{"nrhp_refnum":"74000282","name":"Luna Jacal","other_names":["Luna Residence","Bbh 168"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"At base of Pena Mountain in Big Bend National Park","address_restricted":false,"city":"Big Bend National Park","county":"Brewster County","state":"TX","lat":29.21547356700006,"lon":-103.53490774999995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-11-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Agriculture","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small rectangular jacal house of stone, mud mortar and pole-and-brush roofing at the base of Pena Mountain in Big Bend National Park, Brewster County, Texas, built in the late 19th century by Gilberto Luna.","why_significant":"It is described as the prime example within the park of the primitive Mexican house-shelter typical of the earliest pioneer settlement. It is also considered a prime example of adaptation to the Big Bend environment. Its builder, Gilberto Luna, was a widely known local figure.","narrative":"Set at the base of Pena Mountain in Big Bend National Park, this small house was built by Gilberto Luna, a pioneer Mexican farmer who settled the Alamo Creek drainage. The rectangular dwelling uses a large flat boulder as one end wall. Its walls are random limestone and sandstone blocks laid in mud mortar, three feet thick at the base and two at the top. Forked poles and ridge poles carry a roof of ocotillo branches, brush, earth and stone ballast, and jacal curtain walls divided the interior over an earthen floor. Luna lived in the area his whole life, raising a large family and farming the dry creek floodplain until his death in 1947 at age 109. The house is regarded as the park's prime example of the primitive Mexican shelter of early pioneer settlement and of adaptation to the local environment. The National Park Service restored it in 1971, though the soil-cement roof was judged an unfaithful repair.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Gilberto Luna (builder)","architectural_style":"Primitive Mexican jacal house-shelter","criteria":[],"status_note":"Restored by the National Park Service in 1971 and in good physical condition, though the soil-cement roof was criticized as not a faithful restoration. Listed as unoccupied and open to the public.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:18.636547-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/79/9713/40971379/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/74000282.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74000282/29df68fc53-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74000282/29df68fc53-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"National Park Service","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Luna_Jacal_TX_NPS.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">National Park Service</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Luna_Jacal_TX_NPS.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40971379","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_Jacal","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6703526"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/brewster-county/luna-jacal-74000282/"}