HOPI HOUSE Celebrating 100 Years
by Christine Barnes

"Hopi House stands today as one of the signature structures that define Grand Canyon National Park architecture."
Christine Barnes, Author & Architectural Historian

HOPI HOUSE, Celebrating 100 Years presents the inspired work of a remarkable designer and architect, Mary Colter. Captivated by the Pueblo structures of the Southwest, and their harmony with the environment, she created Hopi House for the Santa Fe Railway and Fred Harvey Company. Hopi House opened in January 1905 within a few weeks of the grand opening, across the courtyard, of El Tovar Hotel.

The "curio" shop and museum was the first structure Colter designed in what became a landmark body of work. This book includes all of Colter's Grand Canyon buildings along with the history of the collecting of Native American arts and the interpretation of the Southwestern Indians by American artists.

From that first day, Hopi House was the home for magnificent art, and the native artisans of the Southwest. intricate Navajo rugs, beautiful woven baskets, superbly designed pottery, ceremonial costumes, masks and striking kachina dolls fill the building. In the courtyard, on the rooftop landings, and beside a piki oven were Indians from nearby pueblos creating these treasures.

The Hopi House experience delighted Santa Fe Railway travelers of the era, and continues to do so today. Hopi House is a National Historic Landmark.