Grand Canyon Lodge, Frontier Cabin, North Rim, Grand Canyon

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS ARIZ,3-GRACAN,14F-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Grand Canyon Lodge, consisting of the Main Lodge building and Pioneer, Frontier, and Western cabins, is of regional architectural significance in association with, and as an outstanding example of the work of the master American architect, Gilbert Stanley Underwood. It is also, intrinsically, of regional significance as an outstanding example of the "rustic" style of archictecture intended to harmonize buildings with both setting and environment, and as one of the very few major "rustic" hotels in the state of Arizona. i GRAND CANYON LODGE, FRONTIER CABIN HABS No. AZ-135-F (page 2)

Historical Information

Please refer to the written historical information for the Grand Canyon Lodge, Ma in Lodge (HABS No. AZ-13 5-A) for historical background. II. ARCHITECTURAL INFORMATION A. General Statement 1 Architectural Merit and Interest: This cabin reflects the true log cabin of peeled, notched logs and native limestone foundations. 2. Condition of Fabric: Good. B. Description of Exterior 1. Overall Dimensions: This one-bay front, one story cabin is T-shaped in plan and approximately thirteen feet by twenty-seven feet with a T approximately six feet by eleven feet. 2. Foundation: Native Kaibab limestone forming a watertable around the perimeter. There are two decorative cast iron foundation vents on each side.

Wooden piers are located in the center and wooden beams extend from the stone through the center to each side. 3. Wall Construction, Finish, Color: Peeled logs with notched ends, projecting approximately one foot. Joints between logs are chinked with lime and sand mortar on diamond-patterned metal lath. Near the center of one long side, there are projecting logs at the cross partition. The T-shaped addition has half-log siding with mortar chinking as well as the small projection housing the water heater. 4. Structural System, Framing: Load-bearing log walls, with log rafters, ridge pole and tie beams. 5. Porches, Stoops. Bulkheads, etc.: There is a stone stoop at each doorway with stone steps, the number varying with the slope of the land. 6.

Chimneys: There are two metal flues, with metal raincaps, projecting through the roof on the long side of the gable, near each end. I GRAND CANYON LODGE, FRONTIER CABIN HABS No. AZ-135-F (page 3) 7. Openings: a. Doorways and doors: The entrance is in the center on each end of the building. Each doorway has wooden surrounds, wooden threshold and sill and a wooden door, with vertical boards on the exterior and a frame and diagonal brace on the interior. b. Windows and shutters: The principal windows have double, six-light wooden, out-swinging casement sashes, with wooden framed screens on the interior. The exterior sash is painted dark green, with a wooden framed screen on the interior. 8. Roof: a.

Shape, covering: The gable roof, with intersecting gable forming the T, is covered with wooden shingles, and painted dark green. b. Cornice, eaves: The open eaves have log rafter ends exposed. c. Description of Interior 1. Floor Plan: There is an entrance in the center of each end, opening into a bedroom that is the width of the cabin. There is a double window near the center of each wall. A doorway opposite the entrance connects the two bedrooms. There is a bathroom to one side of each bedroom, forming a T-shape, in the center of the cabin. Each bath has a window along the front outside wall and a shower across the end. The bathrooms have flat, lowered ceilings, while the bedrooms have gabled ceilings. 2.

Flooring: Narrow wooden planks, covered with carpet in the bedrooms and sheet vinyl in the bathrooms. 3. Walls and Ceiling Finish: Walls in the bedrooms have exposed, peeled logs with off-white mortar chinking. Ceilings in the bedrooms have exposed log structure with wooden board sheathing, stained dark brown. The walls and ceilings in the bathroom have gypsum board, painted white. There is white ceramic tile on the walls in the metal shower stall. 4. Doorways and Doors: The doorway connecting the two rooms has wooden surrounds and a wooden door with vertical boards on one side and a frame and diagonal I GRAND CANYON LODGE, FRONTIER CABIN HABS No. AZ-135-F (page 4) brace on the other side. There is a wrought iron sliding belt on each door and the hinges are large wrought iron strap hinges.

5. Mechanical Equipment: a. Heating: Columnar, propane space heater in each bedroom. b. Lighting: Modern round fluorescent swag lamps in the bedroom and porcelain wall sockets in the bathrooms. c. Plumbing: Enameled cast-iron, wall-mounted lavatory with oval front; modern china water closet. D. SITE 1. General Setting and Orientation: Each cabin is predominantly oriented in a north-south direction along the horizontal axis. The cabins are relatively close in proximity, on a slope to the west of the main lodge. They are sited among ponderosa pine, oak, and locust trees, with a network of narrow concrete sidewalks, scored randomly, connecting the cabins. There are forty-eight of these cabins and forty-one of the "Pioneer" cabins on this site. Prepared by: John P.

White Project Supervisor June n