The house on the Southwest corner of Mesquite and Hadley was built in 1890 when New Mexico was still a U.S. Territory. The land was part of the many acres deeded under the Dona Ana Bend Colony Grant from the United States to private land claims by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1891.
The Luna Family, Florencio and Pilar (Gonzales) Luna arrived from La Luz (near Alamogordo) and were the first residents of the house. At that time, it was likely a smaller structure with one long room running along Mesquite Street. The ceilings were over ten feet high made of long vigas and smaller branches for the latillas. The roof was layers and layers of mud and straw and other pieces of scrap wood and cloth that fit into the gaps. The walls were adobe, formed from the dirt in the streets and yard.
Florencio Luna was born in Mexico in 1844 and had immigrated to New Mexico territory by the 1870s. In 1870, census records show him living in Puerto De Luna in what was then San Miguel County. Later, he had moved to La Luz in Otero County and had water rights on a lot there. Pilar (Gonzales), born in 1842, lived in Lincoln County. She was first married to Jose Candelaria in 1858, who died December 20, 1873 in a shoot-out in Lincoln. She had two sons Andres and Casimero, when she married Florencio. In November 1878, Florencio and Pilar had another son name Salomon Sanchez. By 1890 they had moved to Las Cruces to the property on Hadley.
From 1903 until his death in 1910, Florencio Luna served as Representative to the Territorial House of Representatives Twelfth District which included Dona Ana and Otero Counties. These years were when discussions of joint statehood with Arizona were being discussed and when the New Mexico Constitution was drafted in preparation for statehood. Florencio Luna died in January of 1910 at the age of 66, two years before New Mexico became a state.
In 1906, the property was purchased by the Triviz family. Prior to moving to Las Cruces, the families of Esiquio Triviz and his brother, Encarnación, lived in a small compound outside the village of Dona Ana. Esiquio Triviz was married to Maria (Reyes) Sanchez. Born in 1850, both Esiquio and his wife were from the New Mexico Territory, as were their parents before them.
Esiquio and Encarnación Triviz were blacksmiths. Not only did they shoe horses, they also pulled teeth and made tableware. For a time, they worked at Shalem Colony (a utopian colony for orphans). By the early 1900s, Shalem Colony was in decline and Encarnación had died in 1906. Esiquio Triviz became the owner of the property at 444 E. Hadley and moved his family into the house and opened a blacksmith shop there. The property was large enough for him to watch his children while working. In the summer times, he often took his family to the Van Patten Dripping Springs Resort, the first sanatorium in southern New Mexico. While he shod horses, his family could enjoy the cooler mountain temperatures. Esiquio lived the rest of his life at the Hadley address. He died in 1931. His daughter, Angelica, then 32 years old and married to Jesus Joaquin (J.J.) Maynez, now owned the property. They had three sons, Jose Oscar, Ruben J., and Joe Raul Maynez who grew up there.
During this time span, rooms were added, including an indoor bathroom, an expanded kitchen, and a back porch. Nichos in the walls, and arched doorways were part of the style and still exist today throughout the house. Some of the adobe walls are 20" thick, the corners are curved and a couple of rooms have cove ceilings. Unfortunately, many years of heavy snow and rain caused the mud and viga roof to collapse and another flat roof was added; after many years, it too failed and a pitched roof was installed, probably in the early 1990s. Over the years some outbuildings were added, a garage and storage sheds lined the back of the property.
Angelica (Triviz) Maynez lived there until she died in 1974, when the three sons inherited the property. Jose Oscar and his wife Juliet lived there a number of years and continued to make improvements to modernize the property. Jose Oscar Maynez served in the Korean War and worked as a coach, teacher and principal for the Las Cruces Public Schools for 33 years. By the early 2000s, the Maynez family had moved and the house stood empty for a few years and then was put up for sale. Three generations of the Triviz family had lived on the property; this house had been their home for 98 years.
In 2004, a couple moving to Las Cruces from Arizona, Robert Cummins and Lorrie Meeks, purchased the property. They began a renovation of the property, making every attempt to reveal as much of the original features as possible. The dropped ceilings were removed and the vigas were uncovered and restored. The missing latillas were replaced with wood that they harvested by the river. One interior room still had the orginial latillas and vigas, and dirt, and although partially covered now, there is a section that reveals the original ceiling. In 2010, the aluminum windows were replaced with wooden windows, similar to the original look, and the sills of the windows on Mesquite Street were restored to their original inset. The plumbing and electrical were upgraded, the walls replastered, and another bathroom was added. As of this writing, in 2017, they are still living and working to restore the house so it will last another 125 years. They still find horseshoes, rusty latches and pieces of pottery in the yard from those many years ago.
History provided by Lorrie Meeks. Submitted by Paul Mach, Las Esperanzas, Inc, 586-601-6378.
The Luna Family, Florencio and Pilar (Gonzales) Luna arrived from La Luz (near Alamogordo) and were the first residents of the house. At that time, it was likely a smaller structure with one long room running along Mesquite Street. The ceilings were over ten feet high made of long vigas and smaller branches for the latillas. The roof was layers and layers of mud and straw and other pieces of scrap wood and cloth that fit into the gaps. The walls were adobe, formed from the dirt in the streets and yard.
Florencio Luna was born in Mexico in 1844 and had immigrated to New Mexico territory by the 1870s. In 1870, census records show him living in Puerto De Luna in what was then San Miguel County. Later, he had moved to La Luz in Otero County and had water rights on a lot there. Pilar (Gonzales), born in 1842, lived in Lincoln County. She was first married to Jose Candelaria in 1858, who died December 20, 1873 in a shoot-out in Lincoln. She had two sons Andres and Casimero, when she married Florencio. In November 1878, Florencio and Pilar had another son name Salomon Sanchez. By 1890 they had moved to Las Cruces to the property on Hadley.
From 1903 until his death in 1910, Florencio Luna served as Representative to the Territorial House of Representatives Twelfth District which included Dona Ana and Otero Counties. These years were when discussions of joint statehood with Arizona were being discussed and when the New Mexico Constitution was drafted in preparation for statehood. Florencio Luna died in January of 1910 at the age of 66, two years before New Mexico became a state.
In 1906, the property was purchased by the Triviz family. Prior to moving to Las Cruces, the families of Esiquio Triviz and his brother, Encarnación, lived in a small compound outside the village of Dona Ana. Esiquio Triviz was married to Maria (Reyes) Sanchez. Born in 1850, both Esiquio and his wife were from the New Mexico Territory, as were their parents before them.
Esiquio and Encarnación Triviz were blacksmiths. Not only did they shoe horses, they also pulled teeth and made tableware. For a time, they worked at Shalem Colony (a utopian colony for orphans). By the early 1900s, Shalem Colony was in decline and Encarnación had died in 1906. Esiquio Triviz became the owner of the property at 444 E. Hadley and moved his family into the house and opened a blacksmith shop there. The property was large enough for him to watch his children while working. In the summer times, he often took his family to the Van Patten Dripping Springs Resort, the first sanatorium in southern New Mexico. While he shod horses, his family could enjoy the cooler mountain temperatures. Esiquio lived the rest of his life at the Hadley address. He died in 1931. His daughter, Angelica, then 32 years old and married to Jesus Joaquin (J.J.) Maynez, now owned the property. They had three sons, Jose Oscar, Ruben J., and Joe Raul Maynez who grew up there.
During this time span, rooms were added, including an indoor bathroom, an expanded kitchen, and a back porch. Nichos in the walls, and arched doorways were part of the style and still exist today throughout the house. Some of the adobe walls are 20" thick, the corners are curved and a couple of rooms have cove ceilings. Unfortunately, many years of heavy snow and rain caused the mud and viga roof to collapse and another flat roof was added; after many years, it too failed and a pitched roof was installed, probably in the early 1990s. Over the years some outbuildings were added, a garage and storage sheds lined the back of the property.
Angelica (Triviz) Maynez lived there until she died in 1974, when the three sons inherited the property. Jose Oscar and his wife Juliet lived there a number of years and continued to make improvements to modernize the property. Jose Oscar Maynez served in the Korean War and worked as a coach, teacher and principal for the Las Cruces Public Schools for 33 years. By the early 2000s, the Maynez family had moved and the house stood empty for a few years and then was put up for sale. Three generations of the Triviz family had lived on the property; this house had been their home for 98 years.
In 2004, a couple moving to Las Cruces from Arizona, Robert Cummins and Lorrie Meeks, purchased the property. They began a renovation of the property, making every attempt to reveal as much of the original features as possible. The dropped ceilings were removed and the vigas were uncovered and restored. The missing latillas were replaced with wood that they harvested by the river. One interior room still had the orginial latillas and vigas, and dirt, and although partially covered now, there is a section that reveals the original ceiling. In 2010, the aluminum windows were replaced with wooden windows, similar to the original look, and the sills of the windows on Mesquite Street were restored to their original inset. The plumbing and electrical were upgraded, the walls replastered, and another bathroom was added. As of this writing, in 2017, they are still living and working to restore the house so it will last another 125 years. They still find horseshoes, rusty latches and pieces of pottery in the yard from those many years ago.
History provided by Lorrie Meeks. Submitted by Paul Mach, Las Esperanzas, Inc, 586-601-6378.
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