Triplex Dwellings – Carlsbad National Park NM

Description

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed two triplex residences: NPS Building 25 and Building 28, in what is now known as the Carlsbad Caverns National Park Historic District.

National Register of Historic Places nomination form, 1988:

Multiple Dwelling Unit #1: NPS Bldg #25 A, B & C.
Multiple Dwelling Unit #2, NPS Bldg #28 A, B & C.

Two employee residence triplexes; site design by J.C. Miller in 1940; architectural design by Ken Saunders in 1940; design revisions by Lyle E. Bennett in 1942; patio and walk design by Harvey Cornell in 1941; all of NPS Regional Office in Santa Fe, New Mexico; built 1940-1942 by CCC workers; occupied as employee residences.

New Mexican Territorial Revival Style; beige-colored stuccoed adobe; one-story; two adjacent buildings, each consisting of 3 adjoining dwelling units, with each unit containing 3 to 4 rooms plus kitchen and bath, and 3 attached garages. The ground plans of the buildings are in reverse of each other and consist of irregular rectangles with projecting wings. Together, the two buildings stretch for about 275 feet across the top of the hillside. The buildings are terraced into the hillside, with concrete foundations. The original asphalt and asbestos roofs were recently covered with urethane foam. The roofs are parapeted, and the parapets of Building #28 have concrete cornice copings.

The wooden windows are double-hung with 6/6 and 4/4 lites in the sashes. Some of the windows retain original wooden Territorial Style pedimented mouldings. Although some window mouldings have been removed from the buildings, the original drawings show that not all windows and doors were designed to have mouldings. Five portals are recessed in the angles of each building, fronting one or both sides of the livingrooms. Box columns, some retaining their original Doric caps, support the parapeted entablatures of the portals. Vigas support the portal ceilings which are composed of tongue-end-groove planks. Wooden canales lined with tin drain the roofs of the portals and buildings. Several brick chimneys rise from the roofs.

Some of the entrance doors retain their pedimented lintels. The wooden doors are original and are composed of 6 moulded panels. Aluminum screen doors have recently been placed in front of the wooden doors. Some original decorative iron light fixtures remain in the portals, the facades facing the downward slope of the hillside were originally fronted by low stuccoed walls that enclosed three yard areas. These walls have been removed. The attached garages that face the service road contain metal pull-down doors that are replacements for the original wooden doors.

Interior refinements include exposed vigas and herringbone pattern planks in the ceilings of the livingrooms, decorative iron light fixtures, and panelled doors. The interior walls are covered with plaster over metal lath, the floors are of wood laid on joists. The buildings are in good condition.