Last time we explored the original purpose of the Oppenheimer House as a Master Cottage for the ranch school. The first occupant was May Connell, a native New Yorker, also an artist who wanted for her cottage a stone room with enormous windows, light, and warmth. When the Los Alamos Ranch School became home of the Manhattan Project, a very different young woman chose Master Cottage #2 as her home.
When Robert and Kitty Oppenheimer came to Los Alamos, they had the first choice of housing for several obvious reasons. There is plenty of speculation on why Kitty chose May Connell’s cottage as her new home on the Pajarito Plateau, but the primary reasons are probably the most practical. Number one, the house was of a good size for their family. Number two very likely centered on May Connell’s beautiful studio windows. The light in the house was always quite lovely in comparison to other homes on Bathtub Row at that time and still remains so to this day.
The Oppenheimers did not settle into May Connell’s little cottage without needing a few renovations. Some folks might’ve imagined that the glass enclosed sleeping porch would’ve needed attending to, but Kitty and Robert never seemed to mind that feature. It was the lack of a formal dining room that just didn’t go with the Kitty and Robert’s love of entertaining guests in their home as a method of stress reduction.
In order to give the cottage enough space for Robert and Kitty’s love of entertaining guests and social engagements, the Army remodeled May Connell’s modest eat in kitchen into a dining room. A new kitchen was added to the west side of the cottage, and Robert did most of the cooking in this newly renovated room! According to Of Logs and Stone, Robert’s fave dishes to make for family and friends were spicy, exotic offerings from all over the world.
One of Kitty and Robert’s big traditions was to entertain new arrivals to Los Alamos and the Manhattan Project in their home on their first night in town. The night always began with dry martinis, generally two per person, before sitting down to a wonderful meal and conversation. Many times the guests wouldn’t anticipate the effects of strong dry martinis on the body at high altitude and visitors had trouble walking back to their lodgings at the end of the night. I suppose in that way it was good to have everything close at hand in those days!
Once the war years had passed and the Oppenheimers returned to California, Eric and Eleanor Jette were assigned to live in Master Cottage #2. In the winter of 1945-1946, before the Jettes moved in, the Army finally added a second bedroom onto the west side of the cottage. It’s so hard to believe that until that time, the house only had May Connell’s glass enclosed sleeping porch. If I suggested to any of my clients that a family of four move into a home with nothing but a sleeping porch for a bedroom, they’d likely tell me “no thanks”!
After the bedroom was completed and the Jette’s took possession, it’s said that Eleanor Jette was thrilled at the prospect of a bath. Each of the Master Cottages was originally equipped with a cast iron bathtub complete with claw feet! The tub in Master Cottage #2 had tiger feet at its base. Remember that at the time, Bathtub Row got its name because these were the only bathtubs in Los Alamos. Once iron became scare in the war, the US Government changed regulations regarding construction. Bathtubs weren’t plastic back then. They were all made of cast iron, which meant they became contraband during the war years!
Poor Eleanor Jette, finally getting to use her bathtub at Master Cottage #2, had to wait a bit longer when the pipes froze on the night she tried to take a bath in her new housing! The poor woman had to wait a week for her hot bath as the water remained frozen for an entire week and the Army had to bring truckloads up the mountain to keep the town supplied. Can you imagine? Nowadays we’re all feeling abused if the county takes more than a few hours to repair a water outage caused by broken or leaking pipes.
Eric and Eleanor Jette occupied Master Cottage #2 until 1947 when they moved to the Pojoaque Valley. The house was occupied by Frank and Betty Hoyt until the late 1950’s when Bergen and Helene Suydam got the luck of the draw and had the opportunity to choose Master Cottage #2 as their assigned home in Los Alamos. Helene Suydam once told a friend that they were 3rd or 4th on the housing list and only got assigned to the house because they had one more “point” than the other couple tied for their spot on the housing list of Los Alamos. (Housing Points and List information can be found HERE)
The Suydams loved their cottage on Bathtub Row. Helene Suydam used to tell folks that though she never met the Oppenheimers in person, but she once spotted Kitty Oppenheimer and Dorothy McKibbin walking up to Master Cottage #2. Helene speculated that Kitty was showing Dorothy where the Oppenheimers had lived while occupying the Pajarito Plateau during the war years.
The Suydams loved their cottage home and purchased it in the 1960s when the Laboratory offered housing for private ownership. Bergen Suydam worked in T Division until his retirement in 1986 and both he and Helene remained the home’s owners until 2003. The Suydams had long recognized the historical importance of Master Cottage #2 to Los Alamos and the history of the Pajarito Plateau. This led them to the decision to create a living trust agreement with the Los Alamos Historical Society in October of 2003.
This living trust provided a way for the society to preserve the home while the Suydams still maintained the right to occupy their long time home in Los Alamos. A grant from Save America’s Treasures allowed the Historical Society to stabilize the foundation of Master Cottage #2 and they held a dedication ceremony in 2004 when the bronze plaque was unveiled on the cottage. The commemorative plaque celebrating the most historic resident of Master Cottage #2 was the beginning of the home’s “official” handle as “The Oppenheimer House”. Even though it’s called “The Oppenheimer House”, it is still May Connell’s studio window that gives the home much of it’s character and class.
The Oppenheimer House is still in dire need of some serious renovations. In fact, the Historical Society and the Museum have a fund going for folks to contribute to this effort. There are some serious issues with the structural integrity of the home that need to be addressed soon lest it crumble into nothing more than a cool memory of times long gone. The house itself is a bit of a bridge between the different historical identities of Los Alamos itself, which makes it worthy of restoration. I’d encourage you to check out Master Cottage #2, the last house on Bathtub Row, and the scene of so much history here in Los Alamos! Take a drive past, drop by the museum, and have a peek in the windows to get a glimpse into a very real past.
As always, I want to give credit where it’s due! Thanks to the Historical Society, the History Museum, and their wonderful staff for their help on my exploration into The Oppenheimer House! Please stop by sometime and chat with the knowledgeable staff and see the wonderful museum and shop full of books, gifts, and facts about Los Alamos through the years! And when you’re ready to become part of our community here on the Pajarito Plateau, give me a call! I’m a hometown girl who LOVES the funky and often unique bits and pieces about real estate in Los Alamos!
Really nice piece on the old cottage. Thank you.