by Bryan Gibel
Daily Lobo
After years of trying to find a way to preserve the legacy of a deceased professor, the University finalized a deal to sell the Hibben House on Monday.
The Hibben House, at 3005 Campus Blvd. N.E., was once home to Frank Hibben, an anthropology professor and big game hunter who died in 2002.
"There has been a fair amount of controversy surrounding the Hibben House," said professor Don Duszynski, who helped negotiate the sale. "This is going be a really nice testimony to the Hibben
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legacy."
The house and its collection of about 300 big game animal heads was bought by brothers Dennis and Douglas Lutz for an
undisclosed price.
Duszynski said he could not estimate the value of the 3,000-square-foot property.
Douglas Lutz said he and his brother plan to repair the house and restore it to how Hibben left it.
Douglas Lutz is president of High Desert State Bank in Albuquerque and the Independent Community Banker's Association of New
Mexico.
Dennis Lutz is an alumnus of the UNM School of Medicine.
He is the founder of the Western History Research Center in Minot, N.D., and a professor at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
The money from the sale will go to the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, where much of Hibben's work as a professor is kept,
Duszynski said.
Lutz said the house will be used as an education and research center when the renovation is finished in late 2010.
"This was a fascinating way to keep the house and the heads together in a historical perspective," he said. "We'd like it to be available to school groups, the University and the public."
Hibben was 91 when he died in 2002. He and his first wife, Eleanor, entered into a life-estate agreement in 1986 with the UNM Foundation.
The agreement states that as long as the couple was alive, they could reside in the house.
No such agreement was made with Frank's second wife, Marilyn Hibben. She had to leave the house by June 31, 2005, Marilyn said.
"I've been very worried about it because it is a historical place," she said.
Duszynski said the house hasn't been occupied since Hibben left.
Hibben said her late husband would not have been pleased with the University's decision to sell the house, but Frank would have been happy with the Lutz brothers' plans for it.
"The doctor (Hibben) would have been heartbroken that the University would even think of selling it," she said. "I'm just so thankful that there are people that care to try to preserve what he wanted."
Duszynski said the house is about 90 years old and needs about $300,000 of work before it is ready to be opened to the public.
UNM began trying to sell the house several years ago, but it couldn't find any interested buyers that wanted to preserve its historical value, he said.
He said the University has negotiated with the Lutz brothers since early September.
Duszinsky said the brothers are the perfect buyers for the house, because they are dedicated to Hibben's legacy.
"This will bring closure to any animosity that existed between the Hibben family and the University," he said. "They're doing it out of love for the history of the western United States, and they want to preserve that history."
