Painted Desert Inn

This inn was built on ground that refuses to stay still. Herbert David Lore’s petrified-wood Stone Tree House was welcoming travelers by the early 1920s with meals, crafts, a taproom, six tiny rooms, and motor tours into the Painted Desert. Electricity came from a small plant and water was hauled ten miles, but the harder problem was below: swelling bentonite clay began shifting the foundation almost immediately.The National Park Service bought the property in 1936. Architect Lyle Bennett and Civilian Conservation Corps crews recast it in Pueblo Revival form with thick earth-toned walls, ponderosa and aspen roof timbers, punched-tin lights, and hand-finished details. Mary Colter later opened the walls to the view, while Hopi artist Fred Kabotie painted the dining and lunch rooms with scenes of Hopi life. Route 66 travelers returned here for Fred Harvey hospitality after World War II.The clay kept moving. Structural damage closed the inn in 1963, and demolition was scheduled before public pressure saved it in 1975; preservation ultimately carried it to National Historic Landmark status. Today this is a museum and visitor center, not a hotel. The current official schedule is 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. daily within park hours, with Thanksgiving and Christmas closures; recheck park alerts before driving in. Park admission applies, and the murals, furnishings, closed areas, trails, and desert all deserve museum-level care. More

This inn was built on ground that refuses to stay still. Herbert David Lore’s petrified-wood Stone Tree House was welcoming travelers by the early 1920s with meals, crafts, a taproom, six tiny rooms, and motor tours into the Painted Desert. Electricity came from a small plant and water was hauled ten miles, but the harder problem was below: swelling bentonite clay began shifting the foundation almost immediately.The National Park Service bought the property in 1936. Architect Lyle Bennett and Civilian Conservation Corps crews recast it in Pueblo Revival form with thick earth-toned walls, ponderosa and aspen roof timbers, punched-tin lights, and hand-finished details. Mary Colter later opened the walls to the view, while Hopi artist Fred Kabotie painted the dining and lunch rooms with scenes of Hopi life. Route 66 travelers returned here for Fred Harvey hospitality after World War II.The clay kept moving. Structural damage closed the inn in 1963, and demolition was scheduled before public pressure saved it in 1975; preservation ultimately carried it to National Historic Landmark status. Today this is a museum and visitor center, not a hotel. The current official schedule is 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. daily within park hours, with Thanksgiving and Christmas closures; recheck park alerts before driving in. Park admission applies, and the murals, furnishings, closed areas, trails, and desert all deserve museum-level care. More