Seton Village

Seton Village is a National Historic Landmark District in a rural residential area south of Santa Fe in Santa Fe County, New Mexico. It encompasses a residential settlement and educational facility established in 1930 by Ernest Thompson Seton (1860-1946), an educator and conservationist best known as a founder of the Boy Scouts of America. The district includes the remains of Seton's 32-room home and other residential and educational buildings constructed mostly between 1930 and 1945. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965.DescriptionSeton Village is located about 7mi south of downtown Santa Fe and west of Interstate 25 on County Road 58. The village has a central plaza, around which adobe residences and community buildings. To the east of the plaza stand the remains of Seton's 32-room castle, which burned during restoration in 2005. Distinctive structures in the village include two building that were built around railroad cars that Seton brought to the site. Stripped over their interiors, the two cars were finished plaster on the inside, and had adobe walls built around them. One of these buildings has since had the car removed from its inside.Seton CastleSeton began designing and building his castle in 1933. The 32-room, 6,900 square foot (640 m2) multi-level building had a flat-roof and rough hewn stone wall exterior. The interior had oak floors and plaster walls with the ceilings supported by log rafters. The Castle was built on one of the highest points on Seton's property, with views over his village and the western landscape.