House layouts using Tubman, Frank names draw criticism
From the outside, the adobe-style ranch house on the outskirts of Albuquerque, New Mexico, appears to be like any other three-bedroom house. But its designers took inspiration from an unusual source.
In fact, the person for whom the design is named probably never stepped foot in New Mexico at all.
“Just like Harriet Tubman, the icon of American courage and freedom, this home stands out amongst the crowd,” read a listing on Zillow, highlighting the house’s “‘entertainers’ kitchen with a bar top between the kitchen and the great room.”
The listing quickly found itself attracting the scrutiny of Zillow’s social media watchers, who criticized Abrazo Homes, a production homebuilder in Albuquerque, for tastelessly commercializing the revered abolitionist. The company also named a home layout for Anne Frank, who hid from Nazis in an annex in the Netherlands and died in a concentration camp.
The designs appear to have been available for years, but they did not pique interest on social media until a couple of weeks ago.
Experts have said real estate agents are turning to new techniques to drum up business in a cooling housing market.
Yildiray Yildirim, the chair of the real estate department at Baruch College in New York, said he has seen real estate marketing reference celebrity names but not the historical figures used by Abrazo Homes. He described the choice as a “strange” but “creative” way to try to bring in new business.
The 1,500-squarefoot house was listed for $370,475 on Dec. 29, according to the Zillow post, which has since been deleted but is still available on the Wayback Machine.
In a statement to The New York Times, Brian McCarthy, a co-founder of Abrazo Homes, said the company decided to name floor plans in honor of influential women when it was founded 14 years ago to “acknowledge their place in history.”
“We recognize that the language used in the plan description is insufficient and understand how it might come across as insensitive and lacking awareness,” McCarthy said. “It’s unfortunate that this oversight has diminished our sincere efforts to pay homage to some of the most remarkable women in history.”
He said the Abrazo Homes marketing materials had been updated to “more accurately communicate our intent to honor these women.”
The company offered multiple designs that were named for famous women: Audrey Hepburn, Coco Chanel, Amelia Earhart, Margaret Thatcher, Frida Kahlo and architect Zaha Hadid, among others.
The Anne Frank design could be customized into a three- or four-bedroom house.
“In her diary, Anne Frank discussed her view of the seasonally changing tree,” read a description of the design on the Abrazo Homes website. “In honor of her, we have designed our Anne plan to maximize the view we feel would be suitable for Anne herself.”
The page appeared to have been recently edited to remove references to Anne Frank.
Eric Lewin, a real estate agent in the Albuquerque area, said the local housing trends followed similar patterns across the United States over the past few years.
“People got used to being able to sell a house the first weekend it showed,” he said. “Now it takes between 25 and 30 days on average.”
Lewin said there is strong demand for three-bedroom, two-bathroom houses in the area as well as a large demand for lower-income housing.
“We’re just not seeing them be built,” he said. “The average income of Albuquerque can’t afford the average price of homes.”
According to a recent report by the National Association of Realtors, the median home price in Albuquerque is around $339,500. The median household income in 2022 was $61,503, according to the Census Bureau.