Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA (Twenty-Two Minutes from Airport, 45 Minutes to Santa Fe.) View Map
Accommodations: House, 4 Bedrooms, 2.5 Baths (Sleeps 6-8)
We rent our once and future retirement home out by the week or month. The home is located at the foot of Sandia Mountain above Albuquerque. With a pool that commands both city and mountain views, our Casa is the perfect-size (four bedroom) and place to vacation. Relax or roam! We are minutes from the Sandia Tram and minutes from one of New Mexico's seven Wildlife Reserves.
There are mountain hiking trails (through the arroyos) a very available biking and jogging trail to to say nothing about being just ten minutes from a Starbucks, Barnes and Noble and great restaurants. We also have Trader Joes nearby and a Whole Foods in the area.The setting is high desert (eight to nine degrees cooler than Albuquerque), one hundred yards from the surrounding national park and Indiana lands. (The Pueblo of Sandia).
Quail, roadrunners, foxes and a vast array of songbirds can be heard in the deep silence. The Indiana lands enclose sacred sites (They also run a casino) Just 45 minutes from Santa Fe, Casa Griffin is 20 minutes from the Albuquerque airport and minutes from the Sandia Peak Tramway, the world's longest aerial tramway (skiing, spectacular setting, nice restaurants at the Peak) Albuquerque has Indian markets year round, and is host to hot air balloons, the University of New Mexico and other cultural attractions. It has also become one of the more popular golf destinations.
Besides visiting the many pueblos in the area,many day trips are available, such as visiting the natural wonders of Tent Rocks at Cochiti Lake (run by the Cochiti Pueblo) and Acoma America's Oldest Continually Inhabited City.
If you are travelling with children or grandchildren, Albuquerque has an amazing children's museum and aquarium (with a cafe that one can sip cokes and have grilled cheese or hamburgers while watching sharks and stingrays and many schools of fish! ) and an enchanting children's garden (complete with castle!) at their botanical garden.
The tramway up the mountain(Sandia Peak Tramway) is also an exciting trip for kids, unless it's balloon fest weekend, when the crowds make for one and two hour waits for the trip to the top. Good restaurant at the top. A fine Mexican restaurant below is a nice place to meet or wait for those taking the tram up the mountain.
Fully equipped including two mountain bikes, high speed internet access if you have a laptop. Guest account available for checking email on our computer. No pets. Pool available mid May-October. Please do not inquire for any period less than a week. It is a home to settle in if you are looking for a place to come home to after a day of adventures and activity.
Or it is a comfy place to relax and just be in nature.It is also a place that writers have rented to work on their next mystery! Although our home sleeps eight, our normal rental is four to six. Best for a family, two to three couples,three to four golfers! We have four bedrooms. Two bedrooms have queen beds, two bedrooms have two twin beds. Our ideal rental is four to six guests. Although we do have the ability to sleep eight, in reality and ideally your party will have an infant or a child! four singles or two to three couples! We now list our home as sleeping six, we have two queen beds, and four twin beds. Because of the footprint of our home, we can most easily accomodate six adults, and a couple of kids under nine.
Vacation Rental Features
- Amenities
- Air Conditioning
- Washer
- Dryer
- Linens Provided
- Garage
- Wood Fireplace
- Beds
- Queen Bed
- Twin/Single Bed
- Entertainment
- Cable/Satellite TV
- VCR
- Video Library
- CD Player
- Stereo System
- Jetted Tub in Bath
- Private Pool
- Kitchen
- Full Kitchen
- Cooking Utensils Provided
- Refrigerator
- Dishwasher
- Microwave
- Ice Maker
- Outdoor Features
- Charcoal BBQ Grill
- Deck/Patio
- Balcony
- View/Location
- Mountain View
- Communications
- Telephone
- Computer
- Broadband Internet
- WiFi (Wireless Internet)
- Other Amenities
- Cable TV (does not include all channels), Fully Equipped Including Two Mountain Bikes, High Speed Internet if you have a laptop, Guest account available for checking email on our computer
- Suitability
- No Pets Allowed
- Smoking Not Allowed
- Activities (on site and nearby)
- Golf
- Tennis
- Zoo/Wildlife Park
- Shopping
- Sightseeing
- Restaurants
- Rafting
- Swimming
- Biking
- Mountain Biking
- Cross Country Skiing
- Downhill/Alpine Skiing
- Sledding/Tubing
- Wildlife Viewing
- Hiking
- Fishing
- Hunting
- Rock Climbing
- Cinemas/Movie Theaters
- Live Theatre
- Museums
- Miniature golf
- Horseback Riding
- Hot Air Ballooning
- Other Activities
- Visiting Indian Pueblos, day-trips to fascinating historical and natural sites,
Rate Details (In US Dollars)
$2000/week /$4600 a month We prefer wire transfers or check
We do take Visa/Maste Card through our Paypal account.
We rent by the week, even if you only stay four days!
We often book out a cleaning day along with the six night seven day rental.
Even though our calendar may look empty this does not mean dates are
available. We often come down for a few days during an opening!
We do not book our calendar until we have a signed contract.
Please do NOT inquire for bookings less than a week.
Note: Until confirmed, rates are subject to change without notice.
Credit Cards Accepted:
Map & Owner's Profile
Year Purchased: 2005
Why the Owner Chose Albuquerque
At the time we purchased our home, one of us (known to friends as Dr. Barista) was traveling regularly for family business in Texas. He often flew into Albuquerque and visited and stayed with friends in Sandia Heights. After a couple of years, although their generosity would have been extended, one time when his friends were out of town, he wandered on his own in the area and found a perfect home. Too perfect not to put an offer on, even though I was in Sedona that week looking for a home that would be near our family on the West Coast. By summer, we had closed. It was bought, without me even seeing it. I loved it the moment I walked in..not the house as much as the space, the views, the mountains. We both, although we have always lived on water, love the Sandia Mountains.
The Unique Benefits at this House
Fantastic views. This last year we build a new porch along the four bedrooms so now we have quite literally views from all directions. Some friends have rented for a month at a time because they are looking to retire in the area.The area is very serene,our neighbors are very private but it's not a gated community, so its very much like a modern day pueblo. Incredible vistas, wonderful hikes, deep quiet. And yet, very close to Santa Fe and city life in Albuquerque. We do host a number of golfers (we like four) and we've had wonderful comments from most of our guests (our only complaint was that our refrigerator opened from the right and they thought it should open from the left)Dr. Griffin's secretary handles our contracts. We don't use the current guestbook because we started with an earlier company which sold to the current company. Someday we will post all the nice comments we have received on our website our favorite was from a young family that wrote "It's our last night in Casa Griffin and we don't want to leave!" and then went on to say they forgot to put out the garbage , oh well, their charming calligraphy note did the trick because thats how we feel,(and I although I have two masters degrees in Education, spent many years as a calligrapher) much as we love our Coop life on Lake Shore Drive life in Chicago and active life at the opera, symphony, theatre and restful weekends in the Indiana Dunes, there is nothing like the high desert and the mountains. We always feel so elated that we are coming home.....and it helps now that there's a Trader Joes and Whole Foods nearby! We have loads of reference books in our little sun room library, maps etc. a do your own concierge what to do and where to go spot and of course guests also add to our stash. It's a really simple city to fly into. We like Southwest, we travel a lot, Galapagos, Turkey, Guatemala and next Bhutan! we find Albuquerque's Sunport airport is one of the easiest.
Owner's Map of Albuquerque
Although we purchased our home as a retirement home, only one of us is actually retired. At the time we purchased our home, it was the perfect Southwest distance
between our two sons and their families, one in St. Louis and one in LA. The Sunport, Albuquerque's airport is an easy airport to get in and out of, in these days of heightened security lines, ease of arrival and departure is welcome. Here we are on a boat, The Fortuna in Turkey. One of us is a sailor. Both of us drink coffee.
Property Photos
- The reason why you need a vacation. - Albuquerque, New Mexico Real Estate
- Our pool is available mid-May through September. - Albuquerque, New Mexico Real Estate
- The mountains and garden are available year round! - Albuquerque, New Mexico Real Estate
- We have a city and a mountain view. Here is the mountain view.
- Our home is perfect for a small group. Four is ideal.
- Sometimes families with kids make it seven!
- In summer and spring look out on the pool or garden.
- The master bedroom and this guest bedroom have queen beds.
- In winter and fall, sitting in front of the fire is fun after a day in Santa Fe!
- Our other two bedroom have twin beds.
- We provide a guest account for you to check your email.
- Check out our many guide books and maps sitting in our sun room!
- Our Back Garden-We Have Four Mountain Views
- We have at least three outdoor spots to have a morning cuppa coffee or tea!
- Feel Free To Feed Our Fish!
- We Recently Added Another Outside Deck To Have A Bowl of Berries!
Vacation Rentals by Owner Listing #52817
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This listing was first published here in 2005.
Date last modified - June 26, 2009