La Casa Sena

Built in 1868, Sena Plaza is one of the oldest surviving houses in Santa Fe. It is located just one block from the city's plaza, and just across the street from the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. La Casa Sena, which means "the Sena House", occupies an old hacienda style adobe. The Sena family was one of the oldest and most notable in Santa Fe. Even then the House of Sena served the finest cuisine of the region, featuring venison, rabbit, buffalo, and the many chilies native to this area. Spanish hospitality included day long feasts with sports, games, and dancing. The courtyard, now green and beautiful, was then bare earth, all vegetation eaten by the goats that inhabited it. The main dining room of La Casa Sena now stands where the stables once were. In the early 1980's , art dealer Gerald Peters bought the historic building and renovated it to its former grandeur, all the while protecting its architectural integrity. In 1983, La Casa Sena opened, and food and song once again filled the old Sena house.