Wallace Pratt Lodge
In the winter of 1931-1932 Pratt started construction of a house in the canyon, designed by noted Houston architect John F. Staub, who also designed the Pratt's Houston residence. In charge of construction was Vance Phenix, Staub's former employee and residential architect. Vance's brother Dean, a carpenter, and stonemason Adolph May were key craftsmen on the project. The cabin was built of local limestone and heart pine.
The Pratt family spent summers at the cabin, which they called the Stone Cabin, and briefly lived there during Wallace Pratt's early retirement. An earlier experience being trapped at the Stone Cabin during a flood caused Pratt to reconsider its use as a full-time residence, so a second home, the Ship On The Desert, was constructed outside of the canyon. At some time during construction, probably in 1945, The Stone Cabin was used as a residence by the Ship On the Desert's New York architect, Newton Bevin, and his wife Elizabeth.
After moving to Tucson, Arizona, Pratt donated the Stone Cabin, the Ship On the Desert, and surrounding lands of more than 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) to the National Park Service, forming the nucleus of Guadalupe Mountains National Park.
The cabin was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 26, 1975.
See also
- McKittrick Canyon
- Guadalupe Mountains National Park
- Ship On The Desert
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Culberson County, Texas
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ "Pratt Cabin". National Park Service. Retrieved June 16, 2011.
External links
- Pratt Cabin at Guadalupe Mountains National Park
- Historic Structure Report