San Marcos in the Desert, 1929

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Dr. Chandler and Frank Lloyd Wright aspired to build a grand resort hotel in the unspoiled desert just west of Chandler

The monumental San Marcos in the Desert was to be a premier resort in the unspoiled desert, surpassing the Arizona Biltmore. Planned for the South Mountain foothills in present day Ahwatukee, the hotel was the epitome of Wright’s organic architecture. It was designed to nestle into the mountainside, with three terraced floors of guest rooms offering beautiful vistas of the unspoiled desert. Guests arrived underneath the hotel, following a ravine that was hidden from view.

Wright designed the building to be made from concrete structural blocks, with glass blocks for windows. Guest suites included two bedrooms and two bathrooms. Every bedroom was to be adorned with a large tapestry woven in a pattern to match the architecture. Rooms featured a large fireplace on the western wall. The dining room ceiling was to be decorated in copper with terraced levels made to look like an arbor. Skylights provided natural light throughout the hotel. Wright believed the geometric design of the building encouraged guests to focus on the desert outside, while creating unique interior spaces. Despite finished plans for the San Marcos in the Desert, the stock market crash in October of 1929 forever doomed financing of the hotel. It was never built.