Any older homes or traditional neighborhoods in EP? (El Paso, Robinson: sales, condo)

[fordvictory]

Do any parts of El Paso have older houses (pre WWII)? Or more traditional walkable neighborhoods?

I know most homes in El Paso are newer stock and the region is car oriented. But I was hoping I could find a few old fashion pockets amongst the newer construction.

Any information greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[joqua]

El Paso was already a large city prior to WWII, so the answer is YES!

Depending on what your particular architectural reference is, El Paso has "traditional" homes in both the Mexican adobe style and eastern American "bungalow" style.

The best preserved neighborhoods are Kern Place/Rim Road, Memorial Park and Loretto Academy areas. Sunset Heights is also seeing a renaissance with some older homes being restored by those who can afford the costs.

The maps referenced are for 1929, top - and 1962, bottom.

[Rogarven]

joqua is right. Kern Place, Memorial Park and Government Hill ( Cumberland Circle area) are the older parts of town. For me, Kern is the best of them.

[fordvictory]

Wow! Thanks so much guys! I wasn't expecting to find areas like these.

I'll have to look into these more but from my initial google street research the following seems to be the case:

- Kern: One story Mexican adobe style houses.
- Memorial Park: Two story American Bungalow style.
- Loretto Academy: One story American Bungalow style.
- Sunset Heights: Maybe the oldest area? Larger, more formal American style houses.

From reading other threads here EP seems to be divided between West and East. West seems to be more expensive. So I'm guess pricing goes something like this for the above four areas (most expensive to least):

1. Kern
2. Sunset Heights
3. Memorial Park
4. Loretto Academy

Thanks again!

[Gary Siete]

trulia.com will give you listing & sales prices in these areas,
zillow.com will give assessed values (Zestimates).

[joqua]

Originally Posted by fordvictory

Wow! Thanks so much guys! I wasn't expecting to find areas like these.

I'll have to look into these more but from my initial google street research the following seems to be the case:

- Kern: One story Mexican adobe style houses.

WAY OFF on your assessment of Kern Place homes. There are MANY large two-story "mansion" style homes around and in close proximity to Madeline Park. Single story homes come in a WIDE variety of exteriors - from native rock, red brick to stucco over masonry. There were very few vacant lots in the development prior to WWII - having been filled in by 1939. Kern Place in 1939 was bounded by Mesita, Mesa, Robinson and Piedmont streets. Newest houses at that time were on Mesita, Piedmont and Moore. Mesita was the city limit until about 1950.

It wasn't until the late 1950s that desert land north of Mesita began developing - now known as Coronado area generally.

[Rich Cabeza]

That joqua's awesome.

[joqua]

Originally Posted by Rich Cabeza

That joqua's awesome.

Awwwww...BLUSH!

[Rogarven]

Joqua, you DO predate me. LOL There was always Coronado Hills in my memory. Had a good friend that lived on Fandango. :-)

[joqua]

Originally Posted by Rogarven

Joqua, you DO predate me. LOL There was always Coronado Hills in my memory.

Well, it's no secret that I was born in 1935. My folks bought their first and only house (childhood home) on Mesita in 1939, luckily before the war took effect. Not long before, an American Airlines plane crashed right where the house would later be built. They traded it for a condo in east El Paso in 1978.

My playground was the desert that began on the other side of the street from our house. There were no houses across the street until development began to move north of Mesita in the 1950s. In 1954, to be exact, a house finally was finished across the street.

There was a one block stretch of homes that were built prior to 1942, on an extension of N. Stanton St. I don't know if they were considered "in the city" or not. Most of Mesita was developed on both sides of the street, but not the very un-buildable lots like the one across from my house. What is now Alethea Park was nothing but rocks and creosote bushes and was our "backyard" as long as my folks owned the home.

Not sure how many know the name of the smaller "mountain" upon which now some very exclusive homes have been built. It's long been called CRAZY CAT by we locals. I knew that mountain and "The Palisades" like the back of my hand. Legend has it that it's named for a wildcat often seen roaming that area in olden days . I personally caught "wild" burros that roamed the foothills in those days. We kids would lead them home and ride them when we could then let them go when feeding became a problem.

My entire extended family liked to sit on our front porch in warm weather when they came to visit. At night we could see the slag being dumped at the smelter, lighting the sky with the orange glow. Like 4th of July every night. On the other hand, I spent MANY a day choking on the sulfurous discharges from the smelter stacks to the point that even today I am overly sensitive to anything akin to sulfur dioxide (a preservative in foods).