Santa Fe Living Treasures – Elder Stories

The man Faith would marry, architect John Gaw Meem, contracted tuberculosis and came to Santa Fe for his health in the early 1920s. He was establishing himself in his profession. and one of his best clients was a woman from Colorado Springs named Alice Bemis Taylor. Alice hired John to build the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center.

She also asked him to hire her niece, Faith, as a draftsman in his office. John agreed, and Faith Bemis headed to Santa Fe. The only one of her siblings to go West, Faith felt New Mexico was like "being close to the sea because she could see the horizon, Nancy told us. "She became attuned and identified closely with the Southwest."

Faith and John were married in 1933. The couple lived in his office for a while and then bought property on Old Pecos Road, now Old Santa Fe Trail. "Together, they designed and built the split level part of the house in 1938," said Nancy, who now lives in the home. "I was born in 1937. My parents had a housewarming and christening for my first birthday when the house was completed."

Please see Volume 1 for complete text.
Photo ©1997 by Joanne Rijmes