Domicilio Cerro Gordo, 1520 Cerro Gordo, Santa Fe, NM – SOLD

About the property

Domicilio Cerro Gordo, at 1520 Cerro Gordo Road, is the oldest farmhouse on the Upper Canyon of the Santa Fe River, dating from the late 1700s. It was modernized by the designer Ron Mann with museum quality finishes and had been meticulously maintained. The house has three bedrooms and three baths in 2,979 square feet, four fireplaces, and no garage, on a third of an acre with a shared well and, rarer than the well, the water rights that go with it.

The gardens are the glory of the place: a small orchard of fruit trees, grapes, and raspberries, raised vegetable beds, and a grass lawn shaded by ancient cottonwoods. A patio with views has its own fireplace, a gas grill hookup, and a hot tub.

The Webster Estates team represented the seller, and the sale closed in 2008.

The house

A farmhouse from the 1700s on the Santa Fe River is an adobe of the first kind: thick walls, low rooms, and a plan that grew one room at a time as the family did. Ron Mann’s work was to bring the house into the present without erasing that, and the finishes he chose are the ones a museum would choose for a house in its care. Four fireplaces in under three thousand square feet means nearly every room has one, which is how these houses were heated and still how they feel best.

The lawn is the surprise. Water rights on the Upper Canyon are the inheritance of the acequia system that made the farm possible in the first place, and they are what let a lawn and an orchard grow on a lot where the neighbors have gravel.

The neighborhood

Cerro Gordo Road runs up the north side of the Santa Fe River canyon, parallel to Upper Canyon Road, past the old farmsteads that became the city’s most sought after Eastside addresses. It is a few minutes to Canyon Road and the Plaza and a few minutes the other way to the Audubon Center and the national forest. Horses are still allowed on the lot, which tells you what the road used to be.

Our Historic East Side neighborhood guide and Canyon Road neighborhood guide cover the area, and the Historic East Side market archive collects our sales there. In the Upper Canyon we have also sold 708 Camino Militar, and for other historic houses, the Historic Borrego House and the Gerald Cassidy Estate on Canyon Road. Our guide to Northern New Mexico vernacular homes explains the farmhouse tradition.

About the transaction

We represented the seller at Domicilio Cerro Gordo. The listing ran about six months and the house closed at the start of 2008, at a price that reflected a market beginning to turn and a buyer who understood exactly what a 1700s farmhouse with water rights was worth. A historic house is sold to one person, not to a market, and the work is finding that person.

Frequently asked questions

Q: How old is Domicilio Cerro Gordo? A: It dates from the late 1700s and is the oldest farmhouse on the Upper Canyon of the Santa Fe River.

Q: Who modernized it? A: The designer Ron Mann, with museum quality finishes.

Q: What are the grounds like? A: A small orchard of fruit trees, grapes, and raspberries, raised vegetable beds, and a lawn under ancient cottonwoods, with a patio, an outdoor fireplace, and a hot tub. The property has a shared well with water rights.

Q: How large is the house? A: 2,979 square feet with three bedrooms, three baths, and four fireplaces, on a third of an acre. There is no garage.

Q: Which side did Webster Estates represent? A: We represented the seller.

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The Webster Estates Team handled this transaction. Chris Webster, Patti Webster, Christopher Webster III, and Paisley Mason Webster, Associate Brokers at Sotheby’s International Realty, operating from 54½ Lincoln Avenue on The Plaza since 1976.