Architecture of Henry Trost and UTEP

If you're interested in architecture, you won't want to miss the program at UTEP on Saturday, January 18th, at 1pm.

Join Dr. Max Grossman for a richly illustrated 45-minute presentation followed by a half-hour tour of the four oldest buildings on the UTEP campus. This event will focus on the role of the iconic architect Henry C. Trost, the foundation and early development of Texas School of Mines and Metallurgy, and the introduction of the Bhutnese style to campus.

For more information on this event, see the full listing on our Texas Mountain Trail calendar, here.

Join Dr. Max Grossman for a richly illustrated 45-minute presentation followed by a half-hour tour of the four oldest buildings on the UTEP campus. This event will focus on the role of the iconic architect Henry C. Trost, the foundation and early development of Texas School of Mines and Metallurgy, and the introduction of the Bhutnese style to campus.

- See more at: http://texasmountaintrail.com/events/el-paso-texas-trost-society-tom-lea-institute-invitation#sthash.P8vG9V1p.dpuf

13th Annual Terlingua Home Tour!

Looking for something truly unique to do on Sunday, January 26th?  Take in all the creativity and resourcefulness exhibited by the 13th Annual Terlingua Home Tour! 


If you attended last year, you'll get an update and see the progress on the home pictured here!  Thomas and Carmen Drinkard's earthbag home will again be on the tour this year.  They are pictured in front with their children Carla and Michael. This home was featured in the 2012 tour in its early construction stage. This is a wonderful opportunity for those who saw the home in its beginning stages to see the completed structure and will be interesting for all home tour guests to explore this alternative and affordable construction technique.

The tour will run twice during the afternoon, with the first tour from noon to 3 pm and the second from 3-6 pm. Both tours depart from and return to the porch in front of the Terlingua Trading Company. Transportation to and from the homes on the tour is generously provided by local outfitting companies. Each tour concludes with a light wine and hors d'oeuvres reception at Espresso y Poco Mas, which is directly across the parking lot from the Terlingua Trading Company. Tickets are $30 per person. Cash and checks only. Space is limited so reservations are required. Guests may opt to drive personal vehicles but are required to caravan with the outfitting companies. High clearance vehicles are suggested as the homes are located on rough roads.

Participants are asked to arrive at least 15 minutes before the scheduled departure and to bring their own water as none is available on the tour. It's also suggested to dress in layers or bring a jacket as our desert weather changes often and quickly. Some walking on rough terrain is required so practical shoes are recommended. As we will be visiting private homes, handicap access is not available.

For reservations or more information, call Big Bend Library at 432-371-2639 or in the evening 432-371-2399.

The tour is sponsored by Last MinuteLow Budget Productions, a 501(c)3 organization dedicated to supporting the performing arts in South Brewster County through community productions and educational opportunities.

The tour is listed on our Texas Mountain Trail events calendar...check there often for other fun things to do in Far West Texas!

For Chinati Weekend: World Monuments Fund Names Chinati Foundation to 2014 Watch List

This is one of the times Marfa fills with art lovers; today begins Chinati Weekend with special programs and exhibitions around town, some free to the public.  The full schedule, provided by the Chinati Foundation is here.

Of note is the recent news that the World Monuments Fund named the Chinati Foundation to their 2014 Watch List.  (Click here to read the entire list.) From the Chinati website:

"World Monuments Fund is the leading independent organization devoted to saving the world's treasured places.  For nearly fifty years, in one hundred countries, the World Monuments Fund has worked to preserve the world's architectural and cultural heritage represented by great buildings and sites that define a particular period of artistic expression or that symbolize a cultural era."

"The 2014 Watch features sixty-seven sites in forty-one countries and territories on five continents.  The Chinati Foundation is only one of six sites chosen in the United States."

"The 2014 WATCH press release, issued by World Monuments Fund on October 8, 2013, states," A recurring theme of the Watch has been the need to recognize the importance and special issues of the architecture of the recent past."

"Saving modern heritage sites begins with recognition of their significance, and also requires an innovative approach to conservation work, dealing with materials that were unconventional and innovative themselves at themselves at the time of the buildings' construction."

"The international attention provided by this designation will help Chinati expand awareness of the museum that Donald Judd established in Marfa, Texas.  It provides a vital tool to galvanize support from a variety of sources, including national and regional governments, foundations, corporate sponsors, and private donors.  We look forward to updating you as we work in concert with the World Monuments Fund to preserve The Chinati Foundation for future generations."

New Word on the "Tiffany" Dome

Dome in El Paso's historic
El Camino Real hotel
Photo: THC

For some time, the stained glass dome in El Paso's historic El Camino Real hotel has been a "go to" site for visitors and residents of the city.  It graces the bar of the hotel beautifully.  Long called a "Tiffany" dome, there's been some speculation about its origin. 

Our Texas Mountain Trail board members from El Paso are dilgent in supporting the city's history, and knowing rumor and and they're terrific champions of the truth.  Turns out the "Tiffany" dome is really a Tiffany-style dome.

Thanks to TMT Board President Emeritus, Bernie Sargent, and Prince McKenzie of the Railroad and Transportation Museum of El Paso for scouting out the truth.  From Prince McKenzie:

"My mentor Dr. Clarke Garnsey, Prof. Emeritus, Art Dept. TWC/UTEP, was retained by Franklin Land to evaluate the dome, as they began the building restoration of the hotel. Having been trained at the Cleveland Art Institute, he knew what I D marks to look for and where, and he believed the dome to be designed by a Chicago studio and positively not Tiffany.

Later as a Curator at the Art Museum, I studied the various stained glass windows of the W. H. Turney Home and identified all the makers except one. I identified windows designed by Trost, and even had one restored. The big problem for me was the great Palladian stained glass window on the grand staircase of the Turney Home. I believed it to be the same maker as the dome of the Paso del Norte because of three factors; same period, same quality and same architect.

Now I believe you have found the answer. Garnsey told Franklin Land not to describe it as a Tiffany but stated that it was of equal quality. After the building was sold the new owners could not resist making the Tiffany claim in their advertising."

Riding to McGuirk's Dream, Part 2

Mountain bikers were greeted
by TPWD's Linda Hedges
who interpreted the site

Yesterday, we started our report on our ride to the Contrabando Canyon's rock house ruin, the former home of H.W. McGuirk in the late 1890s.  We were there on a ride at the Chihuahuan Desert Bike Fest, a cooperative effort of TPWD, Big Bend Ranch State Park, Desert Sports, Big Bend Trails Alliance and many other dedicated volunteers.

We took one of the easier rides, an 11+ mile trek to the rock house.  When we arrived, TWPD's Linda Hedges told us all about the ruin, and guided us through an illuminating look at the site. 

Continuing our information from TPWD:

"The roof was constructed with wood timber framing (vigas of cottonwood) as rafters gathered on site, an ddesigned with a shallow pitech to shed water towards the canyon below.  Both the original section and the addition of small fireplaces for cooking, with very nicely constructed chimneys indicating that the work was undertaken by experienced craftsmen.

 

The rock house ruin's many rooms
shown here

 

Remnants of a corral in the foreground

Immediately adjacent to the residence is a series of small, ribbon-like stone fence enclosures, no more than 3 feet high, that were likely used to protect small livestock.

 

 

 

Riding to McGuirk's Dream, Part 1

TPWD's (and TMT board member) Linda Hedges
leads an interpretive hike to Casa Contrabando
during the Chihuahuan Desert Bike Fest

Recently, we participated in the Chihuahuan Desert Bike Fest down in Lajitas and Big Bend Ranch State Park.  We took the Festival's Contrabando Ride, 11+ miles in the state park, led by volunteers and knowledgable TPWD interpreters.  We headed north from Barton Warnock Environmental Education Center on Hwy 170, the River Road, up single and double-track trails into Big Bend Ranch State Park.  Halfway through our ride, we ended up at Contrabando Water Hole and the ruins of H.W. McGuirk's stone house from the late 1890s.

From TPWD:

"H.W. McGuirk began ranching in the area around 1885.  He expanded operations and moved his headquarters here to Contrabando Waterhole about 12 years later.   But water contamination in the spring, possibly poisoning, soon forced him to abandon this site and move to the Rio Grande, where he founded the community of Lajitas.



fireplace in the stone house ruin

Begun sometime during the late 1890s, the dwelling at Contrabando Waterhole began as a "patio"--a cleared area enclosed by a short, stacked stone wall.  The building was constructed within these defining perimeter walls, and consisted of 4 rooms built over the course of at least two building campaigns.  Both the original dwelling and the attached addition emply the same mazonry wall construction techniques, utilizing locally-collected native Boquillas flagstone in a random-laid patter, with a minimum of earth mortar used to stabilize the walls. 

 

There is evidence that, as the structure fell to ruin, efforts were made to reconstruct some of the walls using smaller rocks, tightly packed.  Though very little of the wood framing remains, one can see the location of the window and door openings."  

 

We loved visiting the Stone House ruin
on the Contrabando ride during the
Chihuhuan Desert Bike Fest.
Thanks to all, including Stonewear
Designs, for your rugged Echo Top!

Our BIG BIG thanks to all involved putting on the Festival, from TPWD and its staff from Big Bend Ranch State Park, Barton Warnock Environmental Education Center, and from across the state, Desert Sports, Big Bend Trail Alliance and many other dedicated volunteers and willing organizations.

 

 

Exploring the history of Big Bend National Park

All over Big Bend National Park, visitors can see remnants of early life in the area.  Our photo today comes from Lee Towns, the Director of our partner organization along the Gulf Coast, the Texas Independence Trail.  Taking a trip to Houston or the communities in that region?  Consult them!
But even city-dwellers like folks from Houston head to our region to experience the frontier. 

Big Bend National Park's website says this about the historical settlement of the area:

"Ranches, villages, trading posts and cavalry camps all existed in the Big Bend in the century prior to the park's establishment. A number of historic districts within the park protect the tangible evidence of human history in this region; elsewhere solitary ruins, graves or camps mark the spots where history was made."   Read more here.

Adobe Alliance

Images above: The Swan Home near Presidio and the entrance to Big Bend Ranch State Park

There's an interesting organization in our region dedicated to adobe and earth architecture.  The home shown in the photos is located near the entrance to Big Bend Ranch State Park, near Presidio.

The Adobe Alliance is a non-profit group dedicated to:

• helping communities apply cooperative building techniques in earth architecture;
• educate groups in fulfilling the widespread need for low cost, salubrious, energy efficient, sustainable housing; 
• enhance rather than defile landscapes by designing solid contemporary structures of simple design which respect local climate, environment and culture.

 

Means to reach these goals include:

• the use of local renewable, recycled resources and building materials to considerably reduce cost and environmental impact, avoiding the use of industrial materials;
• providing roofs in the configuration of adobe vaults and domes, a unique yet ancient design feature which eliminates the use of wood, an increasingly scarce natural resource;
• designs which harness natural energy for heating and cooling . Adobe walls retain heat in the winter and stay cool in the summer, eliminating the cost of mechanical heating and cooling systems;
• a system to meet local housing needs using indigenous skills, thereby providing a source of employment and simultaneously incorporating, preserving and enhancing local architectural heritage.
• an appropriate building technique for chemically sensitive individuals, using only materials that are totally non-toxic. 

 Read more about this organization, programs and workshops here. 

The Adobe Alliance is a Texas based tax-exempt 501(c)3 corporation.