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Tierra Alta Sign
Tierra Alta Sign
Entrance
Entrance
Fountain View
Fountain View
Tierra Alta Sign
Tierra Alta Sign
1/4
Joe Hutto
575-538-2528 (mobile/text)
scjohu@gmail.com
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114 S. Cooper Street
Silver City, New Mexico 88061
Why Tierra Alta in Silver City, New Mexico?
Location, location, location, I am 5 blocks West of downtown Silver City and 200 feet from Boston Hill open space. Boston Hill gives us an early sunset in the Winter (40 minutes) but calms our Spring winds significantly. Silver City has near perfect climate, most of the year we eat or drink outdoors once a day in great weather. Tierra Alta is 80' higher than downtown, which makes us a little warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. It is very easy to walk downtown and a little harder returning home, at 6000' of elevation your health will improve in no time.
All of my properties have city water that has been filtered, softened and/or treated, all windows have treatments and every apartment and home has outdoor table and chairs. There is off street parking for all tenants and guest, all walking areas have lighting and stairs have handrail. Currently 3 apartments have their own laundry and 2 share laundry facilities in the party bathroom. Across Cooper Street, "La Cocina" and "Cooper Street Retreat" are fully furnished and have their own front loading washer and dryer.
Tierra Alta currently has 5 one bedroom apartments and one furnished studio. The central courtyard is dominated by a 90 year old "papershell" almond tree. There are two levels to the courtyard with a water feature on the upper level. There are 111 steps within the complex with a total elevation change of 35'. There will be wheelchair access to the last apartment in the future, access to a small courtyard and the first level above Cooper St. where there are two water features, tables and chairs for your outdoor enjoyment.
The property is approximately 3/4 of an acre, Tierra Alta abuts Boston Hill open space approximately 700 acres of native high desert with a decommissioned mine site within its boundaries. The Spring Street trail head is accessible from Tierra Alta property, leading you to 7 miles of trails. Boston Hill has deer, fox, javelina and seasonal bats, a few years ago we had a rare visit from a small group of Desert Big Horn sheep.
About the Owner
I began visiting Silver City in the early 70's and moved here in 1981 with my wife. I was a carpenter and soon my wife was starting a career in project management and estimating with the largest contractor in Southwest New Mexico. We purchased Tierra Alta in 1994, it was the finest slum in town. We began its rebirth immediately, cleaning the property so we could see the possibilities to improve the complex beyond its heyday in the late 1940's.
About the Property
Tierra Alta's original structure was built in 1881 and was moved to its current location in 1905, it is the sister building to the Silver City Museum. The first addition in the early 1930's was the adobe wing (El Sol), stretching West towards Boston Hill. In 1941 there was a small addition to the main house and the home lost the 2nd story and cupola begining its Southwest territorial look. In 1947 Tierra Alta expanded by 8 apartments with a North wing off the main house and a separate two story building overlooking all of Silver City and beyond the 4 garages (now storage) are the 1st level, the average apartment size was 300 sq. ft. when they were originally built. We have combined 8 apartments to create larger spaces with modern conveniences and comply with modern building codes.
During and after WW II Silver City was booming, copper mines were supplying the war effort and growth in the United States. Housing was non existent in Silver City and many homes were remodeled into duplexes (La Cocina was one) to provide housing for the growing population.
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