I was chatting with an acquaintance here in town not long ago and the topic of the Denver Steels came up. This individual was hoping that they could find a house in that area due to the wonderful opportunity to own a small, manageable, single family home in a “starter neighborhood”. I had to agree. Those homes are really great for exactly that! It also crossed my mind to be thankful that the Denver Steels are still around. Because, if you look back to 1960, they weren’t supposed to remain in the Los Alamos housing pool at all.

It’s difficult to help newcomers to Los Alamos to understand the intense discussions regarding the disposal of government housing in Los Alamos. If you’ve been here in town for long, you can see why housing has always been a hotly debated topic. There’s just not a lot of space to build! And back in the 1960s, there was a lot more space to work with than we currently enjoy. And yet the Atomic Energy Commission created a Residential Real Estate Task Force at that time to evaluate every housing option here in town in order to choose the best route forward to develop a lasting community.

The first recommendation of the Residential Real Estate Task Force was that the Denver Steels be removed along with “all substandard housing”. The label of “substandard housing” was actually applied to the old Wingfoots, Hanford Houses, and other wartime stopgaps that had been trucked up to Los Alamos during the war years. (More about that HERE) But the Denver Steels weren’t the same as those temporary homes. Sure. The Denver Steels were prefab homes. They’d been assembled from kits. (More about that HERE) But the residents of the Denver Steels didn’t agree with the declaration of a 1965 Los Alamos Comprehensive Plan that suggested the Denver Steel neighborhood should be removed “because of its potential as a slum area.”

In fact, when the 192 families residing in the Denver Steels in 1965 were surveyed regarding their opinion about their homes, 178 of those occupant families wanted to buy their existing Denver Steel home! The residents reached out to Senator Clinton Anderson and asked the AEC o reverse the decision to raze the Steels to the ground.

Part of this process required the current occupants or “renters” of the Steels to do some research about low cost housing available in both Santa Fe and Albuquerque. Turns out, our little Denver Steel homes were much nicer, more cost efficient, and had better potential for renovations than comparable housing in other areas. There were supporters within the county as well. One spokesperson argued that there were no other low cost housing or “starter homes” in the area. John McLeod of the Unitarian Church (More about that HERE) suggested that “removal of the units represents an attempt to create an artificial community populated only by families with incomes substantially above the average.” He went on to further state that “Such a community is an unhealthy moral environment.”

Whether you agree with the moral environment comment or not, there is no doubt that the Denver Steels have long been the “starter homes” of Los Alamos County. In spite of their limited space floorplans, metal construction, and other issues cited by the AEC, the Denver Steels have seen some of the most impressive renovations in all of Los Alamos County!

In late 1967, the committee assigned to debate the topic of the Steels came to the conclusion that they would only remove 50 of the Denver Steels from Los Alamos. The Denver Steel neighborhood we’re familiar with today holds the remaining 142 homes saved. These homes were offered for sale to their occupants, who almost universally agreed to purchase the home they’d been renting.

The 50 Denver Steels that were removed once sat on Rim Road and Pine Street. It’s hard to believe that there were once 50 Denver Steels crammed onto that canyon rim. In place of those 50 homes, the Planning Commission granted permission for 18 new houses to be built. 50 homes replaced by 18. Those numbers alone suggest a strong reason for why housing has become increasingly scarce. Take a look at the original Denver Steel floorplan below.

This used to be a fairly decent sized home for a family of three or four. Our expectations of comfort and space have changed so much since this floorplan was created! Folks used to want more lawn and space between themselves and their neighbor’s windows. Now, you find in most pre planned neighborhoods or “track housing” neighborhoods, that builders have applied for variances in order to place the largest home possible on the smallest lots.

Whether you like them or not, the Denver Steels are a vital part of the Los Alamos Housing pool! This preservation of the Denver Steels is part of the story of the disposal of housing in Los Alamos. Nobody thought the process would be so long and so complicated. I hope that as we explore this time in our town’s unique history, you find some interesting new facts about your OWN home! And if you’re buying or selling your home in Los Alamos, give me a call! I’d love to chat Los Alamos Real Estate with you.