Nob Hill:
The Past and the Future
In October 1926 the Monte Vista Corporation platted
the Monte Vista Addition, one of the four subdivisions making up the Nob
Hill neighborhoods. The land development company was headed by William
J. Leveritt Sr., a "lunger" who had come to New Mexico in search of the
cure. The corporation hired a planner from Denver named De Bors to
lay out the subdivision. The developers had wisely recognized that
the sever slope of the southern part of the tract (the old drainage of
Tijeras Arroyo) posed flood hazards and drainage problems and so required
a different treatment than the traditional grid street pattern. The
design solution devised by De Bors resulted in the diagonal thoroughfares
of Campus and Monte Vista, above and between which were diagonally slanted
blocks, maximizing develop able land while safe guarding the environment.
The second Monte Vista Corporation innovation was
the dedication of land to the Albuquerque Public School system for an elementary
school, a masterful marketing stroke. The presence of a school in
the subdivision clearly enhanced the desirability of the location as a
place to live in its developmental period.
The Corporation was in the land development rather
than the tract housing business. This meant it would usually sell
lots to either small builders or individual buyers. Individual
buyers might build their homes themselves or contract with a builder like
William Leveritt to erect one. Typically a builder would develop
on or a few residences at a time and sell it (them), then take his capital
and profit to the next project.
Another common feature of the Nob Hill subdivisions
were the Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions which limited use of the
property in the days before zoning. Covenants covered many aspects
of property use, from front setbacks (usually 20-25'), establishment of
minimum dollar cost of construction ($3,000) to $4,500), prohibition of
further subdivision of lots, racial restrictions (prohibiting sale, lease
or occupancy to anyone of "Oriental or African descent", outlawed by the
Supreme Court in 1948 and superseded by the City Zoning Ordinance of the
1950s), restriction on type of use, to prohibition of sanatoria or homes
for tuberculars.
From The Nob Hill Study by Mary Rose Szoka
This is the first of what we hope will be annual
tours of Nob hill's historic residential and commercial districts.
An historic survey of the Monte Vista subdivision was recently completed
and some of that information has been incorporated into the tour.
We hope to continue this preservation work by taking oral histories from
longtime residents and further identifying our historic, architectural,
and cultural assets. If the community agrees, some form of historic
overlay zone may be created.
Along with the original architectural elements that
distinguish this neighborhood, you will se 50's era picture windows and
aluminum awnings, 70's era clerestories, blank faced aluminum storm windows,
and a smattering of startling architectural statements that will engage
or enrage, depending on your viewpoint. Not as obvious are the conversions
of garages to living quarters and the subtle, sympathetic additions.
Change in Nob Hill is inevitable; it is our community's
task to determine what changes add to the neighborhood's attractiveness
and vitality and what undermines it. Your comments will be of great
interest to us.
Marianne Dickinson
Nob Hill Neighborhood Association
Historic Committee