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Pueblo Revival architecture

Architectural movement

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
4 min read
Source updated August 10, 2026
Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

The Pueblo Revival style or Santa Fe style is a regional architectural style of the Southwestern United States, which draws its inspiration from Santa Fe de Nuevo México's traditional Pueblo architecture, the Spanish missions, and Territorial Style. The style developed at the beginning of the 20th century and reached its greatest popularity in the 1920s and 1930s, though it is still commonly used for new buildings. Pueblo traditional architecture is most prevalent in the state of New Mexico; it is often blended with Territorial Revival architecture.

01Features

Pueblo Revival architecture imitates the appearance of traditional adobe Pueblo architecture, though other materials such as brick or concrete are often substituted. If adobe is not used, rounded corners, irregular parapets, and thick, battered walls are used to simulate it. Walls are usually stuccoed and painted in earth tones. Multistory buildings usually employ stepped massing similar to that seen at Taos Pueblo. Roofs are always flat. Common features of the Pueblo Revival style include projecting wooden roof beams or vigas, which sometimes serve no structural purpose, "corbels", curved, often stylized, beam supports and latillas, which are peeled branches or strips of wood laid across the tops of vigas to create a foundation (usually supporting dirt or clay) for a roof.

Painted Desert Inn, a National Historic Landmark in Arizona
Painted Desert Inn, a National Historic Landmark in Arizona
Pueblo Revival corbel, hand-carved from ponderosa pine, at the Bandelier National Monument Visitor Center
Pueblo Revival corbel, hand-carved from ponderosa pine, at the Bandelier National Monument Visitor Center

02History

The regional architecture from which the Pueblo style draws its inspiration is primarily found in New Mexico and Arizona, but also Colorado. Although the revival movement is most closely associated with the state of New Mexico, many early examples were built in other western states. In the 1890s, architect A. C. Schweinfurth incorporated Pueblo features into a number of his buildings in California. Mary Colter's Hopi House (1904) in Grand Canyon National Park drew heavily on the Pueblo style. In 1908, architect Isaac Rapp used the San Estevan Del Rey Mission Church as a template for his Colorado Supply Company warehouse in Morley, Colorado.

The Pueblo Revival style made its first appearance in New Mexico at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, where UNM president William G. Tight adopted the style for a number of building projects during his tenure. The best known of these was the 1908 remodeling of Hodgin Hall, which survives as well as the slightly earlier Estufa, both designed by architect Edward Buxton Cristy under Tight's supervision. Other pioneering buildings that no longer exist were a heating plant and two of the university's dormitories, Hokona Hall and Kwataka Hall, also designed by Cristy and built in 1906. Nearly all subsequent university buildings have also employed the Pueblo style, albeit in increasingly loose interpretations.

The other stronghold of Pueblo-style architecture is Santa Fe, where it was popularized in the 1920s and 1930s by a group of artists and architects seeking to establish a unique regional identity. In 1957, a committee led by John Gaw Meem drafted Santa Fe "H" Historical District Regulations Ordinance No. 1957-18, commonly known as the Historical Zoning Ordinance. This ordinance mandated the use of the "Old Santa Fe Style," which encompassed "so-called Pueblo, Pueblo-Spanish or Spanish-Indian and Territorial styles," on all new buildings in central Santa Fe. This ordinance remains in effect, meaning the Pueblo style continues to predominate.

Pueblo-style houses are still frequently constructed in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and elsewhere. Updated versions of the style have also been used for newer commercial and public buildings such as the Albuquerque International Sunport terminal (1966) and the newer UNM buildings.

detail of adobe architecture, La Fonda, Santa Fe, NM
detail of adobe architecture, La Fonda, Santa Fe, NM

03Notable buildings

View of the La Fonda hotel from the southwest, built in 1922 and remodeled in 1929
View of the La Fonda hotel from the southwest, built in 1922 and remodeled in 1929
Watch videos about Pueblo Revival architectureExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Pueblo Revival architecture”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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Related topics

Mission Revival architecture

The Mission Revival style was part of an architectural movement, beginning in the late 19th century, for the revival and reinterpretation of American colonial styles. Mission Revival drew inspiration from the late 18th and early 19th century Spanish missions in California.

Spanish Colonial Revival architecture

Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, also known simply as Spanish Revival, or labelled as Mediterranean Revival, is a term used to encompass a number of revivalist architectural styles based in both Spanish colonial architecture and Spanish architecture in general. These styles flourished throughout the Americas, especially in former Spanish colonies, from California to Argentina.

Territorial Revival architecture

Territorial Revival architecture describes the style of architecture developed in the U.S. state of New Mexico in the 1930s. It derived from New Mexico vernacular Territorial Style, an original style from Santa Fe de Nuevo México following the founding of Albuquerque in 1706.