The Inn & The Innkeepers

Shantal and Brantly are avid outdoors people, keen gardeners and enthusiastic students of the culinary arts. Shantal enjoys a wide variety of outdoor activities including skiing, fishing, biking, and urban roller skating. Shantal also enjoys knitting, sewing, card and parlor game playing, fixing up old cars, writing, soap making, reading, watching movies, and pottery making. Shantal comes to Taos from a life as a college teacher, prosecutor, crabber, and bar owner. Brantly returns to northern New Mexico after a career in the oil industry with stints in real estate and computers. His love for this part of the world comes from growing up in the Santa Fe area.

Winston and Eva, two escapees from the SPCA, fill out the Goodwin household. They are allowed in the first floor common areas of the Inn, but are not allowed into the guest rooms.

The Cottonwood Inn has extensive gardens on its acre of land. Both of us are avid gardeners and we keep irrigation, insecticide and fertilizer use to a minimum. We also have extensive views. One directions finds you looking over the grazing sheep and horses, the other direction has you are looking straight up to the stunning Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

Our gardens consist of native trees (cottonwood, aspen, piñon pine and western juniper), but we also have several lush and colorful perennial garden areas. Most of our plants are quite drought tolerant, however we do indulge in a few of the more water needy types.

Our common areas are very large and comfortable for sitting and reading, visiting or watching TV or one of the many videos or DVDs from our video library. The Inn also lends itself to small weddings and family reunions and we are happy to help facilitate wedding plans.

Inn, Innkeepers, & Pets

Close-up of Winston

Eva meets Maude

Baby chicks

Druscilla at about 3 weeks

Eva having bad thoughts about Maude

Winston in a snowstorm

Winston and Daphne

Shantal gets help feeding the birds

Life in the chicken yard

Babette and Mimi at about 3 weeks

How Eva sees the coop

Winston and Mimi

Chicks on arrival August 18, 2008

Eva and Buffy

Daphne up close and personal

Drusilla checking me out checking her out

Bernice at about 3 weeks

Eva sleeping with her monkey

Brantly and Eva in the Coop

Daphne, Shantal, and Winston

Brantly with a sleeping Daphne

Bernice at 4 weeks

Ms. Squawkers first egg

Mimi in the Russian Sage

Bernice is really Bernard

Shantal and Ms. Squawkers

Winston goes rabbit hunting at the Cottonwood b and b

Brantly points out some important facts to Babette

The End