Home isn’t where you’re from, it’s where you find light when all grows dark.
-– Pierce Brown
October 13: After spending almost three weeks in Cynthia and Rey’s guest house, I moved into the Ranch House at River Stone Ranch on Labor Day. It is just half a mile from Cynthia and Rey. Having spent the past two-and-a-half months on the road, I am more than ready to find a place that feels like home.
River Stone Ranch is on County Road 250 about 10 miles north of Durango — a beautiful property of about three acres with an abundance of tall trees. You feel like you’re deep in the mountains when you drive down CR 250, surrounded by trees, with red cliffs on one side and the Animus River on the other, and in the distance the San Juan Mountains which are snow- capped much of the year.
The property itself looks like something out of a fairy tale. There are several structures, all of which are made of large smooth stones — river stones, thus the name. In the front, facing County Road 250, is the Ranch House, shown above, where I live. Although it’s been added on to and updated, the core of the house was built in 1880. To the north is John’s house and a three-car garage; to the south is Dondi’s house with a detached two-car garage; and behind that sits a one-room cottage used for storage. At the back of the property is a converted barn with three garages and an apartment above the garage where Todd lives. North of the barn is John’s office, with more garages. (John is an antique car buff.) The Animus River forms the back boundary of the property.
Three cats also live here: Blue and Foxy live with Dondi; Audie and Congo live with Todd; and Oscar, a Calico who reminds me of Charlie, lives with John. Annie goes wild every time she catches a glance of them.
In a way, moving into the Ranch House was a bit like going home. I rented this house last November to see if I might want to move to Durango (it was a VRBO then). At that point, I hadn’t thought seriously about selling my Taos house, but I had spent a lot of time in Durango since 2017 when Cynthia bought a house here. Renting the house for a month was a chance to get a feel for what it might be like to live here. I liked it then, but this time around it really feels like home.
Maybe it’s the weather. September was lovely and now, in October, the leaves have begun to turn and it promises to be a glorious fall.
Maybe it’s the house, which is warm and homey and tastefully furnished. I would never have thought rustic farmhouse was my style — my tastes lean more toward contemporary — but I find that I like the house more and more,
Maybe it’s the people — Dondi and Todd and John on the property, Cynthia and Rey down the road. I find it comforting to have them nearby.
When I left on my road trip in June, I thought very little about what I would do after the trip. I had a vague notion of finding a city I liked well enough to just stay. And I did — Burlington Vermont — but I was warned of the long dark cold winters, and it was so far from everyone I loved, so I headed back west. When I told my sister I was ready to go home, she said, “And where’s that?” Which brought me up short. I didn’t have a home. I was, quite literally, homeless. Which is why I leaped at Cynthia’s invitation to stay in her cabin for a few weeks and regroup.
This followed that, and now I”m living in the Ranch House at River Stone Ranch. I like it so much that I don’t even want to think about leaving.