Las Alturas is a neighborhood in Las Cruces, known for its wild beauty and large lots. Natural landscaping is a requirement; you will not see lawns, fences, and gardens in this area, yet it was long popular with professors and those who worked at the NASA site, the White Sands Test Facility (part of the Johnson Space Center) northeast of town. Those living there considered themselves quite posh once upon a time. Now, the newest "highly desirable" areas are the Sonoma Springs and Talaveras areas of the East Mesa, but Las Alturas is still a very good and quiet neighborhood.
My husband built the first geodesic dome in Las Cruces, in Las Alturas, in 1973. He bought the land from Shirley and David Soules, who established Las Alturas, and whose son is a popular state politician. Many people came to watch him build it, and it was a popular place to drive by once completed. He went on to build more domes in the county, two of which we know still stand. But the weirdness of his dome was quite eclipsed when the lot next to it sprouted two giant mushrooms -- concrete-shelled homes that look like mushrooms pushing up from the desert.
When we returned to Las Cruces last year, after decades away, we were shocked by the changes and by how big it had grown. However, the architecture of today's homes seems tame compared to the domes and mushrooms built years ago.
When you visit Las Cruces, be sure to check out all of the neighborhoods and see which one strikes a chord with you. Will it be wild Las Alturas, heavily treed Mesilla Park, historic Mesilla, elegant Sonoma Springs, expensive Talaveras, sensible young-family Metro Verde, quaint downtown Alameda area, solid but aging Telshor, or some other niche?
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