Walking Tour of Nob Hill

On Saturday, Aug 11, I decided to join the Albuquerque Neighborhoods meetup group for a walking tour of the Nob Hill area.  According to the guidebook from WalkAlbuquerque.org:

Central Avenue became part of Route 66 in 1937 as it passed through Albuquerque on its way from Chicago to Los Angeles. Old and new mix in the colorful facades and neon signs that line Central. Kelly’s Brew Pub and the Monte Vista Fire Station are just two of the wonderful examples of adaptive reuse of buildings along the corridor. This walk includes four individual properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places and a designated national historic district, the Monte Vista/College View Addition.

Nob Hill residential areas offer some of the best examples of the regionalism that influenced suburban housing tastes in Albuquerque from the late 1920s through the late 1940s. The Monte Vista Addition was platted in 1926. The significance of this district lies not in individual structures, but in the fabric of houses of regionally-inspired building styles, set back from each street at a uniform distance, retaining a high degree of their original character-defining elements. Earliest houses were characterized by separate garages set back on the property.

We covered several styles of architecture during the walk, seeing examples of each.  We also had the chance to view several houses on the tour that were for sale ranging from 265k to 600k. One of the styles that we discussed was the Territorial style of architecture popular from 1846 - 1912.  This style of building was characterized  by adobe walls covered in stucco, with layer of brick coping at the top to make the adobe water tight.  Since adobe is made from clay, when it gets wet, it deteriorates quickly.  This is why most adobe walls are covered with stucco.  One example of Territorial style is seen at the Presbyterian church pictured below:

Another style that became popular in the late 19th century is Mission Revival.  Mission revival takes its characteristics from the spanish style missions.  Common aspects of the style include enclosed courtyards using massive adobe walls with limited fenestrations and door piercing (for protection), low pitched roofs with wide eaves and non-flammable red clay roof tiles, and white plaster stucco over adobe walls.

Nob Hill is filled with wonderful old architecture in quaint neighborhoods on either side of Central Avenue (Route 66).  The neighborhood is crossed by lots of small alleys allowing a closer look at the area and shortcuts between the streets.  The alleys were originally used for access to the garages of the houses. The Central Ave section is lined with lots of fun eclectic shops, artistic venues, coffee shops, antiques, pizza joints and much of the neon signs popular on Route 66.  It's a fantastic place to wander around and shop.

One other unique house we noted had a rounded feature at the top on one side.  It was originally a water tank for the University Heights neighborhood built in 1916 and was incorporated into the house once that area was incorporated into the city.

All in all, it was a nice tour - although brutally hot by the time we were done.  I recommend going during cooler weather or starting much earlier than 9-9:30 AM.  To cool off, we stopped in for lunch at Kellys Brew Pub on Central.  Kellys used to be the Jones Motor Company built in 1939 along Route 66.  It has a unique feature of using solar roof panels to heat the vats used in brewing their ale.  I will have to plan on going back this fall to shop the wonderful stores in the area.