A Piece of History, Brought Back to Life.

Eugenio & Ester (E2) settled into their home at 603 Mountain Road in 1946. With deep familial roots dating back to the founding of Albuquerque, they raised four children and built a business on this corner of town. After running the company out of the garage, they acquired the corner building at 601 and over time expanded into the warehouse they built at 605. Through hard work and vision over two generations, Southwest Housewares became an iconic New Mexican business supplying trading posts across the state and region for over 50 years.

Today, the grandson of Eugenio & Ester has joined forces with a longtime family friend – and owner of a local construction company – who takes a particular interest in repurposing Albuquerque’s older buildings and historic neighborhoods. In this project, they have breathed new life into the classic New Mexican structures to preserve their unique attributes and modernize the property for the future economy and society.

To help revitalize this historic location, a talented resident-architect was enlisted alongside an experienced and skilled builder. Each of them has poured their energy into the labor of modernizing all of the amenities and placed special attention on integrating the renovation into the existing fabric of the local community.

Last but not least, local artist Larry Bob Phillips was enrolled to design and paint a mural to complement the rich cultural life of the area and invigorate the neighborhood. Drawing upon traditional western landscape painting and science-fiction comics, this mural envisions New Mexico as a living landscape linked to the larger universe. These highly agitated graphic designs provide the viewer with an intense visual rush that is meant to surprise and delight in our beige stucco surroundings. This stunning addition to the Mountain Road Arts Corridor is entitled, Thunderhead.

I have traveled to many places but have no desire to leave New Mexico.”

- Rudolfo Anaya