Building One

The oldest working building at the South Rim began as the park's front office. Designed in 1921 by Daniel Ray Hull, a landscape engineer for the young National Park Service, it paired a Kaibab-limestone ground floor with a frame upper story in the rustic style the Service was inventing for its parks. A decade later, architect Thomas Chalmers Vint enlarged it into the superintendent's residence. Its low stone lines helped set the template for how national parks would build to blend with their surroundings rather than stand out against them.

What the plaque says

Building One. The Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent's Residence is a National Park Service Rustic style building. It was designed in 1921 by Daniel Ray Hull, Chief Landscape Engineer for the National Park Service Branch of Plans and Designs, as the park's first headquarters building. The visitor information room was partially financed by a donation from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle newspaper. The building was altered in 1931 by Thomas Chalmers Vint, Chief Landscape Architect for the National Park Service to be the park superintendent's residence. In 1983 the interior was remodeled to serve as an office annex for the Fred Harvey Company, now Xanterra. Description , As originally built, the structure was a relatively small two-story, L-shaped administrative building with a native Kaibab limestone first floor and a frame second floor. At that time the building was known as "First Administration Building". When it was converted to a residence in 1931, the size was doubled, but it retains its original design vocabulary. The main living quarters were on the upper level, with eight rooms including the living room, dining room, kitchen, bedrooms and bathrooms. Stone fireplaces still exist in the dining and living rooms, which now serve as administrative offices. The main entrance is a porch off the living room. The downstairs features a family room with another stone fireplace, formerly the visitor information office. The remainder of the lower level is occupied by a variety of rooms and winding corridors that connect to a two-car garage, now the Lost and Found office for Xanterra. In April 1932 a stone wall and wrought iron gate were erected in front of the building. Historic Designation , The Superintendent's Residence was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 6, 1974. It is a major contributing component to the Grand Canyon Village Historic District, a National Historic Landmark District.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Grand Canyon (South Rim) — 0.4 mi
  A mile down through two billion years — and eleven nations' ground

More markers nearby

• Grand Canyon Depot — steps away
• Verkamp's Curios Store — steps away
• Grand Canyon Village — steps away
• El Tovar Hotel — steps away