New Mexico Bungalow Bulldozed
By Margaret Foster | Online Only | Dec. 17, 2008
Lost: Miller House, known in Las Cruces as the "Pink House," built c. 1908
Credit: Troy Ainsworth
One of the oldest houses in Las Cruces, N.M., was bulldozed last week despite an effort to save the century-old Prairie-style adobe.
Dubbed "the Pink House" for its rosy exterior, the c. 1908 bungalow was probably designed by architect Henry Charles Trost (1860-1933) for the Miller family. An identical design by Trost stands in El Paso, Tex.
Developer Philip Philippou plans to build a boutique hotel on the one-acre site. To date, however, the city has not approved his request to re-zone the property for commercial use.
The city of Las Cruces, which does not have a historic preservation ordinance, issued a demolition permit to Philippou last month.
Several neighbors called Troy Ainsworth, the historic preservation officer for the city of El Paso, 45 minutes away, for help. On Nov. 25, Ainsworth requested an emergency determination for the house's eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places with the New Mexico State Historic Preservation Office. Days later, a bulldozer knocked down one of the Miller House's front-porch columns, and the roof partially collapsed.
"[The developer] just wanted to make sure enough damage had been done to prevent a review process," Ainsworth says. "If he was sold 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., he'd make sure he'd knock it down and build a Holiday Inn Express. The building wouldn't be valuable; just the land under it."
Now the city of Las Cruces is taking steps to establish a historic preservation ordinance to protect its assets. (Las Cruces has only one historic district and no laws to protect historic structures.) At a meeting on Dec. 10, city officials and Trost's grandson met to discuss next steps.
The situation in Las Cruces is similar to that of New York City in 1963, after the loss of New York's Pennsylvania Station, the event that led to the Historic Preservation Act of 1966.
"Even though nothing can be done now for the Miller House, it's better to do something proactive now," Ainsworth says. "We're at an intersection where decisions have to be made about what road to take. In the long run, I think there will be a preservation ordinance established in Las Cruces. There are a lot of people there who have had enough."
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