{"nrhp_refnum":"78002973","name":"El Paisano Hotel","other_names":["El Paisano Inn"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"N. Highland and W. Texas Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Marfa","county":"Presidio County","state":"TX","lat":30.31324222300003,"lon":-104.02487918399999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-08-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story reinforced concrete hotel at the northwest corner of North Highland and West Texas Streets in Marfa, Presidio County, Texas, designed in 1928 and dedicated in June 1930.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as one of the finest hotels in the Trans-Pecos region of West Texas and a good example of Southwest Revival and Spanish Baroque work by Henry C. Trost's firm. It also notes the hotel's role in Marfa's social and commercial life and its use as the base for the 1955 filming of Giant.","narrative":"Built in Marfa, Texas, El Paisano Hotel is a two-story reinforced concrete building finished in white stucco. Designed in 1928 by the El Paso firm Trost and Trost, with R.E. McKee as contractor, it was dedicated in June 1930. It was built in anticipation of an oil boom that never arrived. The U-shaped plan opens to the south, with a five-arch screen enclosing a courtyard that holds the main entrance. Spanish Baroque details, including a two-story frontispiece doorway, ball finials and cast cartouches, decorate the facades. Inside, the lobby, lounge, dining room, ballroom and coffee shop open off the courtyard. The hotel originally had seventy-two rooms. Its architecture reflects Henry Trost's blending of Prairie School ideas with Southwest regional styles. It stands near the Presidio County Courthouse and became a focal point of local life. In 1955 the cast and crew of the film Giant, including James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson, stayed there. A swimming pool was the only major later addition.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Trost and Trost Architects, El Paso, Texas; R.E. McKee, Contractor, El Paso, Texas","architectural_style":"Spanish Baroque / Southwest Revival detailing (quasi Spanish/Southwest style)","criteria":[],"status_note":"At the time of nomination, the hotel was being converted into condominiums, with restoration and adaptive reuse work under way.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.097343-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/28/9732/40973228/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/78002973.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002973/a09b7851d7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002973/a09b7851d7-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Sundowner59","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Entry_to_El_Paisano_Hotel,_Marfa,_TX.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Sundowner59</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Entry_to_El_Paisano_Hotel,_Marfa,_TX.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973228","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Paisano_Hotel","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5351732"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/presidio-county/el-paisano-hotel-78002973/"}