Most of the neighborhoods in Los Alamos are unique in their own ways. But this sense of unique “differentness” is never more immediately different than when you head up to Barranca Mesa. There’s a reason for that. Honestly. And the simple answer is that until 1958 all of the housing in Los Alamos belonged solely to the government. The very first privately owned homes in Los Alamos were built on Barranca Mesa. But let’s back up a bit and take a look at why.
Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory
LASL, as the Lab used to be known, was the prime concern and focus of the ‘powers that be’ here in Los Alamos. The town itself was a closed community. Beginning in 1949, the Atomic Energy Commission had been systematically backing out of it’s “ownership” of the towns of Richland, Washington and Oak Ridge, Tennessee by selling government homes to members of those communities. But neither of those places were like Los Alamos. The complete lack of space to grow has always been a concern. In 1955, Norris Bradbury was still saying the same thing he had been since 1946. “Housing is the biggest problem faced in Los Alamos.”
Bradbury wasn’t necessarily saying that because he was overly concerned about growth of the town. Let’s be straight here. The town of Los Alamos had one purpose. To provide a workforce for LASL. For this reason, Bradbury absolutely shot down the idea of selling government owned homes in Los Alamos to private citizens. Homes were a perk of LASL employment. If you retired or left your job, you lost your home. End of story.
By the mid nineteen fifties, LASL was having difficulty retaining its workforce because two thirds of people surveyed here in town said they wanted to own their own homes. They were tired of living in government homes that were too small, offered too few modern amenities, and had almost no options for remodeling or updating. Can YOU imagine living in an original Group 11 home and being told that you weren’t allowed to change a thing about it?
It soon became apparent that the best option for home ownership in Los Alamos wasn’t decreasing the LASL pool of government owned homes, but opening up other land adjacent to the Los Alamos townsite for private lots. If you’ve been here awhile or are keeping up with the recent debate over what to do with the LAPS land owned on North Mesa, you might find it amusing that in 1958 it was decided that the approach to North Mesa (it used to be called Tank Mesa) was too steep for residential access. North Mesa didn’t become “a thing” residentially speaking until the 1970’s when the housing situation once again grew desperate.
If you’re currently in the market for a home in Los Alamos, I want you to close your eyes and imagine a situation where you have to apply to purchase one of 72 available lots. That’s right. 72 possible lots not available to everyone, but available to those “approved” to purchase because they were somehow directly linked to an ongoing project at LASL. (In the early days, teachers and physicians were considered essential personnel so they were included in the pool.)
On the night of February 27, 1958, people gathered at the Civic Auditorium where they set up a bingo style ping-pong ball mixer. Numbers were selected, and future residents of Barranca Mesa Subdivision #1 found out what random order they got to select their lot.
To give you an idea of how completely random this process was, Barranca Mesa Homeowners Association President, Wallace Leland, and housing activist Dale Holm were picks 53 and 57 respectively. Can you imagine? You spend hours upon hours on this project and the town pediatrician Dr. Sidney De Briere gets the first pick of lots?
The 72 home sites were designated either A or B. A lots had to have a minimum 1200 sq ft home and B lots a 1600 sq ft minimum. Not that there weren’t some distinctively Los Alamos choices in building material included in the custom homes. In fact, when the Ranch School B-Building and the old Ice House were dismantled, several future Barranca Mesa residents salvaged flooring, stone, plumbing, and even wiring to incorporate into their brand new late 50’s custom homes. Come on, say it with me, “That’s SO Los Alamos!”
Barranca Mesa Subdivision #2 went into planning in 1959. The first plans included smaller lots to allow for more homes. Unfortunately, the FHA determined that these lots should be more expensive because of rising home values. Buyers weren’t happy with that at all. To appease the general public, the number of lots was reduced, the available lots were enlarged, and the trend of having large, custom homes on Barranca Mesa was reinforced.
Barranca Mesa #3 was offered for sale in 1962.
Barranca Mesa #4 followed quickly in 1964.
The last section of Barranca Mesa to be developed was “Subdivision #5” which extended beyond the narrow portion of Otowi Mesa and let Los Pueblos continue down until to where the end currently exists. A trip down Los Pueblos will include homes built anywhere from the 1970’s to the 1990’s and beyond. In fact, several of the homes near the middle to end section of Los Pueblos were built by the LAHS Building Trades class when I was a local high school student. And if you’ve ever had the opportunity to walk through the homes near the end, you’ve been treated to some of the most incredible views in the county!
There’s no doubt that our local neighborhoods are filled with interesting bits and pieces of local and even national history. Keep that in mind as you shop for your new dream house. Regardless of what neighborhood you choose to reside in or how you choose to make your home YOURS, know that you’re part of a long tradition of Los Alamos Unique! And as always, if you want to talk real estate, give me a call. I’d love to share what I know with you!
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