A hogan is a traditional Navajo dwelling, suitable for living in the high desert of the American Southwest. I stayed in one during my New Mexico Mission and wanted to to tell you about it.

The hogan is a traditional dwelling of the Navajo people. You can read about it at that link. The one I stayed in is a modern version with a bathroom, shower, and kitchen area, but the effect is the same and the call to the heritage of the traditional Hogan is there. My host was Susan, and you can find the listing for the hogan on VRBO. If you're ever in the Magdalena area, I strongly encourage you to stay here for more than one night.

In traditional Navajo style, the door faces east to greet the rising Sun. There is also a second door on the west so you can catch the setting Sun as well. What is essentially a giant octagonal space is primarily a bed, seating area, and kitchen area with an island to separate it from the rest of the space. One section near the door is walled off into a small but functional bathroom, complete with a large one-person shower. On the other side of the wall with the shower on it is the kitchen sink, nestled into the resulting corner. No space is wasted and the entire hogan is well-lit with windows on almost all sides (the side with the bed has no windows).

"As soon as I arrived, I knew I'd found my space."

Driving to the Hogan consists of heading west out of Magdalena for a couple of miles and then turning off of the main road onto a washboard dirt and gravel road that left my rental Nissan Rogue wondering if we'd taken a wrong turn. A little while later, you turn off that and it's as if you're driving through the scrub brush of the desert. If it weren't for the vague tire tracks of previous visitors and caretakers, I'm sure I'd still be driving around the desert of New Nexico today, looking for the hogan. But after a few hundred yards of turns in the scrub, there it was. And as soon as I arrived, I knew I'd found my space.