Berthold Spitz Residence

By Edith Cherry and James See – September 15, 2019

323 Tenth St. NW,  Albuquerque, NM  87102

Access:  Curbside photography only. Please respect residential privacy.

This Prairie-style home marked the beginning of a new century. When Berthold and Fannie Spitz decided to build a home in the Perea Addition between Old Town and New Town Albuquerque, they didn’t follow their neighbors’ lead of using late 19th century and revival styles for their home. Instead, they selected the progressive Prairie style invented by Frank Lloyd Wright in Chicago at the beginning of the 20th century. Henry Trost, the architect the Spitzs selected, had worked in Chicago where he became acquainted with famous architects, Louis Sullivan and Wright himself.  Trost used Wright’s Prairie style for his own home in El Paso. Fannie Spitz was from El Paso. Perhaps she knew of Trost’s house.

The grouped windows and wide overhanging eaves are typical of the Prairie style. The house is a cruciform plan with what was once an open porch at the east entrance. As one enters the open plan, the living area is to the north and dining to the south. A central stair on axis with the east entrance leads to the second-floor bedrooms. The entry porch has been enclosed and additions and alterations made to the west side.

Completed:  1908–1909
Architect:  Trost & Trost
Contractors:  Sumner Solitt Co., El Paso, TX
Restoration:  by current owners

National Register of Historic Places:  #77000922  (1977)
NM State Register of Cultural Properties: #371 (2/28/1975)

Learn More:
2012  Dodge, William A., “Historic and Architectural Resources of Central Albuquerque, 1880–1970.” National Register of Historic Places, Multiple Property Documentation Form.

“A Toast to Trost”: The 2017 New Mexico Architectural Foundation tour featured a visit to the Spitz residence.

n.d.   Emmer, Regina, “Berthold Spitz Residence,” in Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, eds. SAH Archipedia (University of Virginia Press, online).

1981  Engelbrecht, Lloyd C., and June F., Henry C. Trost: Architect of the Southwest, pp. 99–100. El Paso Public Library Association, El Paso, Texas.

Henry C. Trost Historical Organization

9/15/19