Costilla Lodge

The Costilla Lodge brings into the present the history of development that has shaped Vermejo Park Ranch since the early twentieth century. Commissioned by Ted Turner and built in 2010, it replaced the deteriorating original lodge, a one-story log structure on stone foundations, that William Bartlett had erected in 1915 as a high mountain fishing camp at 10,500 feet in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, twenty-five miles from the main ranch dwellings.

Designed by the Santa Fe firm of Conron and Woods, the sustainable 12,000-square-foot lodge is constructed from Ponderosa pine and stone harvested locally and processed on site. The building has a Silver LEED certification and incorporates energy-efficient lighting, water-conserving plumbing, and in-wall insulation. A 56.16-kilowatt Photovoltaic Solar Power Plant, installed in 2013, provides for most of the building’s energy needs.

The lodge is fronted by a monumental porch, with thick timber posts and roof trusses. The interior is dominated by the double-height Great Room, a lounge with a large fireplace set within a floor-to-ceiling sandstone wall. The Great Room leads into a dining room that opens onto an expansive stone patio overlooking the high mountain prairie and the Sangre de Cristos. There are eight guestrooms along its east side, each with access to outdoor patios and balconies. At the west end, a service wing houses staff quarters on the upper floor, with kitchen and service areas below. The hand-carved furnishings were made by a Taos County woodworker using wood from the ranch.

Costilla Lodge is open for reservations year round.