Landscape Information
Originally inhabited by Ancient Puebloans, the land for Los Poblanos was deeded around 1716 as part of the Elena Gallegos de Gurulé land grant. Ambrosio and Juan Cristobal Armijo owned the 500-acre ranch through the 19th century. In 1934, Albert and Ruth Simms hired architect John Gaw Meem, New Mexico’s most prolific and well-known architect at the time, to remodel the ranch house and design the La Quinta Cultural Center for the benefit of the Albuquerque community. The cultural center includes a fresco by Peter Hurd and woodcarvings by Gustav Baumann, among other original art. The ranch was used as an active farm, with a dairy and experimental crops planted during the Simms’ ownership.
In 1932 Rose Greely was hired to design the six-acre gardens in formal Spanish style. Los Poblanos is her only known work in the southwest and features vibrant flower beds irrigated by an acequia, Spanish tile fountains, rose-cutting gardens, winding pathways, and an allée of mature cottonwood trees. In 1976 the ranch was divided and sold to the Rembes family. Reunited today, the ranch house operates as an inn that shares a 25-acre site with the restored La Quinta Cultural Center.
