Ship on the Dessert - Guadalupe Mountains National Park Pratt Home

Wallace E. Pratt, a geologist and oil man owned 15,000 acres of land that is now Guadalupe Mountains National Park. He and his second wife, a former suffragette, hired architects from New York to follow their sketch and design a home resemble an Oil Tanker. It was built during WWII and was their primary home for the next 15 years. The house has many interesting touches that reflect their personal interests. Usually closed to the public we were treated to a tour as part of the park's 50th anniversary weekend. 

Superintendent Eric Leonard and Ranger Amanda

The Ship on the Dessert

Local stones were carefully selected to show the 
geologic history. These are fossils in the stone from
the days of sea waters on this land. 

The shelves are full of books from Geology Society
which includes some articles Wallace wrote. The table
was once in the cabin he and his first wife built 
and lived in on another part of the property. See
an earlier post for our hike out that way. 

The best views are from the roof. 

Personal touches. Door knocker is a 
geologists hammer and the purple was
one of the colors of the suffragists flag.

Front door.

There was a good 10" of rain over the month
of August so they are projecting even more beautiful
colors as the fall progresses. 

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