Nason House
The Nason House is located just east of the University and Espina intersection on the south side of University Avenue. Surrounded by thick green grass, shrubbery, and various trees, the historic red-brick building blends seamlessly into the immediate landscape.
The front of the Nason House features four arched windows and an offset entryway on the left side of the building. It includes a second story, made of wood, that sits atop only the front half of the structure. Inside the Nason House, thin carpeting covers a raised wooden floor that creeks when walked upon.
Designed by Henry Trost in 1918, the building housed the president of then New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts. During the 1960s-1970s, birds fouling the building’s exterior became such a nuisance that the president at the time, Dr. Roger Corbett, received permission to shoot the flying pests. The aerial assault from resident birds was not the only attack that the Nason House endured, however. During the administration of Dr. Gerald Thomas, and in the midst of student protest against cohabitation policies, a student attempted to set the building on fire. The attack caused no damage or injuries and the student was suspended.
In the early 1980s, the building ceased serving as the president’s home. It was renovated and re-designated for the Center for Latin American and Border Studies. Six years later, the building received its current name for Willoughby Nason, a student who died before he could finish his master’s degree and thesis on the Mexican Revolution. Mr. Nason also has a scholarship named after him given by the Nason Foundation.
In recent years the building’s usefulness and upkeep has become a source of conversation, though it seems that for the time being the Nason House will continue to serve NMSU.
Research by Joshua Swanson, New Mexico State University
