The Hopi House

The Hopi House, designed by Mary E. J. Colter, is another one of the oldest buildings in the park, in fact, it's the oldest curio shop at the canyon, it opened its doors in 1904. Colter designed the building to resemble the pueblo-type homes of the Hopi Tribe, who live east of the Grand Canyon in their ancestral homes located on top of three mesas. The building still contains a curio shop, and the upper floor has been open to the public since 1995, when the building was renovated and added to the National Register of Historic Places. The upper floor carries museum quality Native American artwork, while the lower floor deals in more traditional Native American arts and crafts. Outside, the Hopi House is totally authentic to its roots in the Hopi Mesa homes, complete with the ladders used to reach each level, the native stone used for construction, and the terraced levels allowing for outdoor living and meal preparation. Interestingly, several Hopi craftspeople worked on the restoration of the building in 1995, which strived to keep the historic integrity of the building intact.