La Pousada has a most gracious ghost

Robert Miller, Rock Resorts The pool is a central focus of the 6-acre enclave of La Posada de Santa Fe Resort and Spa, two blocks from the central Plaza.

Though located just two blocks from the Plaza, La Posada de Santa Fe Resort and Spa feels like a private enclave. Its 157 guest rooms are fitted into six acres in an array of ochre-colored casas and casitas, no two of which are alike. Now an upscale resort and spa, the property has a history as colorful as Santa Fe itself.

It began as a grand mansion that Abraham Staab, a German businessman, built in the late 1800s to lure his young bride Julia from Germany to the Wild West.

Instead of following local adobe architecture, he commissioned a formal, three-story brick residence in the French Second Empire style, with mansard roof and third floor ballroom. Mr. Staab imported everything by steamer and stage coach, from bricks and marble to Italian paintings and French tapestries.

Completed in 1882, the Staab Mansion was for a decade the hub of Santa Fe culture in a swirl of engagements hosted by Mrs. Staab, who bore seven children and died in 1896 at age 52. Several years later, a fire destroyed the ballroom and the third floor.

In 1936, the now derelict mansion was purchased by R.H. Nason, who with his wife turned the house into an inn they named La Posada, which became popular among artists and art students.

Eight years ago, the property became a Rock Resort and underwent major renovations, including a tasteful restoration of Mrs. Staab's room and addition of a signature restaurant, Fuego, and a spa. Despite these upgrades, La Posada also has a resident ghost.

Over the years, numerous hotel employees and guests have reported encountering the translucent figure of a short, dark-eyed woman wearing a flowing gown and hood in the rooms and gardens of the Staab house.

The story is that it is Julia Staab watching over her house. Indeed, on our final morning at La Posada, we heard that two cleaning men had seen her in the bar after closing only hours earlier. Apparently the two fled in terror.

Resort guests, however, seldom have that reaction to this charming Santa Fe retreat. For information: www.rockresorts.com or 1-505-986-0000.