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Journal North: Home | Sports | Opinion | Obits | Entertainment
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Santa Fe Home Has Highest Tax Value in New Mexico
By Phil Parker
Copyright © 2009 Albuquerque Journal
Journal Staff Writer
It took a while, but a $20-plus million house has been added to Santa Fe County's tax rolls.
County Assessor Domingo Martinez said the mansion in the hills above Hyde Park Road owned by Sydney and Andrew Davis is worth $20.4 million. And he said that makes it the most expensive house in the state.
According to the county assessor Web site's property tax evaluator, the $20.4 million assessment means the Davises will pay roughly $133,000 in property taxes, money that goes for schools and local government.
"Twenty point four million is a lot of money we have to put on the tax rolls," Martinez said. "The more you have on the books, the more you can spread out the cost of government and the better off everyone is."
The assessment was only recently completed after months of work by the county, which needed to know how much was spent to build the home and needed to find another house that was comparable.
The house sprawls over more than 23,000 square feet and was built using imported stone and wood, Martinez said.
"So we look at those things to appraise the property," Martinez said, "then we had to go to places like Scottsdale, Aspen, Telluride and other places like that to find something else that was close."
Martinez said the Davis house is "the most expensive property in New Mexico," so in order to find something comparable for their appraisal, they needed to check those areas outside the state.
Andrew Davis is president of Davis Select Advisors L.P., which manages several mutual funds.
No member of the family would comment, but the Davises issued a statement through a spokeswoman.
"We are pleased to finalize the assessment of our property," the statement said. "It has been a pleasure to work so closely with the fine New Mexico builders and talented craftsmen during the construction phase. We are also very proud to have contributed to the local economy and would like to thank the contractors, subcontractors, businesses and everyone who provided their unique skills, resources and talents toward the completion of our house."
The house was a source of controversy during its construction, as the city wrestled with its escarpment ordinance, meant to protect views of the ridgelines that surround much of Santa Fe.
The Davises said in a letter to newspapers in 2005 that the house, on four lots in the Sierra del Norte subdivision, had an environmentally sensitive design and that more than half of the house is below grade. The construction was to include rainfall cisterns and a gray-water recapture and filtration system, the Davises said.
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