Abiquiú became Georgia O'Keeffe's New Mexico home after she moved to the state permanently in 1949. Her Abiquiú house and studio later became one of the most important places associated with her life and work.
O'Keeffe had been visiting New Mexico since 1929 and had already bought a house at Ghost Ranch in 1940. She chose Abiquiú as a permanent base because of its landscape and because the house offered a practical setting for living and working.
The property included a distinctive walled courtyard and a gate that O'Keeffe repeatedly depicted in paintings. She restored the house over many years, and its architecture became intertwined with her visual memory of northern New Mexico.
Abiquiú is sometimes confused with Santa Fe because O'Keeffe died there and because the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum is located in Santa Fe. Her principal home and studio, however, were in Abiquiú.