National Park Service Southwest Regional Office in Santa Fe, New Mexico

The National Park Service Southwest Regional Office Building, (now known as Region III Headquarters Building), provides support services for Park Service properties throughout the intermountain region of the American Southwest. The office is located, on the south side of Old Santa Fe Trail at its junction with Camino del Montel Sol, and just north of Santa Fe's major museum district.

The building, built in the 1930s by crews of the Civilian Conservation Corps with funding from the Works Progress Administration is a traditional adobe building.  Designed in 1937 by Park Service architect Cecil Doty, it is a great example of Spanish Pueblo Revival architecture and was itself designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987.  The building, measures out at 24,000 square feet (2,200 m2) making it the largest known adobe office building in existence.  It is designed to emulate a traditional mission compound, with a central patio, walls built out of adobe and finished in cement stucco, and flagstone floors in the main lobby space.

Walking into the building gives one the impression of being transported to a converted Spanish mission building, despite the fact that it’s a modern reproduction.  Inside the main area are cabinets with museum-like displays of local artifacts as well as paintings and plaques denoting key individuals in the area’s history.  The central patio includes a circular fountain surrounded by area-appropriate architectural elements and plantings that combine to give the courtyard a historic feeling.  Walking around, one can almost expect to see brown-cloaked monks walking the grounds tending to their business.  The Santa Fe skies combine with the open space to give the entire courtyard a timeless, yet period specific feeling that is hard to describe or emulate.