Rancho Rosado, 76 Lavadero, Tesuque, NM – SOLD

About the property

Rancho Rosado, at 76 Lavadero Road, is an adobe house and a separate studio at the end of a gated private road in Tesuque, on 15.22 secluded acres held as two parcels. The house was built by McDowell Construction in 1982 and stands in a canyon setting with panoramic views, on a private well that predates the county moratorium. The main house has three bedrooms and two baths on two levels, with American Clay plaster throughout, a corner kiva fireplace, and a rooftop deck, and the studio adds a bedroom and bath of its own, for four bedrooms, three baths, and 3,364 square feet in all. A solar heated infinity pool sits off the sun room. There is a two car carport, a detached garage, and a pergola, and horses are allowed.

The Webster Estates team handled this property twice, for the same client. We represented the author Armistead Maupin as his buyer’s brokers when he purchased it in 2012, and we represented him as listing brokers when he sold it in 2018.

The house

The plan is open in the way the best small adobes are: the kitchen, new and upgraded, opens to the dining area and to the living room with its kiva fireplace, and beyond the dining area a sitting room opens through a wall of movable glass doors onto the patio and the infinity pool. The two guest bedrooms and their bath are on the main level. The principal suite is upstairs, with the western view over the canyon and the roof deck.

The studio is a different building in a different key: contemporary and open under a pitched metal roof, with a kitchenette, a bath, radiant floor heat, a large modern kiva fireplace, and a covered portal. It works as a guest house, a writing room, or both, and it stands far enough from the house to be its own place.

The land

When Maupin bought Rancho Rosado it sat on 5.22 acres. By the time he sold it the property had grown to 15.22 acres across two deeded parcels, with room to develop equestrian facilities or whatever else an owner might want fifteen acres for. The land is piñon, juniper, and canyon wall, with the entry gate at the end of the county road and nothing beyond it. The well came with water rights.

The neighborhood

Lavadero Road runs off County Road 74, east of Tesuque Village Road and State Road 592, into the hills above the village. Tesuque is the village north of Santa Fe that has stayed a village, with the market, the church, the river, and the cottonwoods, and the Opera on the ridge above. The house is about fifteen minutes from the Plaza and feels a great deal farther. The schools are Tesuque Elementary, Capshaw Middle, and Santa Fe High.

Our Tesuque village guide covers the area and the Tesuque market archive collects our sales there. Nearby we have sold 29 Griego, 1422 Bishops Lodge, and 1 Caminito del Angel. Our guide to Pueblo Revival homes explains the adobe tradition the house belongs to, and the full list of our sales is in the Select Solds archive.

About the transactions

In 2012 we represented Armistead Maupin as buyer’s brokers, Chris and Patti Webster together, when he purchased the house on its original five acres. The listing had been on the market under four months and closed that October.

Six years later he asked us to sell it. We listed Rancho Rosado in the summer of 2016, and it closed in May 2018, for cash. It was a long listing, over a year and a half, which is the honest pace for a secluded property at the end of a gated road: the buyer pool is small, the showings are by appointment, and the buyer who wants fifteen acres and an infinity pool in a Tesuque canyon does not appear on a schedule. Representing a client on both ends of his time in a house is the kind of relationship the practice is built on.

Frequently asked questions

Q: Who owned 76 Lavadero? A: The author Armistead Maupin. We represented him as buyer’s brokers when he purchased it in 2012 and as listing brokers when he sold it in 2018.

Q: How large is the property? A: 15.22 acres across two parcels at the time of sale, with a three bedroom adobe main house and a one bedroom studio, 3,364 square feet in all.

Q: Who built the house? A: McDowell Construction, in 1982. The interior walls are American Clay plaster.

Q: What is the water source? A: A private well that predates the county moratorium, with water rights.

Q: What is the studio? A: A separate contemporary building with a kitchenette, a bath, radiant floor heat, a large kiva fireplace, a covered portal, and a pitched metal roof.

Q: Which side did Webster Estates represent? A: The buyer in 2012 and the seller in 2018, the same client both times.

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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.