 Many artists were drawn to Taos due to the presence of Mabel Dodge Luhan, a wealthy heiress from Buffalo, New York who had run a prominent art salon in Florence, Italy, and Manhattan, New York, before settling in Taos in 1917.After both divorced their spouses, Mabel Dodge married a Pueblo native, Antonio Lujan, and built a house.She spelled her married name "Luhan" as it was easier for her friends to pronounce.