The Hotel Franciscan was only 19 years old when John Collier took his photograph. It showed up in the June 1924 edition of Architect and Engineer magazine. The description of the interior colors, one fading into another, sounds beautiful. Only a couple of photos -- the lobby and a dining area. The skylights give it an Art Deco feel (appropriate for the early 1920s). Very nice.

I'd love to see this recreated in a more open setting. It would make a heck of a resort hotel.

And reflective of the native environment. I love it. Shame that it didn't stand the test of time, or preferences. It just screams adobe and wood when in actuality it's probably concrete and steel.

Central Avenue in ABQ was and is part of a famous highway. The sign offering Liquors, Coffee Shop, Drugs stood out to me. As one of my long deceased family members would have said, "Pull over. I'm checking in."

World War II Paul Bunyan anti-aircraft gun on display.

The Franciscan hotel bore a remarkable resemblance to La Fonda on the Plaza in Santa Fe, pictured below. Built at the same time with different ownership and architects (Henry Trost for the Franciscan, Isaac Rapp for La Fonda), they are prime examples of the Pueblo Revival style, sometimes called Old Santa Fe style. (A 1957 ordinance actually mandates that all new buildings in central Santa Fe be in this style.) The Franciscan closed in 1970 and was demolished eighteen months later; La Fonda is open and very popular.

If Albert Speer grew up in the Pueblo culture instead of Germany this might have been the result. Cool building, unfortunately demolished in the 1970s.