Historic Districts Review Board Meeting — Tue, Sep 22, 2026 · 9.f 2026-013108-HDRB. 135 Grant Avenue. Downtown & Eastside Historic District. Significant. Jenkins Gavin Inc., agent for 123-135 Grant LLC, owner, proposes to reconstruct the west portal, balcony, pergola, and trellis. An exception is requested to 14-4.6(E)(4)(II) to remove historic materials. (Lani McCulley)

2. 135 Grant Ave Staff Documents

Santa Fe Minutes document ID: 11693
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Historic Cultural Properties Inventory (HCPI) Detail Form (FORM 2)
Historic Preservation Division, New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs
For HPD Office use only: Please complete HCPI FORM 1 before completing FORM 2
HCPI No.__________ District No.________ ___NRHP ___SRCP Criteria __A __B __C __D
1. Name of property:
Otero-Bergere House
Fence and Wall
2. Location:
135 Grant Avenue
Downtown and Eastside Historic District
Santa Fe
3. Local Reference Number:
Santa Fe ID: H-2241
4. County: Santa Fe
5. Date of Survey:
July 2, 2021; July 7, 2021; July 12, 2021; August 4,
2021; July 25, 2022
3
Current Historical Designation
The property holding the fence and wall is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as
the Alfred M. Bergere House (NRIS 75001166) and designated a Significant Structure in the
Santa Fe Downtown and Eastside Historic District. Neither the fence nor the wall has been
formally evaluated for City of Santa Fe Contributing Status.
Addendum Background
A review of 1990s plat maps and other records determined that the so-called East-West Wall
separating the former Safeway and Otero-Bergere House properties belonged to the latter
property.1 Following this discovery, the project proponents and the City of Santa Fe Historic
Preservation Division agreed that the wall and a separate fence on the Otero-Bergere property
would be considered for status independent of the Safeway Building.2 City staff advised that the
fence and wall status could attach to the existing Historic Building Inventory for the Otero-
Bergere House, with the focus only on the history of the wall and fence.
Property Capsule History
The land on which the Otero-Bergere House stands was historically part of the royal presidio, a
military fortification that protected Santa Fe during the colonial period. Following American
Occupation, it developed into the Fort Marcy Military Reservation.3
1 Colin T. Cameron, telephone conversation with Georgia O’Keeffe Museum project team and June 21, 2021, email
to Daniel Hernandez et al.
2 March 24, 2021, Zoom meeting with City of Santa Fe staff, and Daniel L. Schwab email communication to John
Murphey, May 18, 2021.
3 The following history is taken from John W. Murphey, “Safeway No. 921, Georgia O’Keeffe Education Annex,”
New Mexico Historic Properties Inventory form, June 13, 2021.

Historic Cultural Properties Inventory (HCPI) Detail Form (FORM 2)
Historic Preservation Division, New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs
For HPD Office use only: Please complete HCPI FORM 1 before completing FORM 2
HCPI No.__________ District No.________ ___NRHP ___SRCP Criteria __A __B __C __D
1. Name of property:
Otero-Bergere House
Fence and Wall
2. Location:
135 Grant Avenue
Downtown and Eastside Historic District
Santa Fe
3. Local Reference Number:
Santa Fe ID: H-2241
4. County: Santa Fe
5. Date of Survey:
July 2, 2021; July 7, 2021; July 12, 2021; August 4,
2021; July 25, 2022
4
The first iteration of the house — one of six Officers’ Quarters — began in 1870 with
construction of a quarried stone foundation. Like fort structures from the Spanish period, it was
constructed of adobe. Unlike these, it had a Georgian central passage plan and a flow of
separate rooms in a parlor, dining, chamber, and kitchen configuration. It included additional
rooms in an ell at the rear and bedrooms on an upper story accessed by stairs in the hall. The
one-and-half-story cross-gabled plan and its placement back from the street made it distinctive.
The officers’ houses were likely the first American-plan homes erected in Santa Fe. Part of the
fort landscape included a picket fence delineating each home’s front, side and rear lot lines.
The house served as military housing until around 1904, after which it became a private
residence owned at various times by the Baca, Luna, Otero, and Bergere families. In c.1924,
during Eduardo Otero’s ownership, it was transformed into a Pueblo Revival-style residence.
Nina Otero is thought to have overseen the work.
After 1976, following the death of Anita Bergere and Mary Kennedy, an attorney named Harry
Bigbee acquired the property and used the house for his law practice. In 2001, the Georgia
O’Keeffe Museum renovated the building, transforming it into the Research Center.
Picket Fence
A long, white picket fence edges the front of the Bergere-Otero House and marks the boundary
between the private yard and the public right-of-way (Fig.3). Reconstructed and repaired in
2000-2001, it may incorporate elements of an earlier fence.
Its basic construction consists of 8’ sections of staves or pickets nailed to rails, which are, in
turn, supported by posts. Each panel contains 19 pickets. The pickets — 3’ high, 3⅛” wide, and
⅝” thick — are spaced 2” apart. They taper at the top to a squared-off point (Fig. 4).

Historic Cultural Properties Inventory (HCPI) Detail Form (FORM 2)
Historic Preservation Division, New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs
For HPD Office use only: Please complete HCPI FORM 1 before completing FORM 2
HCPI No.__________ District No.________ ___NRHP ___SRCP Criteria __A __B __C __D
1. Name of property:
Otero-Bergere House
Fence and Wall
2. Location:
135 Grant Avenue
Downtown and Eastside Historic District
Santa Fe
3. Local Reference Number:
Santa Fe ID: H-2241
4. County: Santa Fe
5. Date of Survey:
July 2, 2021; July 7, 2021; July 12, 2021; August 4,
2021; July 25, 2022
5
The framework is made of ½” x 3½” wood rails joining interval posts. The top rails lap across the
posts with angled mitered joints; the bottom rails tie into the posts with dados (Fig. 5). The
pickets are affixed to the frame by two round-head machine nails spaced 1” apart (Fig. 6). A few
staves show a different nailing pattern, with smaller finish-type nails spaced 2” apart.
The ½” x 4 ⅜” posts are located on the interior and are not visible from the outside. The fence is
bolstered by a concrete base or curb, measuring 8½” across and 13½” high (Fig. 7). This element
brings the fence’s height to approximately 46” above the sidewalk.
Toward the north end is an opening holding a gate (Fig. 8). The entrance, made of the same
pickets, is framed by square wood posts. The 11½” x 11½” posts are faced with boards and
topped with a similar mitered capital. These may be older and survived the 2000-2001
reconstruction. The 4’-wide gate has a Z-braced frame and opens with newer butt hinges.
The fence reveals two types of paint layering, potentially suggesting the age of its members. A
majority of the pickets and some rails show only one layer of white paint at wear points (Fig. 9).
Other members (mostly rails) reveal multiple layers of paint (Fig. 10).
History
Based on photographs from the 1870s and ‘80s, wood picket fences defined the Fort Marcy
Reservation, being located along the street and on the sides and backs of the individual house
lots. While there are no images of the front of the Otero-Bergere House from this period (Figs.
11 & 12), photographs of the officers’ housing on Lincoln Avenue show a similar fence design
(Fig. 13). The picket heads are of various shapes, some closer to a spade or Gothic point (Fig.
14); they rested directly on the ground or on a bottom plate.4
4 Newspaper accounts of the period present the arrival of the picket fence as an act of progress. As example, in
1883, a short piece in the New Mexican cheers the replacement of an “old unsightly wire fence” with a “neat
picket fence, painted white.”

Historic Cultural Properties Inventory (HCPI) Detail Form (FORM 2)
Historic Preservation Division, New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs
For HPD Office use only: Please complete HCPI FORM 1 before completing FORM 2
HCPI No.__________ District No.________ ___NRHP ___SRCP Criteria __A __B __C __D
1. Name of property:
Otero-Bergere House
Fence and Wall
2. Location:
135 Grant Avenue
Downtown and Eastside Historic District
Santa Fe
3. Local Reference Number:
Santa Fe ID: H-2241
4. County: Santa Fe
5. Date of Survey:
July 2, 2021; July 7, 2021; July 12, 2021; August 4,
2021; July 25, 2022
6
The clearest historic images of a fence at the front of the property are photographs taken at the
house in 1912 for the wedding party of Estella Bergere and Aldo Leopold (Figs. 15 & 16).
Though the fence is situated in the background, enlarging and cropping the images gives a good
sense of its design at the time. Later photographs of the house continue to show a picket fence
at the front of the property.
The most critical image for this study is a photograph taken of a portion of the gate area on
October 28, 1976 (Fig. 17). The picture shows a fence that is different from the type seen in the
Leopold wedding pictures and the structure that is in place currently. As shown in the
photograph, the pickets have a pointed head and are arranged at a wider spacing than
currently. There are also more pickets between the posts. In the picture, moving south from the
gate, there are 22 staves before the image is cropped. While the bottom rail is not visible, the
top rail appears on the exterior side of the fence.
2000 HDRB Case
This or another fence came under consideration by the Board in 2000. Architect Greg Allegretti,
who was the local associate for Gluckman Mayner Architects, designers of the Georgia O’Keeffe
Museum and Research Center, came before the Board with a proposal to replace a picket
fence. Representing the client’s wishes, Allegretti initially proposed a solid wall. This was
discouraged by HDRB staff, leading to a revised proposal to replace the fence with a new picket
structure.5
The revision included replacing the existing wood gate posts with stuccoed concrete “pilasters.”
The design was based on a schematic drawing prepared by Gluckman Mayner (Fig 18).
At the November 14, 2000 HDRB hearing, the Board reviewed the fence replacement under
Case #H-09-149. Following a discussion of its design, member Randall Bell made a motion “to
5 Greg Allegretti, telephone conversation with John Murphey, July 7, 2021. Allegretti characterized the work as a
construction/reconstruction project.

Historic Cultural Properties Inventory (HCPI) Detail Form (FORM 2)
Historic Preservation Division, New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs
For HPD Office use only: Please complete HCPI FORM 1 before completing FORM 2
HCPI No.__________ District No.________ ___NRHP ___SRCP Criteria __A __B __C __D
1. Name of property:
Otero-Bergere House
Fence and Wall
2. Location:
135 Grant Avenue
Downtown and Eastside Historic District
Santa Fe
3. Local Reference Number:
Santa Fe ID: H-2241
4. County: Santa Fe
5. Date of Survey:
July 2, 2021; July 7, 2021; July 12, 2021; August 4,
2021; July 25, 2022
7
renovate the fence as is and replace in kind as needed” instead of replacing it.6 After further
consideration, the Board voted unanimously “To renovate the existing fence as is, replacing
material in kind where necessary, to retain or replace the base as necessary, and keeping the
fence white.”7
It is unclear what occurred after HDRB approval. The Wolf Corporation oversaw its
reconstruction. The company's files identify the project as “repaired to match existing.”8
The conclusion is that the fence was repaired and reconstructed, which included introducing
new wood members. However, the current structure more closely resembles the 2000 drawing
than the fence that stood in 1976. In this way, it is essentially a reconstruction following the
Gluckman Mayner design.
Evaluation of Status
While a wood picket fence has defined the west edge of the property for over 100 years, the
current structure, based on a 1976 photograph and an examination of existing materials and
design, is not historic. Evidence indicates that the earlier structure was replaced to a great
extent in the 2000-2001 project. Its design did not follow the earlier fence, but a design created
by the architect. Consisting of a mix of new and older members, recast in a new design, it does
not meet the threshold for Contributing status.
The recommendation is to designate the white picket fence a Noncontributing Structure to the
Downtown and Eastside Historic District.
6 “Minutes of the City of Santa Fe Historic Design Review Board,” November 14, 2000, 19.
7 Ibid.
8 Susan Martinez, Wolf Corporation, telephone conversation with John Murphey, July 19, 2023.

Historic Cultural Properties Inventory (HCPI) Detail Form (FORM 2)
Historic Preservation Division, New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs
For HPD Office use only: Please complete HCPI FORM 1 before completing FORM 2
HCPI No.__________ District No.________ ___NRHP ___SRCP Criteria __A __B __C __D
1. Name of property:
Otero-Bergere House
Fence and Wall
2. Location:
135 Grant Avenue
Downtown and Eastside Historic District
Santa Fe
3. Local Reference Number:
Santa Fe ID: H-2241
4. County: Santa Fe
5. Date of Survey:
July 2, 2021; July 7, 2021; July 12, 2021; August 4,
2021; July 25, 2022
8
East-West Wall
Separating the Otero-Bergere House and Safeway properties is a 272’ long solid wall. The
stuccoed wall shows considerable variety in height, measuring at different points between
roughly 72” and 102.” As observed in a 1976 photograph coupled with physical evidence, the
variations in height likely represent additions to an older, shorter wall.
Starting at the east end, which ties into a street wall along Sheridan Avenue, the “East Section”
maintains a 72” height as it parallels the former Safeway building (Fig. 19). Aesthetic issues on
the Otero-Bergere side, and a lack of adequate space on the Safeway exposure (Fig. 20),
prevented the consultant from penetrating this section. Its construction is unclear. The section
has pilasters on the Otero-Bergere side, potentially from older construction or an intervention.
After this roughly 110’-long section, the wall jumps to 102” high at the “Middle Section” (Fig.
21). Moving westward through a series of steps, it lowers to 72” and then steps up again to
86½” (Fig. 22). The wall terminates at Grant Avenue, tying into a lower cross wall dating to the
Safeway era (Fig. 23).
Examination of the wall on the Otero-Bergere side revealed multiple layers of stucco. A fissure
crack showed the currently painted stucco adhered by fiberglass meshing, covering an earlier
cementitious salmon-color stucco (Fig. 24).
To understand the composition of the lower and assumed older wall west of the Safeway
building, six penetrations were made at a position of 12” above grade. Removing layers of
stucco and using a mason’s tool revealed CMU hollow block construction (Fig. 25). The blocks
were reminiscent of property walls erected in Santa Fe’s subdivisions in the 1950s and ‘60s.