An effort is underway to preserve and reinforce a structure in Albuquerque that was once the home to a prominent architect and later a gathering spot for area newspaper and TV reporters.
Located at 201 Highland Park Circle SE, a block to the west of Interstate 25, the three-story Whittlesey House is named after Charles Whittlesey, a prominent southwest architect who designed, among other structures, the former Alvarado Hotel in Albuquerque and the El Tovar Hotel near the south rim of the Grand Canyon.
Built in 1903, the nearly 5,000-square-foot log house was Whittlesey’s home until 1908. It was subsequently lived in by a series of owners before becoming the home, in 1960, to the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.
The structure was finally purchased in 1973 by the non-profit Albuquerque Press Club, serving as a meeting place for local media, with room for both business and private functions.
Now the Club has launched a fund-raising campaign designed to support structural work for a building that sits on a hilltop with a foundation that may be less than solid.
The Club’s Whittlesey House Preservation Foundation, according to its website, is “dedicated to the maintenance and renovation” of the building. Several months ago, a Go Fund Me effort was announced for the project, with a fundraising goal of $50,000.
The structure has been particularly valued by architectural historians for its large fireplace made of volcanic rock, dormer windows, and pitched ceiling.
Noted the Albuquerque Tribune in 1973: the building was particularly unique owing to an “exterior appearance of a Norwegian villa,” even while being furnished inside with Southwestern style Indian rugs and pots.
By Garry Boulard
Image Credit: Courtesy of Whittlesey House Preservation Foundation
