Zylpha H. Sullivan, 6129 Sierra Valle

Most of you know Mother's house at 6129 Sierra Valle Lane in El Paso, and know what pride she took in it. Perhaps more than anywhere else she lived, it reflected her personality and her philosophy, from the mailbox that looked toward the thunderbird on the mountainside to the mulberry tree in the backyard. We hope you enjoy this tour of it.

View from the mailbox. If you look carefully, you can see the red thunderbird at the left center of the mountain.

The sun shines more than 300 days a year in El Paso. It was bright enough here to wash out the color of almost everything except the lantana in the front flowerbed.

This is a somewhat better view of her rock "river" and the stone wall she had built to shield the recycling and garbage bins. Of course, inside the garage was the pewter Camaro she bought in 2001.

It only takes a little imagination to hear the coyote bay at the moon or watch the roadrunner hunting for "critters" in the rock river.

The view from her doorway is lush by western standards.

And the view inside is too (though I didn't realize how out of focus this picture was until now).

Kitchen overview

She surrounded herself with objects she treasured. The doll was a gift from her friend Ann Maresca and the small paintings are from 2008 N. Kansas.

The picture on the left was a gift from Hap Clower in Wichita Falls and hung in our house on the farm. When Andy and I got her the table and black chairs just before Christmas, she said, "What'll I do now that I've got the house exactly the way I want it?"

The marble-based dining room table was her first purchase for 6129. The Indian themed prints and artifacts refelect not only her love of the southwest but her own part-Cherokee background.

Even the traditional dining room cabinet from Kansas Street takes a native twist under this western panorama.

If you want more information about these photos or anything within them, contact me at sonhanwein(dot)6193(at)gmail(dot)com or by phone at 508-282-0590 or 508-529-4084.

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