7/2/13

Grand Canyon?


On the back of the image it says "Grand Canyon." That's it. Nothing else. Perhaps someone can expound on the building this fellow is standing in front of. Ruins or building still in use? I have not been able to find it online or any of my books. Considering there is glass in some windows I'm leaning towards "still in use."


Click on image to see it larger.

UPDATE:
Reader Intense Guy has nailed it. It's the Hopi House gift shop.















I've found a bit more information about this building. It was designed by Mary Jane Colter who worked for Fred Harvey for 40 years. She began her work with the company in 1902 when she was hired to decorate the Alvarado Hotel and Indian Museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico. (Check the post that follows this one to see the building.) The following is specifically about the building above, the Hopi House.
One of her first projects was Hopi House, a hotel at the Grand Canyon, where she based her design on a pueblo structure.


She tried to make her building authentic by hiring Hopi Indians and learning about Hopi culture. (SOURCE: The Wild West)
You can read about her life here. She sounds like a fascinating woman who should be remembered. A biography was released in 2002 by the Princeton Architectural Press. Here is the blurb from the Library Journal.
Fame is coming belatedly to American architect and designer Mary Colter (1869-1958), and this illustrated volume is the most detailed study of her career to date. If her name is not well known, her work certainly is. Colter was an employee of the Harvey Company from 1910 to 1948, and her main task was the design and decoration of Harvey hotels and restaurants along the Santa Fe Railway. A versatile designer who integrated authentic regional elements into strong themes, Colter was responsible for famous hotels such as El Navajo in Gallup, NM; La Posada in Winslow, AZ; and Painted Desert Inn in Painted Desert, AZ. Her rustic-styled buildings at the Grand Canyon, including the Hopi House, Bright Angel Lodge, and others, influenced National Park Service development, and the style became known as National Park Service Rustic. This sympathetic and well-documented book by Berke, an editor at Preservation magazine who also writes on historic architecture, includes new photographs. The final chapter describes the fates of many Colter buildings, including the restoration of some survivors. Recommended for regional public and academic libraries. —David R. Conn, Surrey P.L., BC

1 comment:

  1. Looks like an Indian (Native American) blanket to the right.

    This looks like the "Hopi House" gift shop to me.

    http://www.thetrain.com/grand-canyon/sight/

    ReplyDelete