Frieda Lawrence (1879-1956), wife of the famous author D. H. Lawrence

Another Taos Legend....

Maria Frieda Johanna Baroness von Richards was born in Germany in 1879 to a aristocratic family. In March of 1912 she married the author D.H. Lawrence, leaving her 3 children from a previous marriage behind...."for the love of Lawrence". After many years of the couple traveling around, Lawrence received a letter from Mabel Dodge Luhan in November of 1921 inviting him to Taos.

He did have a dream of writing a novel about every continent so he figured Taos would be a nice place to relax and write. So after a side trip, they arrived in Taos on Sept. 11 1922, D.H.'s 37th birthday. Both loved the beauty of the land. Lawrence later wrote "In the magnificent fierce morning of New Mexico, one sprang awake, a new part of the soul woke up suddenly and the old world gave way to the new."

Now Frieda was not very fond of Mabel and was quite jealous of her which made it hard for D.H. and Mabel to work together. They stayed in one of Mabel's guest houses where D.H. wrote several prose pieces and poems like "The Wilful Woman." But with the tension between the ladies, the Frieda and D.H. moved to an abandoned ranch 20 miles north of Taos.

Mabel did not want D.H. to leave so she offered him the 160-arce Flying Heart Ranch. Lawrence requested that Mabel give the ranch to Frieda and offered her the original autographed manuscript "Sons and Lovers" in exchange. Frieda and Mabel agreed. Frieda later named it Kiowa Ranch.

In 1925 D.H. fell ill. The doctor advised him to stay at the ranch so he could get the fresh mountain air and sunbaths. Four years later he died on March 2, 1930 of T.B. in Vence, France.

Lawrence's ashes were brought back to Taos where Frieda built a shrine for him on the property. She mixed his ashes in the cement so that Mabel would be unable to steal them!

On a visit in 1939 Tennessee Williams signed her guest book along with many other famous people. Later on she bought a place in El Prado 3 miles north of Taos where she would spend her winters. She died of her birthday Aug. 11, 1956.

A year prior to her death, Frieda gifted the ranch to the University of New Mexico which called it The D.H. Lawrence Ranch to use it for educational and research purposes.

You can visit the Ranch here in Taos and see for yourself why Frieda and D.H. Lawrence loved Taos so much.

While in Taos, call New Mexico Mountain Properties at 575-758-5852 or 575-770-3306 ...you may fall in love as well and want a place of your own! We can help you with all of your Taos Real Estate needs. We also have the most inspiring land for sale in Taos, along with unique Taos homes for sale or lovely Taos condos.. So come see all that Taos has to offer you.

HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY YOUR FRIENDS AT NEW MEXICO MOUNTAIN PROPERTIES