A 112-year-old Las Vegas mansion is on the market — history included

The 112-year-old mansion on Seventh Street in Las Vegas, New Mexico, wasn’t for sale when Kitty Ballard first laid eyes on it, but that didn’t stop her from trying to purchase the property.

When the owner said he wasn’t interested in selling, Ballard put pen to paper and hoped for the best.

“I wrote him a letter and mailed it to him, and then he agreed to sell it to me,” Ballard said.

Ballard thinks it was her strong desire to bring the home back to life that resonated with the owner and landed her the keys to 1054 Seventh.

Two years and several renovations later, the home — built in 1913 — is on the market for $589,000. Ballard said it was never her intention to live in the home — which spans 4,555 square feet with seven bedrooms and six bathrooms — but rather, to fix it up for someone else to enjoy.

“It’s a really grand, beautiful home,” Ballard said. “But it’s too large for me.”

Ballard, a Realtor who lives in Las Vegas and works for Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Santa Fe, grew up seeing historic properties restored.

“My mom and dad had 10 kids, and I joke my dad must have had 10 kids so he’d have people helping him work,” Ballard said with a laugh. “He’d buy old mansions and restore them, and we’d be there with the paint scraper and sanding floors. It was just in my DNA to fix up historic, old homes.”

Ballard said she’s bought, fixed up and sold roughly six old homes on her own.

Originally from California, Ballard has called New Mexico her forever home since 2018, drawn to the state’s outdoors, art, history and culture. Before becoming a Realtor in 2019, Ballard had worked as an emergency medical technician and a high school art teacher.

She was living in the home immediately behind the Seventh Street mansion when she began fixating on the historic structure, which had sat vacant for several years.

“I’d be making my coffee in the morning, I’d look out and (think), ‘Someone really needs to give that house some love and polish it back up,’” Ballard said.

Prominent American firm Rapp & Rapp Architects designed the mansion, and real estate developer Cecilio Rosenwald built it, according to the Zillow listing. Rosenwald was a “historically significant merchant” who also built Las Vegas’ historic Coronado Theater, the listing says.

Rosenwald’s father, a Jewish immigrant from Germany, arrived in New Mexico around 1863 and gave his sons Spanish names to “(integrate) into the local culture here,” Ballard said.

The mansion’s front entrance visually reflects that blending of culture through a “beautifully preserved” holy cross and mezuzah — a Jewish symbol or scroll used to mark a Jewish household — that the Rosenwalds embedded into the front doorpost, Ballard said.

Even the home’s style defies classification, Ballard said, featuring a mixture of brick, stucco and wood with a Tudor Revival-style architecture.

The four-level home offers a mix of wide and narrow entrances, as well as a wide grand staircase and a narrower staircase once used for servants — reflecting a “bygone era where workers were meant to see themselves as less than,” Ballard said.

The mansion served as a private family residence during the early 20th century and as a boarding house for railroad workers and students of New Mexico Highlands University in the late 20th century. Ballard said the owner before her gutted the property with the intention of turning it into a bed and breakfast, but didn’t end up having the time.

With a handwritten letter and a little luck, Ballard purchased the home in 2023. Ballard, with the help of co-owner and builder Jeremias Gonzales, has since upgraded the property with a new roof, boiler, granite counters, appliances, paint and exterior landscaping.

Ballard aimed to maintain the home’s historic charm through preserving features including original brass doorknobs, French doors, high coffered ceilings and several bay windows.

“I think that the history of people, stories, where they live, how they live — it’s important to honor those things,” Ballard said.

Ballard and Gonzales’ restoration of the home earned the pair a historic preservation award from the Las Vegas Citizens Committee for Historic Preservation in January.

Ballard and Gonzales listed the home in May for $695,000. The price has dropped more than $100,000 over the past five months.

The most rewarding part of restoring the mansion, Ballard said, was seeing the community’s investment in the property. From expressions of gratitude to recollections of ghost stories, Ballard’s heard it all.

“People stop me and thank me ... and tell me ‘Oh, it’s alive!’” Ballard said. “I felt really lucky to have a hand in bringing this house back to life.”

Historic Las Vegas Mansion