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When the Santa Fe
Railroad wanted a right-of-way through the Luna property in 1880, the
proposed railroad tracks were planned directly through the Luna
hacienda. In order to gain their right-of-way, the railroad
agreed to build a new home for Antonio Jose Luna and his family
according to their specifications. Before long, a southern
colonial style mansion, built with adobe materials of the southwest
was completed for the family. However, Antonio Jose died in
1881, the same year that the house was completed. As a result,
his oldest son, Tranquilino and his family were the first to live in
the luxurious home. When Tranquilino died in 1892, his younger
brother Solomon took the reins of the empire and moved into the
spacious mansion.
In the early 1900s control passed to
Soloman's nephew, Eduardo Otero, because Soloman had not children. In the 1920s multiple improvements to the mansion were made, including
the addition of a solarium, a front portico, and ironwork that
surrounded the entire property. It was Eduardo’s wife, Josefita,
more familiarly known as "Pepe,” that was largely responsible for
these many efforts. The daughter of William R. Manderfield,
founder of the Santa Fe New Mexican, Josefita lovingly spent
her days caring for her magnificent gardens and improving her fine
home.

Over the years the mansion changed hands
several times before it was purchased and renovated as a fine dining
establishment in the 1970s. It was then that the ghost of Josefita began to appear. Perhaps she didn’t like the
renovations or maybe she just wants to stick around to make sure they
were doing a good job on the home that she had spent so many years
looking after.
Dressed in 1920s period clothing, she has
been described by employees as appearing very real. Most often
she is seen in two former bedrooms on the second floor, an attic
storeroom, and at the top of the stairs leading to the second floor
bar.
At the top of the stairs
sits an old rocking chair which she has often been seen sitting in and
rocking slowly. On one occasion when an employee approached the
ghostly apparition, she simply stood up then slowly vanished. More
often she is seen walking up and down the stairs, a habit that has been so
commonplace that employees barely notice anymore.
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