Furnace Creek Visitor Center: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Death Valley National Park, National Park Service

Owens, Erica; Hartzler, Bob; Pavlik, Bradley

The 9-acre Furnace Creek Visitor Center Historic District is located in Death Valley National Park in California. Death Valley is one of the hottest and driest places in North America. The Furnace Creek area is one of the lowest points in North America at almost 200 feet below sea-level. The visitor center was sited within a naturally flat area in the Furnace Creek wash. The land immediately around the visitor center complex is punctuated with a scattering of shrubs and small trees. The Armargosa Range rises sharply to the east with the Funeral Mountains (over 5,000 feet) in clear view from the visitor center. The Panamint Range rises to the west of the visitor center with the tallest peak, Telescope Peak at 11,049 feet high, visible in the distance from the lobby of the Visitor Center. The Furnace Creek Visitor Center is accessed from Highway 190 by a short entrance road that leads visitors immediately into a flat, open, gently curved parking area. The visitor center is comprised of a complex of two separate, yet interconnected buildings organized around rectangular-shaped main courtyard. Visitor services are located with an irregularly shaped building mass, historically called the “Museum,” which features a lobby, interpretive exhibits, and an auditorium. The second building which frames the north end of the courtyard is historically called the Administration Building and contains NPS administrative functions. The design of the complex was completed by Cecil Doty, one of the most prominent NPS architects during the Mission 66 era, and was informed by early to mid-twentieth century modernism. Design features include blurred distinctions between interior and exterior space, strategic use of large expanses of glass, use of mass produced modern building materials left exposed as part of the design aesthetic of the building, flat roofs that extend beyond the building envelope and an emphasis on horizontality. The courtyard exhibits the idiomatic mid-twentieth California modernist landscape design with an emphasis on geometrically patterned hardscape, raised planting beds, and the iconic kidney-shaped pool. The visitor center complex retains its integrity and conveys its historical significance as a planned development that displays the characteristics of Mission 66 era planning, design, and construction. The district has four contributing buildings and structures that date to the period of significance (1959-1960), as well as many landscape characteristics that contribute to the district’s overall setting, feeling, and association. The historic character of the proposed district is reflected in the following landscape characteristics: natural systems and features, spatial organization, buildings and structure, circulation, vegetation, and small-scale features. Non-historic intrusions are located mostly in the northern portion of the complex, which is less visible to visitors. The most noticeable intrusions include a metal storage shed (built in the 1970s), a photovoltaic array (built in 2008), and a new visitor center sign added at the entrance to the visitor center parking lot in 2004. The photovoltaic array was determined to have no adverse effect on the historic district by the California State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) on April 28, 2008. The key characteristics that historically define the visitor center complex remain intact. Together, the landscape characteristics and associated features help convey the design intent and aesthetic character of the district.

Furnace Creek Visitor Center: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Death Valley National Park, National Park Service

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