De Garcia, Tomasa Griego, House

One of the oldest buildings remaining in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, the Tomasa Griego de García House is a typical 19th century New Mexico residence. In addition to its architectural importance the property is significant historically as an example of Hispanic land tenure in the Rio Abajo (Lower River region). Although often divided as the fields and pastures passed from one generation to the next, the land was tenaciously held within one family until the 1940s, when urban growth and other economic changes made subsistence farming almost impossible in the Albuquerque area. As the lands became increasingly fragmented the properties took the forms of ever narrowing strips adjacent to the acequias to make certain that inheritors had access to precious irrigating water. While the width was thus restricted the length of the bequests remained little changed, a process which resulted in odd shaped plots of ground.

Originally the Griego de García property was part of a land grant made in 1694 to Spanish army officer Captain Diego Montoya by General Don Diego de Vargas, Governor of New Mexico, soon after his forces reoccupied the area following the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. At the beginning of the next century it was conveyed to Elena Gallegos, widow of French-born Santiago Gurulé. As "Jaques Grolet" this man had been a member of the ill-fated La Salle expedition to Texas in 1694-97 who, after a series of amazing adventures, made his way to New Mexico via Spain and Mexico City. Settling near Bernalillo, he became the progenitor of the large family whose name has been Hispanicized as "Gurulé."

Because the grant papers had been lost, a re-grant was made to Elena Gallegos in 1712 by the Marqués de la Peñuela, then serving as governor. In the meantime, the Villa de Albuquerque had been established in 1706 and Elena was placed in possession by the jurisdiction's Alcalde Mayor. The villa lands formed the southern border of her granto which was thereafter sometimes known as the Ranchos de Albuquerque Other boundaries were the Rio Grande on the west, the crest of the Sandia Mountains on the east and the lands of the Pueblo of Sandia on the north, an area containing approximately 70,000 acres. Partition of the grant began some time prior to 1761 when Elena Gallegos' son and heir Antonio Gurulé declared in his will that he had already given each of his nine children a piece of land 300 varas (275 yards) from north to south lying between the river and the mountains.

During the next century further divisions took place through sales and bequests, which led to an increasing number of families living within the boundaries of the original grant. The first reference to the Griego de García holdings as a discrete property occurred in an 1855 lawsuit in which Magdalena García y Romero charged her son Ramón Gallego with "forced entry." Subsequent testimony by neighbors indicated that the two litigants had been in disagreement for over five years concerning disposition of the property which included farm lands, houses and a vineyard. Efforts to arbitrate the dispute were evidently unsuccessful, for in the following year Magdalena García sold the lands, which she had acquired as an inheritance from her mother, for $100.00 to her son-in-law Felipe Zamora and her grandson Manuel García, ignoring Gallego altogether. The two purchasers divided the property in half with Zamora taking 50 varas on the south while García received a like amount to the north. There he established his wife of four years, Tomasa Griego, and their growing family.

In 1868 García died, leaving his widow with a large number of children to care for. A few years later she gave the 50 varas of land which she inherited from her husband to their seven sons, but the document seems to to have been merely a declaration of intent for no division was made until her own death in 1890. In her will the parcels of real estate to be given to each heir were carefully delineated. Because there were several acequias crossing the property, division was made along north and south lines instead of the usual east-west axis. The east end, which extended all the way from the Camino Nacional, present Edith Boulevard, to the crest of the mountains was used primarily as pasture. It was granted to all the heirs to be used in common and as the location for houses.

Acting according to New Mexico custom, Tomasa Griego de García also divided her house, then described as having eight rooms, among four of her sons. Miguel Antonio received the sala and a small room on the west, Longino's share consisted of three little rooms on the east, while Miguelito was given the zaguan and another room on the south. The stable fell to Salvador Manuel. Except for the latter structure, which has been razed, the present floor plan remains almost unchanged. During the next decade the individual shares to the house and most of the land were re-consolidated by Miguel Antonio García, who retained ownership until 1928. At that time, he conveyed title to his niece Teresita García de Lucero and her husband Fernando Lucero with the proviso that the buyers would take care of his material needs for the rest of his life.

Eight years later the Luceros were divorced and in the subsequent division of property, the house was awarded to Fernando, again with the stipulation that Miguel Antonio García be cared for. Lucero also received the bulk of the couple's chattels which consisted of a team and wagon, 200 bales of alfalfa and seven sacks of beans, hardly an indication of wealth even in 1936. Nevertheless, Lucero was able to keep his land until 1947, when it was mortgaged to real estate speculator Edmundo C. de Baca, possibly as the result of debts incurred for purchases of groceries and other supplies at c. de Baca's nearby store. When the merchant foreclosed, the Griego de García House at last passed out of the family's possession. Oddly, C. de Baca was killed soon after in an elevator accident in a downtown Albuquerque office building.

Following c. de Baca's death the house was unoccupied for almost fifteen years, until it was purchased from his estate by Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Koeber. An Albuquerque contractor, Koeber began an important program of stabilization and rehabilitation which included the installation of lighting and plumbing. After completion of their improvements the Koebers made their home in the Griego de García House for over 20 years, until 1975 when it was sold to the present owners, Dr. and Mrs. Paul T. Turner. Although the Los Ranchos neighborhood has changed significantly in recent years and the present owners' agricultural interests are limited to ponies and chickens, the house remains to recall an earlier era.