Monte Vista and College View Historic Districts Celebrate a Birthday!
Monte Vista Elementary School Celebrates 80 years
In August of this year, the Monte Vista neighborhood and College View addition celebrate ten years of being on the National Register of Historic Places. The adjoining neighborhoods, both platted in 1926, were added to the National Register in recognition of the large number of properties still displaying historic character, which illustrates the development of ABQ in the era between 1916 and WWII. In those neighborhoods, there are 859 residences, and 702 of them–81%– contribute to the significance of the district.
Being listed in these registers does not restrict what a property owner can do with his or her house. However, as the listing indicates that the property is worthy of preservation,
Mediterranian-Style Home with ceramic roof tiles Recently re-Discover Nob Hill sponsored a Monte Vista & College View Historic Walking tour, guided by a local historian. The following photos are samples of the buildings in the neighborhoods. Among others, the housing types include Territorial, Spanish Pueblo Revival, Mediterranean, Ranch-style, South West Vernacular, a Streamlined Moderne or two, and even some older Bungalows. Map: Monte Vista Heights & College View Neighborhoods
The two neighborhoods are bordered by UNM & Girard to the west, Lomas to the north, Morningside to the east, and it zigs along Central Ave to the south.
Map: Monte Vista Heights & College View Neighborhoods
Nob Hill Home: Built in the late 1920'sThis Territorial-Style home was built perhaps 80 years ago. Spanish Pueblo Revival and Territorial, above left & right, both have parapets. A parapet is a low, wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof. Water is collected from inside the parapets, flows through canales, and is (hopefully) shunted away from the building. In the past, parapets used in Spanish Pueblo Revival were created using mud, which wears out during the rains. In the mid 1930's, Santa Fe architect John Gaw Meem advocated and popularized the Territorial Revival style, which used brick along the top of the parapet (above), to reinforce and protect the parapets from falling apart. Numerous examples of both styles exist in the area. Mediterranean and a Tudor Revival style are left and right below.Historic Adobe Across from Monte Vista Elementary School
Diverse Housing Stock in Monte Vista Addition
The Sandias Rise Up as Backdrop in the Monte Vista and College View Neighborhoods
The Hibben House—a vintage 1930’s Pueblo Revival home, and a view of the Sandias Mountains from Monte Vista Blvd.
And something new (ish)…
The natural evolution of a neighborhood can be a beautiful thing…Mixed in with all these historic homes in the Monte Vista and College Addition neighborhoods are an eclectic mix of styles built across the decades.
Below is a photo of one of the three UNM professor Bart Prince houses on Monte Vista Blvd, complete with steel dinosaur yard art; further below is a Mid-Century Modern home, re-designed by Bart Prince in the 1980′s; both homes are in the Monte Vista Addition.
Bart Prince Re-Imagining, Completed in the '80's
Steel Dinosaur Yard Art Graces Front of Architect Bart Prince's Home
