Square Tower House

Home Sweet Home

If you look, you can find old photos taken on huge, bellows cameras of these cliff dwellings as they were discovered. Many were in terrible shape, and today, through skilled restoration, are in better condition than they were 100 years ago (or more). In keeping with the old photos, I put together this panorama of Square Tower House. What I like is that you can see just how nicely it is tucked in under the cliff, and beneath the mesa above. I think this would be a great place to live – give me that top room! – but the commute might be a bit much for this old lady.

Of all the pictures I took at Mesa Verde National Park, this was one of the most difficult. To see Square Tower House, you have to sort of lean over a railing, and look into a canyon. This building seems to be built into the corner of a canyon. Additionally, nothing I did conveyed the beauty of the place – it was really hard to get the lighting corrected to show the colors and the details. Final editorial choice is obviously the b&w, which I think does the job rather nicely.