Location Description and History

The old Savador Armijo House, now "Maria Teresa" Restaurant , dates back to 1840, and has been occupied in one form or the other up to the present. It was built in 1783 by Salvador Armijo. Originally, it was a twelve-room hacienda enclosing a central patio. It faced south toward the Old Town Plaza and San Felipe de Neri church, which at the time was at the time was the heart and soul of Albuquerque. Although the structure has changed slightly over the years, for the most part you can see it much as it was originally built. To enter the building today, you walk under the shelter of the old porch. It's a one hundred-sixty year old house, and you really get a sense of that.

The Maria Teresa restaurant has a dubious distinction of being one of the New Mexico's most on the buildings. Wandering its rambling rooms are at least four specific ghosts, whose detailed visages have been recorded by both staff and patrons alike. Often as not, those reporting the events have never heard of the haunting of this century's old home. The accounts presented here are from employees of the restaurant and exerted from Adobe Angels: The ghosts of Albuquerque by Antonio R. Garcez.

The Armijo Room

One evening I was attending to the patrons in the Armijo room. After the plates have been cleared, I return to ask if anyone wanted desert or coffee. Arriving at their table, I was informed that a woman in a white dress had already taken their desert order. I had no extra help her that evening. Further, female staff wore maroon dresses. I did recall a conversation with a fellow waiter who had informed me of a similar situation involving her table. Apparently, the ghosts of a woman in a white dress had taken the meal order of her patrons. When I asked the people at my table what this woman looked like, they described her in great detail as a middle-aged, Hispanic woman who was about 50 years old with dark hair with streaks of gray running through it. Her full-length white dress was decorated with small white beads about the collar and bosom. Apparently , the woman in the white dress also frequents another dining room named the Wine Press. I have been informed issues typically seen by busboys in the area outside of the restrooms. The busboys described a fleeting image of a woman dressed in white, which is followed by a chilling gust of air.
Another type of activity also occurs in Armijo Room. A waitress describes the following;

A couple times I've been alone in the house and have set up place settings. After rechecking all the dining rooms for the night, I discovered that the flatware on the tables in the Armijo room has been moved, usually in one large pile upon the table. Alone in the restaurant, a night manager heard the antique candle playing in the Armijo room. Suspecting a burglar, he quickly, but quietly, made his way to the rear of the restaurant and locked the door to enclose anyone in the house. Then he called the police. With flashlights and weapons drawn the police completely explored every room in the house. No one was found in everything was as it should have been. Another reported sighting…….. I was alone in the lobby area when I heard soft piano music originating from the Armijo room. I may no way through the house, reaching blindly into each dining room to turn on the lights. What I reached into the room to turn on the lights, the music stopped. I turned on the lights and the room was empty. I was terrified.

The Waiter Hater
I clearly recall one employee who didn't like working in the Armijo room. In the room hangs a small portrait of one of the members of the Armijo family. The woman has light-colored eyes. Well, this waiter for some personal reason is like the dining room and especially the portrait of this woman. He at times made rude comments about the woman, including some off-color jokes. An obvious pattern began to develop. Soon after he said something negative about the portrait, he would have a mishap of some kind. This waiter was usually quite capable, but he dropped trays of food, tipped over glasses of water, ect. These accidents took place directly in front of the portrait, in a dining room filled with guests. Eventually, to no ones surprise, this waiter left his employment at the restaurant.

The Sarachino Room

On the day before Thanksgiving holiday in 1993, only the bartender was in the house aside for myself. I was in the kitchen placing a meal order for a young couple seated in the Sarachino Room. On my return I distinctly heard a woman's voice asked me, “can you help me sir? I need your help”. I turned to face the direction of the voice and look around. No one was in the room. Involuntarily, the hair on the back of my neck stood up! I instantly knew that something was going on, something weird. I decided to continue my walk back to the young couples table. The woman began waving her hand at me excitedly, saying, “Did you see her? Did you see her?” I got a strong whiff of the flowery perfume. The smell reminded me of the sweet rows or lilac scent. The couple described me a middle-aged, Hispanic woman with light colored eyes and dark hair, wearing a red dress, who had appeared at the doorway leading into the dining room. She paused and just stared at them. Then the woman turned away from them and faced the direction of my approach. As I walked closer towards the dining room, the woman disappeared into thin air. Apparently we get past each other in the doorway. Other members of the wait staff have also seen the woman in the red dress. We believe she might be one of the daughters of Mr. Armijo, the original owner of the house.

The Chacon Room
I was tending a table of customers in the room adjacent to the Chacon room. What I entered the corridor toward the kitchen, I was strangely compelled to look into the adjacent Chacon room. There in the empty room, I looked at one of the walls at a large mirror. To my amazement, assault the reflection of the figure of a man in the dark suit, seated at the table! The room was more than adequately lit. I was surprised to see how clearly he appeared in the mirror. I can see his white shirt collar and his full head of dark gray hair. I can see his image in the mirror, but this image was not visible at the table. To my knowledge, the ghost of the man in the dark suit has a history of appearing only to people in the Chacon room. Very soon I found out that most of the employees here had encountered the ghost at one time or another. None of the witnesses has ever seen the complete figure of this ghost. He keeps his arms to his side, he never makes a move, and he says quietly, as if awaiting someone to join him.

The Zamora Room

Three weeks after my first day of employment I was taking dinner orders in the Zamora room for table of 6 who were seated directly below a large antique mirror. After taking the orders, I made my way to the kitchen. Suddenly, one of the patrons got up and ran after me. She was excitedly sane to me, “come here, come here! How do you do that? This is great.” Bewildered, I answered, “how do we do what?” She asked me to follow her back to the dining room, and pointed to the large mirror, saying, “That, look”. Everyone seated at the table was happily smiling. Reflected in the mirror, seated between two of the patrons, was a clear figure of a woman. Everyone assumed that was a special effect provided by the restaurant. I decided to play along. She had a poise and was obviously a woman of refinement. She had long black hair and was wearing a white dress with long sleeves and no jewelry. Her faceless lender and her eyes were a clear hazel. I venture to say that her age somewhere in her early 30s. She had a healthy color to her face and was not overly pale as I might imagine a ghost would look. Although she appeared to be seated between two of the patrons, she did not use a chair. She was very curious as she examined each plate of food presented to the patrons. I saw her lean over the dinner plates closest to her and inspect each dish with a critical eye. Apparently she liked what she saw, because she nodded her head with approval. I remember her as very animated, moving her hands and arms regularly. Overall, she was very pleasant continually concerned about how the patrons were being served and cared for. At one point our eyes met and she fixed her gaze on me. I looked away, filled with apprehension. For about our and half, the ghost remained seated during the meal. When it came time for me to offer desert, one of the patrons said, “Look” and I watched as she slowly disappeared.

The Bar
In 1993 the water pipes underneath the floor of the bar needed replacing. A crew of plumbers came in and proceeded to remove the floor-boards in the bar for access to the pipes below. When the boards were dismantled and the bare ground underneath exposed, the work crew began the grubby task of digging down through the dirt. Very soon they came upon some old bones. The bones were various sizes and from their timeworn appearance, must've been in the ground for many, many years. An employee, who was in anthropology major at UMN gathered the bones in a box and took them to her professor who examined the bones. The evaluated them to be of a large animal, perhaps a horse. Mixed in with these bones were also human bones. Are these possibly the remains of the restaurants restless occupants?
On Wednesday October 20th, 2000 a guest seated at a table in the barroom saw a man in chaps and a vest standing in the doorway. His wife was unable to see the spirit. The barroom cowboy was also spotted in the same doorway from the same table 2 years ago. Neither guest knew that the restaurant is haunted.

Another Haunted Room is the Baca Room. Flatware and tables have been moved and unseen voices have been heard within this area. A busboy quit after coming across a whole roomful of spirits in the Board Room.

The purpose of this investigation was to capture the location on video for a series of television shows for Channel 27, public access, in Albuquerque. This investigation was much more thorough due to the acquisition of a to infrared camera. I rendezvoused with the film crew in the Baca room where we ate lunch and discussed ideas for the project. The Baca Room itself had several suspect readings that registered on the EMF detector. We were told by several waitresses that silverware and plates were mysteriously moved around overnight after they had been carefully placed the night before. They also spoke of several cold spots that moved about this particular area. The room was searched thoroughly for any natural explanation of the EMF fields but nothing conclusive could be proven either way. The origin of the EMF fields in this area are still quite a mystery. We decided to begin in investigation in the Armijo room. This investigation was quite different from one’s performed in the past as we also had a psychic, Sarah Chaplin, who would be assisting us in locating any spirits. Upon the request of Channel 27, she was to hold a impromptu seance in the Armijo room itself. Upon entering the Armijo room, I immediately picked up suspect EMF fields near the antique piano in the corner of the room. I attempted to determine if the fields or of any natural origin. I could not locate any possible explanation that would cause this steady field. I backed up near the door leading into the Baca room and took a single photograph. The results are most interesting as it is the only “phenomenon” that was captured on the entire role of film.

For the seance all of the drapes of the Windows were drawn to make the room as darkest possible so he could capture any possible activity with the infrared camera. An analysis of the video taken by the infrared camera revealed two possible suspect targets.

However both objects are so faint that the evidence is inconclusive. However it is interesting to note that these objects are similar in nature to phenomenon that was recorded at the Val Verde hotel and restaurant in Socorro New Mexico. An interesting occurrence was also witnessed by the producer of the television show after the seance was finished. She noticed that the sheet music on the piano was changed to a different page and was moved off center from its original location. The room was monitored the entire time and no one recalled handling the sheet music itself.From the Armijo room we moved into the adjacent dining area called the Chacon room. I certainly search the entire area with EMF detection equipment and was unable to locate any suspect fields.

The next area on the list was the Zamora room. I did take up several odd readings within this room that didn’t seem to make sense. The electromagnetic field was actually weaker near the haunted mirror. However when I backed away several meters from the mirror I registered a higher reading on the EMF detector. There is not any rational explanation of why the electromagnetic field would fluctuate in this manner. If it was to a natural clause such as the electrical line inside the wall or if the mirror itself contained this energy, then the readings should be higher the closer you are to the mirror, not the other way around.
I checked with the manager to verify the location of any powerlines that may be causing the readings, however the lines were located in the ceiling and were not the cause of the EM fields.

After a thorough search of the Zamora room we moved on to the Bar and the Wine Press. I was particularly interested in the area that contained the portrait where we had captured some sort of paranormal phenomenon on film during our previous investigation. I picked up readings of 8 milligauss around the painting but nothing was recorded on film or visible under I. R. Another noteworthy occurrence was recorded in the Armijo room. The cameraman was taking close-ups of the portraits hanging on the walls in the room when his camera started acting strangely. The zoom on the camera was moving in and out a focus whenever he tried to film one picture in particular. He quickly called us into the room where we were able to take readings of the portrait. The readings we got off of this picture were with in the suspected range of paranormal phenomenon.

We performed several tests and eventually came to the conclusion that the most probable cause of the EMF readings was due to energy that was emitted from the light fixture located above the portrait. However, this does not explain the odd malfunctions that occurred with the camera. Even if the light is emitting an electromagnetic field, that field could be masking a weaker paranormal field.

We continued searching in the Armijo room for the next 45 minutes. There were several suspect EM fields, however none were captured on film as a visual phenomena.

Photographs

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