Castle Apartments was a historic apartment building in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States, which was destroyed by fire in 2009. It was located on the southeast corner of 15th Street and Central Avenue, roughly halfway between

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

and

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...

, and took its name from the Huning Castle mansion, which originally stood on the other side of 15th Street. Built in 1922, it was a two-story, U-shaped building with a central courtyard and 20 residential units ranging in size from 600 to 750 square feet. The architects were

Trost & Trost Trost & Trost Architects & Engineers, often known as Trost & Trost, was an architecture firm based in El Paso, Texas. The firm's chief designer was Henry Charles Trost, who was born in Toledo, Ohio, in 1860. Trost moved from Chicago to Tucson, ...

of El Paso, with George P. Hill. The Castle Apartments were added to the New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties in 1985 and the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

History

The apartments were built in 1922 by Arno Huning, the son of well known local businessman

Franz Huning Franz Huning (October 1827 – November 6, 1905) was a German-American pioneer and merchant who was influential in the development of the city of Albuquerque. Huning was born near Osnabrück, then in the Kingdom of Hanover. He arrived in the United ...

. At the time, the city was growing rapidly and there was an increasing demand for new apartment housing. Huning built the apartments on a piece of his late father's estate near the Huning Castle mansion, for which the building was named. The apartments cost approximately $75,000, a significant amount for the time. with Contemporary advertisements reported that the apartments would "help to fill a long felt need in this city in providing homes for those of the most exacting requirements. The architect, while not restricted as to cost, has not permitted fancy to wander at random but has kept his product within the bounds of refined elegance." Due to the building's high quality of construction, it remained a fashionable address through much of its history.

Architecture

The Castle Apartments were designed by the El Paso firm of

with George P. Hill. It was a U-shaped, two-story building with a central courtyard opening onto Central Avenue. The front elevation was symmetrical, with two projecting entrance bays on each of the side wings and one in the center, all topped with triangular pediments. Other ornamentation was restrained, consisting of simple string course and cornice moldings and a subtly crenellated parapet. The exterior walls were finished with cream-colored stucco and contained over 100 original wood-framed

sash window A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned window (architecture), paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double gla ...

s. The apartments consisted of 20 one- and two-bedroom units ranging in size from 600 to 750 square feet (56–70 m²). Each unit had ceilings, hardwood floors, and central steam heating provided by a boiler in the southwest corner of the building. The second-floor units were accessed by interior staircases, while the first-floor units could be entered directly from the courtyard as well as from the interior landings. At the time of the building's destruction, the interior trim and hardware was largely original. Also on the property was an original 10-unit garage building.

Fire and aftermath

The Castle Apartments fire began around 8 pm on August 4, 2009, and quickly spread throughout the entire building via the shared attic space. Thirteen fire trucks and around 50 firefighters responded to the scene, fighting the blaze for nearly a full day before it was extinguished. No one was injured in the fire, but the historic apartments were gutted. The building's owners initially expressed optimism that it could be restored, but were unable to find a financially viable means of doing so. Eventually, the burned-out structure was demolished in July 2010. The site was redeveloped and is now occupied by a bank building. Televised footage of the fire was used by AMC's Albuquerque-based television series ''

Breaking Bad ''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Bryan Cranston), an underpaid, overqualified, and dispirited hig ...

'' to represent the crash of airliner Wayfarer 515 (season 3, episode 1, " No Más").

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures demolished in 2010 Residential buildings in Albuquerque, New Mexico Buildings and structures on U.S. Route 66 Residential buildings completed in 1922 Residential buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New Mexico New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties National Register of Historic Places in Albuquerque, New Mexico 2009 fires in the United States Burned buildings and structures in the United States Demolished buildings and structures in New Mexico Demolished but still listed on the National Register of Historic Places