Happy, colorful courtyards at The Lincoln Marfa

September 18, 2023

I stayed at The Lincoln, a boutique hotel of 14 “unique homes” at a century-old property, when I visited Marfa a couple weeks ago. A bright yellow door and orange cosmos flowers offered a cheerful welcome as I rolled my bag to Unit 7, passing a gigantic, handsome, steel-blue agave. After stowing my bag, I stepped back out to explore the grounds.

A bocce ball court stretches alongside a front courtyard with yellow café seating. A young live oak is growing its way into shading the space.

You Are Here reads a cheeky signpost.

On the other side of this wall is café and bakery Aster Marfa, where I grabbed lunch each day.

Across the street sits the pink Presidio County Courthouse. See my earlier post for views from the top.

The Lincoln is so named because it’s located on W. Lincoln Street. In a clever play on the name, one of the units is dubbed The Mary Todd House.

Carnation pink with a yellow door and patterned porch tiles, it’s a happy house.

The Mary Todd’s courtyard features a rectangular steel fishpond with waterlilies and cattails.

Sunny yellow is a definite theme here.

A rear courtyard features yellow Acapulco chairs, benches, and stump seats around a fire pit.

Nearby, a white patio set sits outside an arched yellow door in an exposed-stone wall. A hedge of yellow and orange cosmos shelters the fairy-tale-house door.

Each unit has its own private seating area and cosmos galore.

Around the corner, an ocotillo guards another fire pit.

One of the units is in a fallout shelter — yes, really — and accessed via stairs leading underground.

My favorite courtyard at The Lincoln contains a round steel soak tank and sky-blue chairs. On the other side, yellow chairs cluster around another fire pit.

A colorful mural features Marfa scenery and a painted movie screen, aka The Lincoln Drive-In.

I wonder if they actually show movies back here? I came back one evening, but the place was quiet.

The inside of the tank is finished with a pebble mosaic.

Sunflowers suit the color scheme.

What a fun space!

One more look by daylight

I explored the courtyards again one evening, admiring glowing globes of light on the tables…

…and café lights strung along paths.

The soak pool was glowing blue and looked pretty inviting. Next time I’ll bring my swimsuit.

For a look back at scenery around Marfa and Fort Davis during this trip, click here.

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Digging Deeper

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All material © 2024 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

7 responses to “Happy, colorful courtyards at The Lincoln Marfa”

  1. Chavli says:

    Carnation pink with a yellow door… you’d expect Barbie to walk out and great you at any moment.
    Acapulco chairs!!! So that’s what they are called. Love those, and that fabulous mural. Wow.

  2. David C. says:

    This looks like a cool place, especially the courtyard w/ the pebble-bottomed stock tank pool. When I first saw this property almost 10 years ago, I was looking down at it from my room at the Hotel Paisano – the Lincoln owner did much demo work, just to get started on what they have done today!

  3. Clark says:

    Thank you so much for the lovely tour and commentary on our property! We’ve put a lot of work into it and it’s always nice when it is appreciated. Thanks for staying with us and I hope we’ll see you again in Marfa!

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