Painted Desert Inn: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Petrified Forest National Park, National Park Service

Morrow, Reardon & Wilkinson, Ltd.; Mardorf, Carrie

The Painted Desert Inn Historic District, which covers approximately 15 acres, is located within Petrified Forest National Park, just north of Interstate 40 and the Painted Desert Community Complex. The district includes the Painted Desert Inn (Inn), associated courtyards and terraces, parking area, pedestrian paths, the Kachina Point Overlook, two residences and associated parking area, and adjacent landscape features and vegetation. The first structure on the site, the Stone Tree House, was constructed in 1924 by Herbert Lore. In 1936, the National Park Service purchased this structure and incorporated it into the new Painted Desert Inn, retaining the commanding views of the original structure. The new Inn was built with native materials in the NPS Rustic Style that drew inspiration from regional pueblo architectural forms. This reconstruction was part of a larger master plan that included adding a residential complex, administration buildings, a service station and garages, utility structures, warehouses, and maintenance facilities to the south of the Inn. The master plan also realigned the access road. However, only parts of this master plan were implemented, and of these parts, the Painted Desert Inn, the rerouted road with associated parking areas, and two residences remain. Characteristic of NPS New Deal Era projects, development of courtyards, terraces, and pathways also used the Rustic Style, and the design of the surrounding landscape incorporated original vegetation that was augmented with some new plantings. In the mid‑1960s, the Inn closed, and the National Park Service was unsure of what to do with the building. Proposals were put forth to demolish the structure; however, in October 1975, the Painted Desert Inn was nominated to and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, after which it received a designation as a Bicentennial Travel Center and was rehabilitated. The Inn was further rehabilitation in 1987‑1989 and again in 2004‑2005. The Painted Desert Inn Historic District is significant for its association with 20th century trends in tourism and recreation and in its association with NPS Rustic Style architecture and landscape architecture from 1924 to 1949. The Painted Desert Inn Historic District was designed by National Park Service architect Lyle E. Bennett and landscape architect Thomas C. Vint. Constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1937‑1940, the Inn and its associated features retain significance as tangible products and symbols of the work relief programs of the New Deal era. In 1947‑1948, the interior of the Inn was redesigned by Mary Jane Colter, architect of the Fred Harvey Company, and Hopi artist, Fred Kabotie. The period of significance spans from 1924 to 1949. The year 1924 is the construction date of the Stone Tree House by Herbert Lore and 1949 is the end of the initial construction period. Today, historic character is maintained, and integrity to the 1924‑1949 period of significance remains.

Painted Desert Inn: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Petrified Forest National Park, National Park Service

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