Painted Desert Inn
W of Navajo in Petrified Forest National Park, Navajo, AZA consistent combination of Pueblo Indian and Mexican-American architectural styles, the Painted Desert Inn possesses handcrafted details and exhibits a skillful sensitive site architectural placement. Constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1937-38, the structure as designed by Architect Lyle Bennett, National Park Service, incorporates parts of an earlier Inn, constructed in 1924.
Architecturally, the primary significant values of this building are the strict consistency of its architectural style, the manner in which it was constructed, and its characteristics as a representative of a regional style of building construction and design. It is also representative of authentic "old-fashioned" handwork construction methods, in both rough and finished work applications. The 27-inch thick walls are of local stone, finished with plaster both inside and out. The elaborate "pueblo-style" ceilings in many rooms are in fact truly structural in addition to being decorative--the beams, corbels, brackets, vigas, and savings do actually support the finished roof. The only portion of the building which deviates is the clerestory unit composed of wood frame, lath, and plaster over the skylight. The building has governmental significance since it was designed by NPS Architect Lyle Bennett, and was constructed under the supervision of NPS Architect Lorimer Skidmore. Labor was provided from local CCC camps. The building was primarily constructed between May 1937 and October 1938 as a totally Federal project. It is a fine example of cooperation between the Park Service and the Civilian Conservation Corps of the time, with the two agencies working tog architectural merit. It is essentially unaltered from the date of completion to the present. There are no buildings of the period in NPS Western or Southwest Region areas that are of the same architectural style and which were constructed by the Park Service for both Government and commercial uses.
The building has secondary significant values for artistic interior design in the combination of original murals painted in 1948 by a well-known Hopi artist, Fred Kaboti, with New Mexican style wood carving on furnishings, stamped tin electrical fixtures, and a painted skylight composed of Pueblo Indian design elements on glass panes. In addition, the building has local historical significance in the development of the Painted Desert addition as it was built to provide visitors to a new area with facilities of high quality and appropriate character.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.