History

The current day Hacienda Antigua was built in 1790 by Don Pablo Yrisarri.

Don Pablo Irizarri was born in the Basque country of Spain in the mid 1750s. Like his father, General Santiago Irizarri, he became a soldier in the Spanish army. He was sent to Vera Cruz,Mexico by King Charles III of Spain in the late 1770s. He was commissioned by the King to “recover 1600 burro loads of gold, silver, and valuable church vessels” reportedly buried in the ruins at the Mission Gran Quivira, southeast of Albuquerque. The gold had been taken from the Spanish missions and hidden by the Friars, prior to the Pueblo Revolt in 1680. Whether Don Pablo found the treasure remains a mystery.

Given political tensions at this time, between the Spanish and Mexican governments, Don Pablo changed the spelling of his name to Yrisarri, to conceal his identity and avoid arrest and deportation by the Mexican government.

As a personal envoy from the King of Spain, Don Pablo was given a land grant of thousands of acres, eventually to become known as the Elena Gallegos grant. Don Pablo also acquired other properties throughout the State. Records show Don Pablo’s hand set to official records in Atrisco Land Grant matters in 1782, and later the Sedillo Grant. This and other land grants like it were given to the Don’s as compensation for their “forbearance and endurance in performing the King’s assigned tasks in the face of personal hardships and adversities”. Don Pablo and his son, Don Mariano, built the Yrisarri House, which is the present day Hacienda Antigua, and established a ranch upon this property.

In the early 1820’s, Don Pablo together with his son, Don Mariano, also became merchants by establishing and running a wagon train business from this location. The wagon train route originated at the ranch and traveled down the El Camino Real to Mexico City. However, his wagon train trail didn’t end there. From Mexico City, the Yrisarri wagon trains traveled southwest to Vera Cruz, Mexico. After trading their goods they traveled north to New Orleans, then up the Mississippi River to St. Louis, the gateway to the east. Then when well stocked with goods, the wagons began their southward trip down the Santa Fe Trail to Santa Fe. From there they continued on south via the El Camino Real to the ranch (and mercantile). As a rule, they made this trip twice each year.

As a result of this endeavor, Don Mariano became one of the leading merchants of the Southwest, by establishing a chain of trading posts throughout New Mexico. He is referred to in historical documents as “a wealthy 19th century merchant who was one of the most influential businessmen and patrones of the Albuquerque area”. Other documents state “The Yrisarri ‘s, they were wealthy people. In the wintertime, on sunny days, they’d pay the help to get the gold they had stored in a cellar, and take it out to dry so it wouldn’t mold.”

In 1849 the first stage coaches appeared at the Yrisarri house, which was the first stop in the journey from Albuquerque to Santa Fe. The stage coaches ran from Kansas City to Santa Fe. The fare for the trip was $200 and included forty pounds of luggage and two blankets. The trip took two bone jarring weeks.

In 1883, land was deeded to New Mexico and the Southern Pacific Railroad . It is believed that the Yrissarri House was a stop on the trip to Santa Fe, although there is no documentation of this fact.

Don Mariano Yrisarri, after two marriages, left eight children. His last will and testament shows that he divided his wealth and property, one half to his wife and one half equally among his eight children. They later traded and deeded their properties among each other. Pablo J. Yrisarri, the seventh child, ended up as owner of the ranch property and the Yrisarri House.

In Pablo J. Yrisarri’s will, dated in 1921 (four years before his death), he decreed that his brother Eugenio could live in the House at no cost except to pay the taxes and upkeep. In the event of the death of Eugenio, Pablo’s sister Emelia had the same privileges. When both Eugeneio and Emilia died, the property was then to become the possession of Pablo’s only son, Joseph L. M. Yrisarri.

Eugenio lived in the house for many years until his untimely accidental death at the hands of a railroad train, while crossing the tracks in his famous single-horse drawn buggy.

After Eugenio’s death, (Emelia was living elsewhere, and never moved into the House) no one lived in the House and it was for a time abandoned. Unfortunately, during this time it was often vandalized by people looking for legendary gold supposedly buried somewhere in the floor or the walls. Eventually, in 1946, the very large ranch property was subdivided into the Zia Gardens neighborhood.

In 1955, Charlie and Winnie Whitmer purchased the House, becoming the first non-Yrisarris to own it. A subsequent owner named Tomelic lived there for a short time and then sold in it 1967 to Kenneth and Donna Miller. The House was purchased and converted into the Hacienda Antigua Bed and Breakfast Inn by Ann Dunlop and Melinda Moffitt in 1990.

In 2002, the property was purchased by its current owners, Robert and Susan Thompson, who continue to operate it as a bed and breakfast.