The Rivera House

The Rivera House
524 West Alto Street

The purchase of the Rivera House in 2003 completed a compound of buildings on Alto Street that began with the Donaciano Vigil House donated to the Foundation by Charlotte White in 1996.

According to Foundation 2004 Chair Nancy Dimit López, "the Rivera House is very important to us in it's placement behind the Garcia House and next to the Vigil House. It might represent a development opportunity to someone else but our intension is to protect it as well as our other properties next to it." It's a 500 square foot adobe house of charming proportion. The house's modest size reflects its history. It was built by Monico Rivera in 1939. Sadly, he died in 1940 at the age of 31 after falling from the roof. His widow Eloisa lived in the house where she raised two daughters Rose and Ruby. Eloisa died in May of 2003.
The house has two large rooms of similar size; a kitchen and bedroom. The rooms are separated by a small bathroom and storage area. The north and south sides of the house have single doorways. Each of the east and west facades have two set of wooden casement windows.

Initially and for many years thereafter there was a single water spigot on the kitchen's west wall from which the family would fill a bucket to do dishes. Water was heated on a large wood cook stove that stood in the corner. Once a week they would fill a large washtub with heated water for their baths. Recalling growing up in the house, Ruby described it as "convenient and comfortable." The girls attended high school at Northern New Mexico Normal School in El Rito where they were excited to have their own rooms and increased academic opportunities.

After living in the house for over 30 years, Eloisa received assistance from HUD in the 1970s to install kitchen cabinets with a sink, a full bathroom and a pitched roof over the leaking flat one.

In the summer of 2005, HSFF completed a complete restoration of the house including all new mechanical, plumbing and electrical. The interior arrangement was modified to make more efficient use of the small space. Though no longer in use, the spigot in the kitchen remains as a reminder of the house's humble past.

The kitchen before restoration...		...and after