Notice:
Docent tours are available and the house is open to the public on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. For information regarding rentals or tours, call the Hubbell House Alliance at (505) 244-0507.
Property Overview:
The Gutierrez-Hubbell House is a 5,900 square foot adobe structure that dates back to the 1840s. Constructed in stages, it has facades, thresholds, walls, vigas, nichos, canales, windows, trim, and transoms that characterize New Mexico Territorial architecture. It has been used as a private residence, mercantile and agricultural center, post office, and Pajarito Village gathering place.
The farmland is comprised of sudan and alfalfa crops, an heirloom vineyard and orchard, and organic demonstration garden. Bernalillo County and Hubbell House Alliance work together to offer a wide range of public educational events and workshops. Additional information can also be found at
www.hubbellhousealliance.org.
Planning and Management:
The house has been listed on the State Register of Cultural Properties since 1976 for its architectural, historical, and cultural significance. Bernalillo County purchased this property in 2000 to preserve as open space.
From 2001-2007, Bernalillo County, the Hubbell House Alliance, and Cornerstones Community Partnership accumulated project funding, developed a program for the property, researched and prepared a historic structures report that influenced rehabilitation strategy and design, and undertook investigative demolition of some house features, thanks to a variety of volunteers. This process culminated with the rehabilitation of the structure, using traditional earthen adobe architecture methods by Crocker Ltd. of Santa Fe.
Current Projects:
The Gutierrez-Hubbell History and Cultural Center provides many benefits to the community through ongoing cultural and agriculture workshops, youth education, and docent tours. Future improvements include implementation of an exhibit master plan and continued agriculture production.
Three distinct efforts are underway as of late 2010:
- Farming the eight acres of agricultural land by the Bernalillo County Agricultural Extension Office (part of New Mexico State University College of Agriculture) in a pilot program geared toward sustainable farming initiatives. In the north field, work includes planting cover crops to enhance field fertility, reduce invasive weeds, and increase produce yields. Various grains, legumes, and root crops in different combinations are planted throughout the year. Cultivation of heirloom varieties of grapes and fruit trees continue in the vineyard and orchard in the middle field, while the south field is managed for hay production and low impact parking with a natural surface. Open Space, the HHA, and the Agricultural Extension Office work together to offer a wide range of public educational events and workshops from early spring to late fall.
- The county and HHA are implementing an exhibit master plan developed in 2012. It helps align the physical features of the house and the land, existing and future acquisitions, interpretive information, family history, and revenue-generating potential into a cohesive, attractive, informative, and educational package to attract visitors. A preview of the exhibit master plan improvements is scheduled for the summer, 2013, and will present a number of key elements of the plan with one completed room, outdoor wayfinding and interpretive signs, and a hands-on waterworks area for youth. The projected completion of the plan implementation is early 2014.
- In late 2010, Bernalillo County purchased the 5.9 acre agricultural property immediately north of the Gutierrez-Hubbell property. Referred to as Hubbell North, this property contains about five acres of fertile farmland, a large garage, and a 2,400 square-foot ranch-style house. The Open Space program intends to use the garage for equipment and material storage. The land is intended to be used for a tree and turf nursery that can provide cost-savings materials to county parks and other facilities. While this additional property is not part of the Gutierrez-Hubbell House, the perimeter prescription trail will extend around both properties providing a longer walking trail to visitors.
Resources:
The Gutierrez-Hubbell House is the proud recipient of the 2009 National Trust for Historic Preservation Award. See the article below:
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Crocker Ltd., Bernalillo County Parks and Recreation Department and the Hubbell House Alliance
Award Type: Honor Award
Bernalillo County, New Mexico
Just outside Albuquerque, N.M., the Gutierrez-Hubbell House, dating to the late 1840s, is a solid, rambling adobe hacienda that functioned at various points in its history as a stagecoach stop, post office and store. For 150 years, though, its most important role was as the home of James and Juliana Gutierrez-Hubbell, their 12 children and descendants. The marriage of Juliana Gutierrez and James Hubbell in 1849 joined two cultures – Hispanic and Anglo – and established a prominent trading dynasty that included son Juan Lorenzo Hubbell, who established the Hubbell Trading Post in Ganado, Ariz., which is today a historic site managed by the National Park Service.
When the Gutierrez-Hubbell House was threatened by inappropriate development in the 1990s, local residents formed a nonprofit preservation organization and eventually persuaded voters to approve a levy that allowed the County to purchase and restore the hacienda. After a meticulous restoration, the Gutierrez-Hubbell Demonstration Farm and Living History Museum opened in May 2008, and today the site is a popular museum and gathering place.
Acquisition of the property led to the creation of a countywide program that now protects 1,000 acres of open space. What's more, its restoration helped spur neighborhood revitalization and was the successful first test of a new statewide building code for historic earthen structures.
"Few remaining buildings in the Southwest are as representative of the intermingling of Hispanic, Anglo and Native cultures as the Gutierrez-Hubbell House," said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. "In one of America's most history-rich areas, preservation has saved a long-neglected landmark – and laid the groundwork for much more."
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Please click on the icon below to see the Gutierrez-Hubbell House Open Space video.