MetroABQ Blog

Gertrude Zachary’s Downtown Parisian Castle

Some of this information was taken from a Wall Street Journal article.

Seventy-four year old Antiques collector/dealer Gertrude Zachary finished her 8,500-square-foot, French-inspired castle in 2008. It sits on the corner of Second St and Coal, just south of Downtown. Located near a bus station, railroad tracks, a rescue mission, a methodone clinic and on the edge of a parking lot for an underpass bar, the home is protected by 10-foot-tall walls with spikes. Inside, it is decorated with 210 chandeliers, a marble bathtub, & beautiful French antiques. The home, which includes a pool, courtyard garden and detached guest building, is a showcase for her religious art and stained-glass windows.

“Looming over a barren industrial neighborhood locals call skid row, stands Gertrude Zachary’s castle,” The Wall Street Journal wrote. I have never heard that area called Skid Row before. I have walked that area and marveled at the older Victorian stock of houses that dot the neighborhood. The area certainly has it’s challenges. However, maybe this is the beginning of a creative revitalization for the Railyards Neighborhood. Just two blocks south, an enterprising architect built his modernistic dream house, too–check it out on the corner of Stover and 2nd Street. And with the possible addition of the proposed Wheels Museum at the Barelas Railyards, we may be seeing the evolution of another eclectic area of town. Stay tuned.

The MetroABQ Enjoys Our Eccentrics

Below is the Zachary Castle from the railroad tracks over-pass to the east. The billboard changes regularly, adding to the unusual pastiche that seems to currently define the Railyards Neighborhood.