La Glorieta House

Home of Franz Huning, almost the founding citizen of the City of Albuquerque and certainly its foremost real estate entrepeneur; home to Harvey B. Fergusson, U.S. Congressman and major advocate of New Mexican statehood; home to the Fergusson children, Erna, Harvey, Lina, and Francis, two of them important regional writers, and finally, home to one of Albuquerque's oldest and finest private schools, La Glorieta has been a focus of Albuquerque life and history for over a hundred years. No other building still existing in Albuquerque except San Felipe de Neri church has historic connections of such importance in the development of the city and its culture and of the state of New Mexico.

Franz Huning, German immigrant and Albuquerque merchant, purchased La Glorieta in 1861 from Fernando Louis Cremer, who had bought the property a year earlier from Felis de Jesus Garcia. It has not been possible to trace the earlier history of the property, though local legend connects it with Catholic priests. Huning, who was one of the key figures in land acquisition that paved the way for the growth of the modern City of Albuquerque, raised his family in the hacienda. In 1883, after the arrival of the railroad and the success of his subdivisions, Huning was able to build an elaborate three-story Italianate house, Castle Huning (since demolished) on land he owned south of Central Avenue. No firm record exists for the next six years, but the evidence makes it likely that La Glorieta became the residence of Huning's brother Carl.

In 1889, Huning deeded the building to his daughter, Clara, after her marriage to Harvey B. Fergusson, a southern lawyer who established practice in Albuquerque in 1883. Fergusson made his mark as a successful courtroom orator, and moved into politics as a Democrat in what was then a heavily Republican state. Shifting political balances aided his career, and as Territorial delegate to the U.S. Congress, Fergusson was one of the major forces in the drive for New Mexican statehood He became the new State's first Congressman, a fitting close to his impressive career.

Fergusson raised his four children, Harvey, Erna, Francis, and Lina in La Glorieta, which also served as a local political and social center. The family lived in a grand style; servants made up for the house's lack of modern convenience; surrounding land was maintained as farm and garden; dairy herds, the Huning vineyard, and the carefully tended land produced most of the family's needs.

Harvey, Lina, and Erna Fergusson, who all left memoirs of the childhood in La Glorieta, agree on the beauty and warmth of their home. All the Fergusson children achieved some renown as writers: Erna is well known as one of the finest interpreters of the Southwest. Harvey, a prolific writer and novelist, also concentrated on New Mexico in such books as Rio Grande; Francis is well known as a literary and dramatic historian. Lina, the last child, edited the autobiography of her grandfather, adding a long memoir on life in La Glorieta.
After H.B. Fergusson's death, Clara Huning Fergusson sold the "Fergusson Place" to David Twichell in 1915; he in turn sold it to Isabella Fyfe Peters, who owned the house for approximately 20 years.

In about 1939-1940, La Glorieta was purchased as a new home for Manzano Day School, a primary private school under the patronage of Ruth Hanna McCormick Simms, a former congresswoman and a very influential figure in New Mexican politics and society. The house has since been the campus for this school which serves about 300 students from preschool through the sixth grade. While new classrooms have been added, the original house has been carefully preserved, and Headmaster Anthony Pino feels that the cool and quiet adobe rooms have a beneficial effect on Manzano students.