Reconstructing Mabel

High in the mountains of New Mexico, Taos has long been a magnet for artists. When writer Valmai Howe Elkins, escaping brutal east coast winters, buys a tiny house without even seeing inside, lured by the way the light shimmers between the branches of an old apple tree, she is intrigued by the startling adobe house at the top of the lane. “That’s the Mabel Dodge Luhan House,” the realtor tells her. “Mabel was a wealthy socialite who became a patron of the arts. She married Tony Luhan from the Pu