 East De Vargas Street in Santa Fe – home to what's claimed to be the oldest house in the U.S. Inside, it's like stepping into a cave, complete with a cozy corner fireplace straight out of Spain. The first floor is original, while the upper floor was reconstructed in the 1920s. Most of the structure is built from adobe brick, which was a Spanish colonial technology, while a few lower wall sections are puddled adobe characteristic of pre-Spanish pueblo dwellings.

The exact birth date of this house is a bit of a mystery, but it's got ties to the Barrio de Analco across the river from the Plaza, where the working-class folks of old Santa Fe lived. Some archaeologists even think bits of this home might have been kicking around before the Spanish showed up, possibly from the late 1700s.

Regardless of the true age, years of calling it the "Oldest House" have become engrained in local lore and evidence from the property proves that the wooden vigas (or ceiling beams) were cut between 1740 and 1767, so this place definitely has some history to it. Plus, it's a key player in the Barrio De Analco Historic District, rubbing shoulders with six other old-timers from way back when.

Tip:
For a bit of contrast, check out the Eldorado Hotel over on 309 West San Francisco Street, to see how flexible the idea of mud construction can be. It's a recent expression of the Santa Fe style, or Spanish-Pueblo Revival style, which has been in vogue since the 1920s. Like most newer buildings in Santa Fe, however, the Eldorado is not real adobe; it simply wears an adobe-style stucco veneer.