Built 1980 (1980) Added to NRHP April 28, 2000 Height 15 m | NRHP Reference # 97000452 Area 3 ha Architect E. Fay Jones | |
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MPS Arkansas Designs of E. Fay Jones MPS AD Address 12968 US-62, Eureka Springs, AR 72632, USA Similar Mildred B Cooper Memorial, Christ of the Ozarks, Quigley's Castle, Crescent Hotel, Turpentine Creek Wildlife R | ||
Thorncrown chapel adam ford
Thorncrown Chapel is a chapel located in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, designed by E. Fay Jones and constructed in 1980. The design recalls the Prairie School of architecture popularized by Frank Lloyd Wright, with whom Jones had apprenticed. The chapel was commissioned by Jim Reed, a retired schoolteacher.
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Thorncrown was included in Budget Travel's "12 Most Beautiful Churches in America" and Bored Panda's "50 Most Extraordinary Churches Of The World." — and was selected for the 2006 Twenty-five Year Award by the American Institute of Architects as well as receiving its listing in 2000 on the National Register of Historic Places, a status not granted to buildings fewer than fifty years old unless exceptionally significant.
Structure and status
Constructed mostly of wood and other materials indigenous to northwestern Arkansas, the design minimized material transportation costs.They used materials no bigger than what two people could carry. Though it looks like an open-air structure, the chapel is a glass-enclosed, conditioned space. They enlarged the skylight to have a natural ornamentation lighting effect throughout the chapel.
In 2013, the Southwest Power Company (SWEPCO) submitted and subsequently withdrew an application for a certificate of environmental compatibility, granting permission to construct a high voltage transmission line to run adjacent to the chapel.