Perched on the rim of the Painted Desert, this building was first built by Herbert Lore in the early 1920s using petrified wood, the resource most abundant in the area. The double doors were then the main entrance to Lore's Stone Tree House, where guests toured the Painted Desert by car and then came to the inn for rest and refreshment. After the National Park Service purchased the building in 1936, it underwent a major reconstruction carried out by workers of the Civilian Conservation Corps. The building was redesigned in Pueblo Revival style, and the entrance was moved to face the newly completed rim road to the south. Though it no longer has rooms to rent, it remains a friendly landmark for travelers of the Painted Desert.