The Fort Marcy Military Reservation was established by President Andrew Johnson in 1868. The structure at 135 Grant Avenue was constructed in the late 1870s and served as one of six adobe structures built for use as officers' quarters. The only other surviving structure of the original six officer's quarters is the Edgar Lee Hewett House, located at 116 Lincoln Ave.
Shortly after the Fort Marcy Military Reservation was abandoned in 1894, it was placed under the custody of the Interior Department under the administration of the Governor of New Mexico. During that period, it was used as rent free residences by prominent New Mexicans and politicians. For nearly eight decades, members of the Luna, Otero and Bergere families occupied the building at 135 Grant Avenue. In these families are notable figures in the history of the state of New Mexico.
In 1924 the family oversaw a renovation which included adding a flat roof to square-off the second story, a sun room and a single-car garage and updating the style of the home to reflect the popular Spanish-Pueblo style.
Learn More about the Otero Bergere Family
The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum Research Center opened in the building at 135 Grant in July 2001 to house offices for staff and fellows, and The Michael S. Engl Family Foundation Library and Archive. The Library and Archive supports the Museum’s exhibitions, collections, and activities through research services and resources with an emphasis on studies of Georgia O’Keeffe and her contemporaries, related regional histories, and Modernism. Visit the library and archive.
