Casa Alegre is another great downtown Santa Fe neighborhood. Located a little over 2.5 miles from the Plaza, this residential oasis strikes a winning balance between access to the action and serene removal. Even though it’s bounded on the south by Cerrillos, one of the city’s major commercial arteries, Casa Alegre is a relatively quiet neighborhood characterized by mature trees and solidly-built, older homes.
If you love homes by visionary builder and Santa Fe Living Treasure, Allen Stamm…
…then take a look at Casa Alegre. As with Casa Solana, many of Casa Alegre’s homes were built by Allen Stamm. Stamm’s classic pueblo structures are icons of Santa Fe Style. Typical features include front portales (porches), Vigas, narrow-plank wood floors, nichos, corbels, and kiva fireplaces. Stamm-built homes run small. In Casa Alegre, they’re often under 1000 square feet. So some residents chose to convert their garages in order to bring their home’s size more into line with modern tastes.
Where to Eat and What to Do
There are plenty of restaurants and services in the vicinity of Casa Alegre. Favorite dining spots include India House, Jambo Café, Red Enchilada Restaurant, and The Pantry. There’s also a Smith’s grocery, a bank, and other essentials. There’s even an arthouse theater: The Screen. Shuttered last April, after nearly twenty years in business, The Screen reopened in June of 2018. Thanks to a partnership between the Center for Contemporary Arts (CCA) and the City of Santa Fe, the Screen will remain a Sundance-recognized showcase for its quality, independent films.
For more info on area amenities, go to Walkscore.com There you can check out the Casa Alegre Neighborhood’s Walkability Score , which is 58 out of 100 as I post this update in February of 2019. Individual listings show scores near 80, so
Parks and Education
The three public schools that serve the area are: Salazar Elementary; Milagro Middle School and Santa Fe High School. In the Fall of 2019, Milagro will be moving to new, more eco-friendly quarters. In the meantime, some of its art students have been creating a mural with the support of ARTsmart and Meow Wolf. The mural will have a high-profile home at Meow Wolf’s David Loughridge Learning Center. Watch for the unveiling on February 14th, 2019.
Another fine feature of Casa Alegre is its bounty of parks. Ashbaugh Park defines the eastern border. Gregory Lopez Park is tucked at the corner of San Felipe and Hano Road. To the North is Frenchy’s Field. Many know this 16-acre park because of its late Spring swath of yellow wildflowers or its many prairie dogs. Frenchy’s Field also offers walking trails, a playground, covered picnic tables and dog-waste stations. Last summer, the Santa Fe County Public Works Division announced the opening of the Santa Fe River Greenway and Trail which runs between Frenchy’s Park and Siler Road.
How to find homes in the Neighborhood
Listings in Casa Alegre are not necessarily tagged as such in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), so neither buyers nor their brokers can find these homes simply by searching for Casa Alegre. That means you need to know the streets. Or you need to find a broker who does. Also, there is an adjacent neighborhood called Domingo which even seasoned brokers confuse with Casa Alegre. Identifying neighborhoods in downtown Santa Fe is not as straightforward as in some cities. Experience helps.
Visit CityData.com for a detailed statistical profile of the Casa Alegre subdivision.
From our professional perspective, Casa Alegre has shown itself to be a strong investment and is likely to remain so.
[…] are within a few miles of the Plaza, including the downtown Santa Fe neighborhoods of Casa Solana, Casa Alegre and Barrio la Canada which we’ve covered in previous blogposts. For those who qualify, the […]