Sandia Heights home linked to Ben Abruzzo headed for new owner

A home tied to the legacy of the Sandia Peak Tramway and Albuquerque ballooning is set to change hands just a few months after listing.

The dwelling, located at 9 Sandia Heights NE, was developed by the same Abruzzo family that helped open Albuquerque’s Sandia Peak Tramway, North America’s longest aerial tram ride.

Ben Abruzzo — who founded the Tramway with business partner Robert Nordhaus and broke records as a hot air balloonist — and his wife, Pat Abruzzo, were the home’s first residents, moving in just one week after opening the Tramway in 1966.

How many owners the home has had since then is unknown, but it’s been listed four times in the last seven years, according to Zillow.

One of the property’s other known — and well-known, at that — residents is actor Jack Black, who, listing agent Veronica Gonzales said, lived in the home while filming the movie “Year One” in New Mexico in the early 2000s. The home was also a filming location that appeared in the 2021 crime thriller “Silk Road,” Gonzales said.

The home’s current owners, who purchased the property in August and are involved in the medical field, listed the property because of a job opportunity, Gonzales said.

They listed it for roughly $1.9 million in October and the property went under contract in January. The transaction is expected to close next week, said Gonzales, who operates ABQ Dream Homes by Veronica Gonzales under Keller Williams Realty.

What drew in the buyer — a business owner, Gonzales said — was the location. Backed by the Sandia Mountains, the nearly two-acre property borders the Cibola National Forest and offers trails and city views galore.

“It is one of a kind because of where it sits and the views and the amount of land it sits on,” Gonzales said. “I don’t think there’s anything else much like it out there.”

Along with the property’s land and nature offerings comes a 6,029-square-foot, two-level home with five bedrooms and four bathrooms.

The home features a mid-century modern design, with elements including large glass-framed walls, an expansive outdoor cooking area, a large heated outdoor pool with a bridge that crosses over it, and exterior stone walls and staircases.

Much of the home has been upgraded over the years, but the copper hood that hovers above the kitchen island is an original feature, Gonzales said.

The Abruzzos developed the home with the help of Albuquerque architect Max Flatow and builder Stuart C. Hill. It’s unknown how long the Abruzzos lived in the home, but they both died in a plane crash in 1985.

Ben Abruzzo made a mighty mark on air travel, taking part in the first balloon trips across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. He’s credited with playing a significant role in putting Albuquerque on the map as a world-renowned site for hot air ballooning, which is why Albuquerque’s international balloon museum is partly named after him.

It’s several of these unique ties that Gonzales said make 9 Sandia Heights NE “really an iconic home,” reflective of Albuquerque living and history.

Kylie Garcia covers retail and real estate for the Journal. You can reach her at kgarcia@abqjournal.com.