Win This Historic Home
By Laryssa Wirstiuk | Online Only | Oct. 22, 2008
The Wainwrights are offering their house, listed at $318,000, for free to the person who wins an essay contest.
Credit: Wainwright family
Homeowners Amy and Ross Wainwright have decided to give away their newly restored adobe house in Los Luceros, N.M., 40 minutes from Santa Fe.
Write a 500-750 word essay on "the greatness of America," submit a $100 entry fee, and you could win the 3,000-square-foot house, located on about two and a half acres near the Black Mesa and two mountain ranges.
"With the market the way it is, we thought this would be an expedient and fun way to sell our house," says Amy Wainwright. "We hope to earn at least enough money to cover our mortgage expenses."
Every few years, the Wainwrights purchase old houses and restore them. Their last house was a 1926 Sears Columbine in Lancaster, Pa. Even though they spent two years restoring the Los Luceros house, Ross' job as a marine engineer requires that he be within easy access of ships. Though the desert location is beautiful and scenic, it does not make for an easy commute.
"I grew up in New Mexico, and I think this is the most beautiful place in the state," says Amy Wainwright, who believes the house has been one of their most magnificent purchases. "Living in an adobe house is really unique because of the insulation quality and also because of how quiet it is inside. We feel like we are living in a nest."
According to previous landowners, the location was originally colonized in the 1600s by conquistador Juan de Oñate, who set up colonies in northern New Mexico. One of the house's former owners, who was a member of the original colony, explained to the Wainwrights that originally all of the rooms led to the outside. Spanish colonialists built the rooms they now use as their kitchen and dining room.
"The structure is built on an ancient pueblo site. We were gardening one day and found hundreds of pottery shards," Wainwright says. "We even found a corn-grinding bowl with the original grinding stone. The property is full of Native American artifacts."
Just across the street from the Wainwright's house is Rancho Los Luceros, a 140-acre glen on the Rio Grande with an apple orchard and alfalfa fields. The Cabot family purchased the site and recently resold it to the state of New Mexico, with the stipulation that it be used for organic farming and public use. In 1950, Rancho de Los Luceros was listed among New Mexico's Register of Cultural Properties, and in 1983 it earned a place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Entries must be postmarked by Nov. 15, 2008. If the Wainwrights do not receive enough entries for the contest, they will return the fee to all the entrants, keep their house on the market, and advertise it on eBay.
View all the contest instructions and guidelines at the Wainwrights' blog: http://winthishistorichome.blogspot.com/.
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