Hacienda del Cielo: A John Midyette Estate Above St. John’s College

Some properties are defined by their position. Hacienda del Cielo, at 1313 Camino de La Cruz Blanca, sits atop the hill that rises above the campus of St. John’s College, and from that elevation it commands a view that most Santa Fe homes can only approximate. West: the Jemez Mountains and the city lights of Santa Fe spread at a distance. East: a completely pastoral face toward the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, their verdant slopes visible without a single man-made structure interrupting the line of sight. It is, in the most precise meaning of the word, a hilltop hacienda with the sky above it and the world below.

Architecture and Setting

The home was designed by John Midyette, one of Santa Fe’s most consequential residential architects of the twentieth century. Midyette’s work is identifiable not only by its formal quality but by its specific details, and Hacienda del Cielo carries one of his most distinctive signatures: the ox eye stone window inset, a circular or oval opening cut through thick adobe and lined with stone, which captures light and frames views with the precision of a lens. Where other architects of the Pueblo Revival tradition softened everything into organic curves, Midyette introduced deliberate focal points of masonry craft that give his buildings a particular visual authority.

The two-story hacienda form was well-chosen for this hilltop site. The added elevation of the second story extends the already generous view corridors, and the massing of the building, substantial against the sky, reads as a genuine architectural statement rather than a house that happens to have a good location. The terraces and outdoor spaces were oriented to take full advantage of both the western sunset views and the eastern pastoral panorama; the property does not choose between them.

Ownership History and the Valentine’s Day Sale

The home’s first notable owners were Peter and Jo Sherwood, and it was from them that Webster Estates undertook the listing. The story of how that listing produced its buyer is one I have told over the years, and I will tell it here because it illustrates something essential about how the best transactions in this market actually happen.

At the conclusion of the listing presentation, Jo Sherwood asked me a simple question: “When do you plan to sell our home?” I thought for a moment, and then I told her “Valentine’s Day”.  “Why Valentine’s Day?” Jo reponded. “Because I am a romantic” I said with conviction.  That autumn day, I had not yet created a specific plan – it was an instinct, as well as a projection.

On Valentine’s Day, I was out with the McDowell family, touring vacant land in the area. On an impulse, I suggested we stop and see the Sherwood home. We called ahead, got an appointment within fifteen minutes, and drove up. The McDowells walked through Hacienda del Cielo and told me on the spot that they would buy it and forego building on the land entirely. The property had answered something they had been looking for that no vacant lot could.

The footnote to this story has always pleased me. Both the Sherwood family and the McDowell family had two daughters each. For both households, the location was particularly well suited to Santa Fe Preparatory School. And in each case, upon the graduation of their youngest daughter, the family sold Hacienda del Cielo and downsized. The property served each family through exactly the years they needed it: Peter and Jo Sherwood gave way to Elliott and Susan McDowell, and the house carried both families through the years that mattered most.

The St. John’s College Neighborhood

The Camino de La Cruz Blanca corridor occupies a position of particular prestige in Santa Fe’s residential geography. The immediate proximity to St. John’s College, the Great Books institution that has been part of Santa Fe’s intellectual life since 1964, creates a neighborhood with an unusually cultivated ambient character. The college’s campus brings a certain kind of person to this part of the city: readers, thinkers, people who chose an institution because of what it stands for.

The hilltop above the college, where Hacienda del Cielo stands, is a small district unto itself. The properties here are distinguished by their elevation, their view reach, and the sense of remove from the city’s activity that the hill provides.

A Note on the Rendering

The pen and ink rendering here is part of Webster Estates’ Artistic Renderings series. For Hacienda del Cielo, the rendering captures the quality that makes the property memorable: the relationship between the building and the sky, which at this elevation and in this light is a genuine daily event.

To discuss properties in the St. John’s College area or to inquire about comparable hilltop estates, please contact the Webster Estates team. Our current portfolio is at websterestates.com/properties.

The Webster Estates Team Chris Webster · Patti Webster · Christopher Webster III · Paisley Mason Webster

Webster Estates is the real estate brokerage arm of Webster Santa Fe, a team of Associate Brokers at Sotheby’s International Realty. The team has operated from 54½ Lincoln Avenue on The Plaza since 1976.