Work Continues On Historic Hans Bethe House

A gardener works on the grounds of the Hans Bethe House Wednesday at 1350 Bathtub Row in preparation for new landscaping. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

By Friday the grounds of the Hans Bethe House on Bathtub Row are cleared, leveled and ready for landscaping. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

Staff Report

Work contiues on the historic home at 1350 Bathtub Row, including exterior clean up and landscaping. 

Manhattan Project artifacts collectors Clay and Dorothy Perkins turned over the deed of the home to the Los Alamos Historical Society in December. Historical Society President Ron Wilkins accepted the deed on behalf of the organization.

Originally built in 1931 for the business manager of the Los Alamos Ranch School, the house served as home to two Nobel Prize winners, Edwin McMillan (transuranic chemistry) and Bethe (astrophysics). Because of Bethe’s long connection to Los Alamos and leading role in the Manahttan Project and beyond, the Society is calling the house the Hans Bethe House. It is next door to the wartime home of Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, which the Society owns in a life trust.

Always with the intention of donating it, the Perkins purchased the flood-damaged house in 2013 and put in $130,000 worth of repairs and gave $100,000 for exhibits. The Perkins, of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., were good friends with Harold Agnew, third director of Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (now Los Alamos National Laboratory). The historic home will be used as a museum that tells the stories of Los Alamos after World War II and will include the Harold Agnew Cold War Gallery.

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