November 27, 2008
Journal Southern Bureau
Preservationist Trying To Save John O. Miller House
By Rene Romo, Journal Southern BureauLAS CRUCES — Historic preservationists are sounding the alarm about the planned demolition of a century-old building across University Avenue from the New Mexico State University campus that they believe was designed by noted Southwestern architect Henry Charles Trost.
El Paso's historic preservation officer, Troy Ainsworth, filed an emergency application Tuesday with the New Mexico Cultural Properties Review Committee seeking an emergency listing of the property, the John O. Miller House, on the state's register of cultural properties. The request could be considered at the committee's Dec. 12 meeting in Santa Fe.
The house, a low-slung adobe building with elements of the Prairie Style of architecture made famous by Frank Lloyd Wright, is owned by two El Paso women and leased by Las Cruces developer Philip Philippou.
NMSU history professor Jon Hunner called Trost, an El Pasoan who died in 1933, the "pre-eminent architect of the Southwest at the turn of the century." Trost master-planned the campuses of NMSU and the University of Texas at El Paso, and many buildings he designed still remain from Albuquerque to Tucson and El Paso.
"He was our Frank Lloyd Wright,'' Hunner said.
Katherine Slick, New Mexico historic preservation officer, said that even if the house is put on the state register of cultural properties, it would still be up to the property owner to decide whether to go forward with the demolition.
At an Oct. 28 meeting of the Las Cruces Planning and Zoning Commission, Kirk Clifton, representing Philippou's company, Logos Development Inc., said an engineer hired by the developer concluded the house was in a state of disrepair and unsafe for habitation.
The Planning and Zoning Commission rejected Philippou's request to amend a University Avenue corridor plan and the city's code to make the 1-acre property available for a broader range of commercial uses. Clifton told the board Philippou was considering building a 150-room "boutique hotel" with a parking garage. A Philippou construction company obtained a city demolition permit for the house on Nov. 9.
The City Council will consider Philippou's application for the code change Dec. 15.
Philippou could not be reached for comment Wednesday.