Hollywood interested in 'haunted' Corrales courthouse

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Hollywood interested in 'haunted' Corrales courthouse
July 13, 2007
New Mexico Business Weekly

A onetime residence, courthouse and community center in Corrales dating to the mid-19th century has been listed for $1.325 million, and members of Hollywood's A list might be interested in it.

Although it is purported to be haunted by an elderly bald man with a handlebar mustache and suspenders, the strangest thing witnessed on a recent visit to Perea Casa were the mounds of personal belongings left behind by the historic home's previous owner, who now lives in California. The master bedroom's bed is neatly made and pocket change is strewn on top of a chest of drawers filled with crisply folded clothes. It is almost as if the occupant walked out the door one day and never looked back.

The property, on Corrales Road near the heart of the adobe village, includes 5,000 square feet of residential space on one acre of land, a small, decrepit swimming pool -- more like a cement pond -- a vast patio and a large fenced-in field in front, which separates the house from the road by about 100 yards. That is a good selling point, notes broker John Fakes of Sperry Van Ness, who is handling the sale for owners Phoenix Equity.

"The biggest obstacle to selling property in Corrales is street noise," says Fakes. "But this house is set back, so it doesn't matter."

The home was built in the 1860s, when farmers from Italy and France began to settle in the Corrales region, which came to be known for its wineries and vineyards. Perea Casa started its life as a private residence, served intermittently over the years as the county's courthouse and community center, and changed hands as a private home several times before being purchased in 2005 by Phoenix.

The Albuquerque company specializes in helping home owners avoid foreclosures, but rarely dabbles in real estate investing, says Managing Partner Luke McKinnon. The purchase of Perea Casa came about as a favor to a friend who was having financial problems, says McKinnon -- presumably the previous owner, a once-prominent Albuquerque businesswoman who wishes to remain anonymous.

"Antiques Roadshow" could devote an entire episode to the home's contents. Aside from personal photos and effects, office equipment and endless boxes of files, every corner is filled with vintage and contemporary artifacts, furniture, tchotchkes, dishware and artwork. McKinnon is trying to have the contents returned to the owner. Fakes says buyers have the option of paying extra to keep everything inside the house.

The dwelling contains a mix of contemporary and antique. The bathrooms and kitchen are all modern, with old-style touches here and there that include painted ceramic tiles and hand-cut hardwood floors. Some of the ceiling beams through the house are actually vigas, which are beams made of entire tree trunks.

There are six bedrooms, each with its own fireplace, two of which are pass-through. Nichos, or little alcoves big enough to hold a statuette or small picture frame, are cut into the white plaster walls. Every room on the first floor opens onto the grand "sala," a 1,200-square-foot hall where court hearings, weddings and dances were held when the building became Sandoval County's first courthouse after New Mexico gained statehood in 1912. The house itself is a good example of classic Southwest architecture.

"It's New Mexico Territorial style to the nth degree," says McKinnon.

"The place got frozen in time," says Fakes, who points out that Sandoval County's most fabled piece of real estate was built in the "terron" style. In the 19th century, most desert-home walls were made extremely thick to support a heavy dirt roof (Perea Casa's walls measure 30 inches). Walls were often made from terrones, which were sod slabs cut from the edge of a river and applied to the wall while still wet, as opposed to the more typical dried adobe bricks.

Perea Casa is a rare standing example of its type.

"There're only a handful of buildings left in that style," says McKinnon.

While working on the house the past two years, McKinnon has spoken to several oldtimers passing through who told him they got married in the building back when it was a courthouse, or danced there when it was a community center.

It is said to have been built as a ranch farm house by Manuel Antonio Perea. The Perea family sold it to Peter Lienau after World War II. Lienau renovated it in the 1950s, adding a second story. The house changed hands many times after being sold by the Lienau family in 1970. The most recent owner had it for 15 to 20 years.

Ghost stories are not rare in the Southwest, so it is not unusual that a property with such a rich history as Perea Casa comes with its own share of spooky lore. McKinnon says while working on the house, he and other employees have heard footsteps and seen the aforementioned man, dressed in brown pants and a blue shirt. Apparently the apparition is fond of throwing orange peels at visitors. McKinnon says the ghost, thought to be that of the original builder, has also been seen at neighboring homes. He says KOB-TV Channel 4 is working on a story about the haunting claim, and that it's been an enticement rather than a hindrance in the sale of the unique property, which quickly drew interest from West Coast prospectors.

"There've been several Hollywood types interested in it," says McKinnon. "The Realtors said that if they could tell us, we'd know who they are."

The property would work well as either a private residence, a bed-and-breakfast inn or a commercial/residential space.

Whoever snags it will have to deal with the occasional elderly couple stopping by to reminisce at the spot where they were married or where they danced into the night.