A Colorful Neighborhood

There is a colorful little neighborhood in Las Cruces. I don't know its name, but it is close to downtown and to the Alameda-Depot Historic District.

Unfinished wall with window reflections

The houses are oldish, but not old enough to be called historic. Not yet, anyway. In the meantime, the neighborhood is slowly being "discovered" by artists and by folks who want a cool home to fix up at a good price.

You'll want to click twice to enlarge this one 

I have a friend who bought a home near this artist's cottage. She is happy to report that her place only cost around $70,000 a few years ago and is coming along nicely as she installs tile and cupboards that she has built herself.

Some of the homes just stop you in your tracks. And some are painted a little more conservatively, but they still have spunky touches of color.

Sometimes you can only see a hint of the wild colors beyond.

I've actually been inside this last house for a party.

Colorful inside and out

The colors in the rooms are absolutely inspirational, and there are freehand murals painted throughout. I (secretly) wanted to take notes, and I (secretly) wanted to take photos--but the people I met there were so interesting that I couldn't decide what to do first.

Here there was a painted bird sitting on a painted tree branch above a window with bright turquoise trim against an orange wall; 

and over there an artist wearing gorgeous handmade jewelry and a zebra-striped vintage hat 

(was there a veil on the hat, and did she hold a long cigarette holder, or is my memory 

playing tricks?); 

just beyond her was a french door leading to a beckoning enchanted garden 

filled with bright benches and birdsong and flower-covered arbors, 

but next to the door was a professor who could talk firsthand about discoveries of prehistoric dinosaur tracks in the nearby mountains. 

It was the best kind of gathering, colorful in every way.