Bonnie's Biography

BONNIE MCGOWAN is the founder and creator of Birds of a Feather, an LGBTQ Community located in Pecos, NM...one of the first residential communities in the country designed for people of like minds to "age in place".

The daughter of a Minnesota builder and granddaughter of a developer, Bonnie had the real estate seed planted early in life. She started out buying, remodeling and flipping homes as a hobby while pursuing other careers, but the passion for real estate and her dream of developing an LGBTQ community would eventually define her future efforts.

After graduating from the University of Minnesota in 1974, Bonnie spent ten years as Director of one of the first advocacy based programs designed to find alternative treatment options for juveniles and adults involved in the criminal justice system. She left that program to pursue a career as an investment banker/broker advising banks on investments in bonds and mortgage-backed securities. For more than a decade she continued to develop her investment banking career, successfully acquiring multiple security and insurance licenses.  She holds the distinction of being one of the first female partners in a Minneapolis based investment banking/brokerage firm.

Fate stepped in to divert Bonnie's attention from the high powered banking/investment sector and back to her real passion. When the firm was sold in 1994, she decided to use all of her skills in real estate and finance to pursue her dream of creating an LGBTQ community.  In 1999, after several years of conducting surveys and focus groups, she began her search for just the right property in sunny Northern New Mexico. She discovered a magnificent 140 acre pine forested property in Pecos... and just 30 minutes from Santa Fe and the rest is history.  Since then, Bonnie has been actively developing the community with 44 lots and 16 homes, as of 2024.

She is proud of the growing LGBTQ community that represents people from all across the country who look for a final destination to enjoy the beauty of the area and the balance of an active lifestyle in the company of friends, neighbors and chosen family.

Bonnie lives in a custom designed EcoNest home with her two Australian Shepherds and two parrots.  In addition to being developer, real estate broker, and land manager, Bonnie trains her dogs in nose work and agility, and finds time for hiking, attending cultural events and movies, traveling and organic gardening. She has also recently added fly fishing and kayaking to her activities.

Bonnie originally obtained her NM Real Estate license to assist with re-sales of lots and homes at Birds of a Feather, but she has also been actively working for those folks who prefer city living in Santa Fe, to our more rural setting tucked into the foothills of the Santa Fe National Forest. Bonnie upgraded her real estate license in 2022 to Qualifying Broker so she could become owner/operator of her own real estate brokerage firm Hawk's Landing Realty, LLC.

She would love to work with you in finding your next dream home!

Click here to search MLS for Santa Fe homes/properties.
Bonnie J. McGowan
CELL: 505-470-9429
Click here to email me