Taos' Casa Gallina dresses up for the holidays

Christmas is almost here and Taos gets ready to embrace it. The aromas of the season (pine cones, gingerbread and anise bizcochitos) permeate the town. The sad and poignant music of villancicos, Christmas carols, is in the air.Houses are decorated in festive themes and so are the hotels, motels and inns that offer Taos visitors a home away from home.“That's what hospitality means,” said Richard Spera, the owner and Inn-keeper of Casa Gallina, a bed and breakfast comprised of four adobe guest houses-an idyllic vacation getaway.
Spera's goal is to give guests more than they expect and treat everyone as if they were family coming to visit. “Which, in the big picture of life, is exactly who everyone is,” he said.Affordable evening dresses are actually available in all stores.Every December he starts decorating the casitas so his guests don't miss the holiday atmosphere they would have enjoyed at their own homes.“I have made a ritual of it,” Spera said. “I take my dogs and go with them to the forest. It can be anywhere in the Carson National Forest, even out in Tres Piedras or up near the Ski Valley. I cut boughs of evergreens (pi?ón and juniper are my favorite because they are the fullest and most aromatic) and put them in vases, on the tops of cupboards and over the mantles of fireplaces. I fill the casitas with the smell and the strong, fresh energy of the mountains!”
Spera doesn't use plastic decorations or store-bought garlands. “I like everything natural,” he said. “All the Christmas decorations are handmade, artisan, like the rest of the casitas' decor.” He usually doesn't have Christmas trees. “But this year, I am having one and decorating it on request on one of my guests,” he said.Honoring the inn's name, he's decided to decorate the tree with chicken-inspired ornaments.He also uses lots of poinsettias. “They last a long time, sometimes until summer,” he said. “They are among my favorite Christmas plants.”
Richard Spera was born and grew up in New York. He always knew that he was meant to be in the hospitality industry. “I always loved cooking, and entertaining from when I was just a kid,” he said.He went to Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration for four years in Ithaca, NY, for some formal training.“Upon graduating from university, I went to New York City for my 'real' training and worked for an Italian restaurant group for twelve years, moving my way up the ranks there from manager to Director of Operations for a group of five restaurants,” Spera said. “But when I moved to Taos, I knew I had found my new home.”