The Nicolai Fechin House in Taos, New Mexico, is the historic home of the Russian artist Nicolai Fechin, his wife Alexandra and daughter Eya. After purchasing the house in 1927, he spent several years enlarging and modifying the two-story adobe structure, for instance, enlarging the porch and adding and widening windows to take advantage of the views. He carved many of the fittings of the house and its furniture, using typical Russian design elements such as "triptych windows and intricately carved doors."[2] The whole reflects a modernist sensibility combined with Russian, Native American, Spanish, and Art Deco traditions.
The Fechins divorced in 1933, after which Alexandra stayed at the house until a few years before her death in 1983. Eya returned to Taos in the 1970s and began restoration of the house. She opened it to visitors beginning in 1981, under the auspices of the Fechin Institute, which she founded in her father's memory.[2]
The house was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on December 31, 1979. After Eya Fechin's death in 2002, the house passed to her daughter and son-in-law. They sold it to a foundation, which established the house museum and the Taos Art Museum.[2]
^ abcDavid C. Hunt, "Nicolai Fechin's Portraits from Life", Reprinted at Taos Art Museum website "Nicolai Fechin - Taos Art Museum and Fechin House - Taos New Mexico". Archived from the original on July 28, 2011. Retrieved June 3, 2011., with permission from American Art Review, Vol. XVI No. 2 March–April 2004, pp. 122-129, accessed 29 May 2011
