As Kata Bennett, 79, walks around the Santa Cruz Plaza, she shows a deep passion and knowledge of Española’s history.
She points out walls that once existed but have long since been torn down, teaches about the history of the plaza’s church, La Iglesia De Santa Cruz De La Cañada, and talks about what she’s learned restoring old adobe houses in the city.
“It was a hovel. It was a total mess,” she says of a house she purchased for herself in 2016 and painstakingly restored, one of seven homes Bennett has returned to their former glory while keeping as many of their original details as possible. “There were walls falling down, both inside and out. And I started to work on it. At that point, I began to get it. This was what I was going to spend the rest of my life doing.”
Bennett’s tenacity and care for her Santa Cruz properties, along with her efforts to preserve their history and character, have caught the attention of many, including Española’s City Council. During a Jan. 10 council meeting, Bennett was honored with a certificate of appreciation from the city.
“It was wonderful,” Bennett says of the honor. “I think it will help establish me in some way and help me get funding.”
While seated at a table in one of the homes she recently finished restoring, Bennett talks about her life, her experiences and what led to her current work in the plaza.
An artist, Bennett moved to Española 20 years ago. Before that, she lived in Chimayo.
She was raised by her parents, Dick and Liz Bennett, in Plaza Vieja, Albuquerque. She recalls her childhood as a magical time when the arts permeated her life.
“It was just such a wonderful atmosphere. We were with all these artists and theater people. It was a magical childhood,” she says.
Bennett says her parents were deeply involved in the community, interacting with many of the area’s actors and artists. Her father was part of a group who helped to restore Albuquerque’s Plaza Vieja.
“They met with a lot of problems,” Bennett says of her dad’s restoration effort.
Among them: wealthier residents of the plaza opposed the restoration and instructed banks not to loan anything to her father and his coworkers.
Her father’s experience with restoration was different from her own, Bennett says.
“They struggled and did it all on their own, whereas I have had an easy time here,” she says. “He had a very hard time doing that. But it’s in my blood. I grew up with restoration going on all around me.”
Bennett says she helped her parents with some restoration projects when she was younger, but wasn’t initially interested in following in their footsteps.
“I didn’t have any plan to do that,” she says. “It was only after I started that I was like, ‘Huh. I’m doing the same thing my father did.’”
The first restoration project Bennett led was one she worked on with her children.
“I restored a late Victorian house in Santa Fe. And then I built a house in Chimayo. Then I came down here” to Santa Cruz, she says.
Bennett has four kids. When she speaks of them, there is pride in her voice. She shows their photographs, talks about their lives and explains how they helped her get where she is today.
“I was still living in Chimayo and my daughter said, ‘You love this place. Why don’t you move down here and I’ll move up to Chimayo?’ So that’s what I did,” she says.
Before she began restoring adobe buildings, Bennett says she attended some psychology and art classes at both the University of New Mexico and New Mexico Highlands University. Afterwards, she found her way into a culinary career, opening a tamale factory in Santa Fe.
Bennett says she made thousands of tamales, but when she tried to take her business to Los Angeles, it failed. She later opened a coffee shop on Santa Cruz’s Calle Hermanas Dominicanas, where she got an education from customers.
“People would come in and say, ‘Kata, you don’t know this place.’ And they educated me about it,” she says.
Later, Bennett taught herself—with the help of community members—about the history of Santa Cruz’s adobe buildings and how to restore them in a way that respects their history.
“I learned from people who know about it and do it,” she says.
Since then, Bennett has learned plenty more. She explains the process of restoring adobe walls, and describes the delicate work required to resttore homes built in the mid 19th century, or earlier.
Bennett’s restored properties also feature work from local artists, who helped her curate pieces for the homes’ interiors and outdoor areas.
One such artist is the late Isabro Ortega, who designed the wooden doors Bennett installed in most of her properties. Two others are Andres Martinez, a painter and Santa Cruz resident, and local painter Diana Bryer.
As she gives a tour of her completed restorations, Bennett points out some of the art and craft pieces she’s curated—her favorite part of the process. One such piece is a former clothing washboard Bennett turned into a cabinet.
Paintings, figurines, wood carvings, old books and signs adorn the walls and shelves of her restored properties, many of them relics from Española’s storied history.
The homes were in poor condition when Bennett purchased them. Flooring had gone bad and walls had been torn down. With the help of local adobe construction experts and craftsmen, Bennett made them beautiful again.
Her work has helped highlight Santa Cruz’s history and local businesses, inspiring others in the process.
“And now the mayor and the city have inspired me,” she says.
Bennett is currently working on two projects: One is another Santa Cruz building she recently bought and is hoping to restore. Another is an empty, nearby lot she hopes to turn into a wedding venue. She is currently looking for volunteers to help tend to a garden she hopes to open on one of the properties.
Anyone interested can reach Bennett at katabennett@icloud.com.