In the News
Book Now!This story was first published in New Mexico Magazine, November 2002.
River House Rendezvous
The plan was to spend Thanksgiving with our friends Frank and Inie, but since their Oregon was about as raw as our Wyoming in November, we looked for a warmer site. Our son Kevin, who had been stationed with the Air Force in New Mexico, suggested we check out Silver City.
What we wanted was a comfortable house away from congestion, offering privacy, scenery, sunshine, and outdoor recreation. A web-site search brought up the River House, a "lovingly restored adobe homestead" in the village of Gila, about 30 miles west of Silver City. We knew little about the area, so when Zona and I met our friends at Denver International Airport and headed south on I-25, we were embarking on a leap of faith.
After spending the night in Las Vegas, we reached Silver City at sundown the next day. Driving northwest on Highway 180, we were captivated by the craggy brown hills and arroyos dotted with green juniper, yucca, cacti, and desert oak. The rugged mountains of the Gila Wilderness Area loomed in the distance. As the shadows deepened, the stark landscape turned hauntingly beautiful, but also alarmingly empty, forcing us to wonder about the wisdom of choosing such a remote spot for our weeklong rendezvous. When we reached Gila and turned down River Road, a dirt and gravel lane that, after about a mile, made a sharp left turn into a dark, spooky stand of cottonwoods, our concern grew.
"Well," Inie said softly, as if not to disturb whatever might be lurking in the gloom, "we wanted solitude. It looks like we've found it."
Then through the trees a light in a window beckoned cheerfully and soon we were exploring the River House. Our uneasiness quickly turned to pleasant surprise. While we were carrying in our luggage, a big, shaggy brown dog appeared, wagging its tail, making us feel right at home.
"Her name is Rosie," Emanuel Stamler, our genial host, told us later, when he strolled down from the main house to see if we needed anything. "She loves everybody who stays at the house. But if you don't like dogs, she'll understand and stay away."
For us, Rosie only added to the rustic charm of the River House. It wasn't for the luxury-minded or those seeking a tourist package, but it was equipped with everything a discerning visitor might need, from microwave to washing machine to corkscrew. Even a garlic press. And there was something spiritual about the house that was hard to define. We asked Emanuel to tell us a little about its history.
"It was built as a one-room adobe homestead around the turn of the last century by hardscrabble Mexican farmers," he said. "Some additions were made early on, then it stayed pretty much the same for decades. When Gail and I bought the adjoining property in the early ‘80s and built our home, it was just a decrepit shack sitting forlornly on four acres owned by the Pacific Western Land and Cattle Company. But something about the place captivated me. One day in 1994 some workmen showed up. When I realized they planned to bulldoze a hole and shove the house into it, I offered to buy it. They agreed on the spot."
Gail Stamler, a certified nurse midwife, admitted she didn't initially share her husband's vision for the River House. The planning and work took two years, and the help of many friends. The Stamlers mortgaged their home to pay for it. "What I envisioned," Emanuel said, "was a guest house for people who like to create their own authentic experience on the road less traveled."
They gutted the original structure, leaving the adobe walls and parts of the old roof. They discovered that the foundation consisted of rocks stacked in place without cement, yet the house had settled very little. The dug well was replaced with a drilled well, the wood stove with hot water radiant heat beneath a new cement floor. When completed, the L-shaped floor plan featured a vaulted ceiling and two spacious bedrooms with connecting baths, separated for
maximum privacy by the kitchen, dining area, and living room. The house is wheelchair-accessible through a glassed-in sun porch, which catches the morning sun rising over a small pond and wetland that serves as a wildlife habitat. The cottonwood and walnut-shaded Gila River, once the boundary between the U.S. and Mexico, lies a quarter-mile to the south. The views of the Mogollon Mountains are inspiring.
"Our guests tend to be hikers, bikers, birdwatchers, explorers, star-gazers, readers, writers and artists," Emanuel said, himself a craftsman who designs jewelry. "And dreamers who just want a quiet place where they can sit for hours or days and think. Visitors love the wildlife around the River House, which includes coyotes, javelinas and deer. We've identified over eighty species of birds--bald eagles, Gila woodpeckers, loggerhead shrikes, great blue herons, roadrunners, vermillion flycatchers, you name it."
The River House has hosted several different family reunions. Kids seem to love staying there, even though the one thing the house doesn't have is TV reception. It is equipped to receive Public Radio, however, and there's a TV/VCR for those who enjoy watching movies. That is, if they can stay awake after a full day of sightseeing, hiking, bird-watching, visiting historic sites, soaking in hot springs, and gazing at beautiful sunsets. The big event for us was Thanksgiving, when we shared turkey and trimmings, and toasted warm memories in the River House's cheerful dining area.
One morning we walked up River Road, past a flock of sandhill cranes pecking in an adjacent field, into Gila. The peaceful farming and ranching village has a population that hovers around 400, and sits just across the Gila River from the equally small village of Cliff. We soon learned that when you walk in Gila you need a ready smile and a free hand, because every driver and passerby will surely wave.
We took time to savor the attractions at the Valley Market and Supply store, including homemade bread, delicious subs, and friendly talk with Jo Dee Birch, who, along with her husband Robby, runs the store. Jo Dee lived in the River House as a child in the early ‘60s. Her older brother, Robert Dean Clark, a 1952 polio victim, once slept in an iron lung in the same bedroom where Zona and I now slept. Despite being paralyzed from the neck down, Robert went on to become a successful Las Cruces lawyer. Before Jo Dee's father, Bob Clark, moved his family into the house, it was known as the Conn Henry place. "I was six when we moved out," Jo Dee said. "It was always my favorite house."
Emanuel's first renters arrived at the River House in 1996, and one of the pleasures that comes with a stay here is perusing the guest book and learning that prior visitors have journeyed from as far away as Germany, Denmark, Malaysia, Mexico, Nova Scotia, and many distant U.S. sites, including Alaska, Maine, New Jersey, and Brooklyn. Some have stayed a few days, others for several months. But as culturally different as this eclectic group is, they're remarkably in tune when expressing their passion for the River House. "Ah, such quiet, such light, such sounds in the morning!" one writer extolled. Another wrote, "To find such lushness in the desert–-what an oasis!" And still another, "The frogs made sweet sleeping sounds." And my favorite, "The silence is loud!"
By the end of an eventful week, we were composing our own tribute to the River House, not without a pang of regret. Of course we knew it wasn't the house itself that was so special, or the tranquil setting, or Emanuel and Gail Stamler's gracious hospitality, or even the pumpkin pie they sent us home with. After all, the River House is just an adobe homestead, built nearly a century ago by struggling farmers. But if you believe that old houses retain an aura from the spirits of those who once lived, loved, and toiled there, then those who made their home in the River House must have been blessed with sweet contentment. As were those who have resided here more recently...if only for a short, magical time.
Copyright 2002 Bill Pippin
Bill Pippin, a free-lance writer who lives near Silver City, has also written for Newsweek, Reader's Digest and Field & Stream.
Contact us: P.O.Box 131 | Gila, New Mexico 88038 | (575) 535-2383 | estamler@gilanet.com | No Smoking | No Pets