Hubbell Trading Post Guest Hogan and Free Plans

The hogan at the Hubbell Trading Post is an octagon with each wall approximately 10 feet. The interior is around 450 square feet. It has a bathroom and a kitchen area.

The guest house is in the traditional shape of a Navajo hogan built in dressed local sandstone. It incorporates many traditional Navajo elements combined with other Southwestern motifs.  It is built on the banks of the Pueblo Colorado Wash, an intermittent stream near Ganado, Arizona, on the Navajo Nation.

The Hubbell Trading Post is the oldest continuously operating trading post on Navajo Nation land. It is a National Historic Site. It is still a trading post where visitors can buy authentic Navajo rugs, jewelry, and groceries, preserving a century-old tradition of trade in the American Southwest.

John Lorenzo Hubbell, “Don” was born November 27, 1853, in Pajarito, New Mexico. He purchased a small trading post in 1878. It was a vital asset to the Navajo, trading staples like coffee, flour and tools for native wool and crafts.

John Lorenzo Hubbell purchased the trading post in 1878, ten years after Navajos were allowed to return to their homeland from their terrible exile at Bosque Redondo, Ft. Sumner, NM. During the four years spent at Bosque Redondo, Navajos were introduced to many new items. Traders like Hubbell supplied those items once they returned home. Hubbell family members operated this trading post until it was sold to the National Park Service in 1967. The trading post is still active, and operated by the non-profit organization, Western National Parks Association, that maintains the trading traditions the Hubbell family established.

NPS Staff

Hubbell expanded the trading post into a massive mercantile empire that eventually included over 30 trading posts, freight lines, and mail routes. He was the first state senator of Arizona.

He was fluent in the Navajo language.

Hubbell was an advocate for Southwestern Native Art. He played a pivotal role in the commercial success of Navajo rug weaving and silversmithing. By demanding high-quality craftsmanship and suggesting popular designs (like the “Ganado Red”), he helped create a sustainable market for Navajo artists.

Hubbell was a generous host. His home was a stop for explorers, scientists, writers, anthropologists and artists. Elbridge Ayer Burbank visited multiple times for extended periods. He left behind a significant collection of sketches and paintings of local Navajo people as thanks.  Theodore Roosevelt stayed with him for a week in 1912.

Hubbell’s sons, Lorenzo Jr. and Roman, continued the family business after his death. The family continued the legacy of hospitality, welcoming guests, researchers, and artists.

After Hubbell’s death, Roman Hubbell and his wife Dorothy commissioned a unique guest house that is a unique blend that combines traditional Navajo architectural forms with contemporary building materials and methods.

Although the year 1934 is carved into the stone above the door, dated photographs indicate that the structure was probably not completed until the mid-1940s.

Hubbell Trading Post Building Roster: Guest Hogan

Like many hogans built with logs and earth, the hogan is octagonal.

The hogan has two doors. The front entry faces east.

Like the trading post, it is constructed of coursed sandstone local to the Ganado area. The stones were shaped into uniform blocks for a refined appearance.

It has a traditional cribbed log roof. Radial vigas, radial beams, are made of local timber. The logs are stacked in progressively smaller squares to create a dome. The beams are covered with boards, and the boards are covered with red asphalt shingles.

The Hubbell Guest Hogan has a front door and a back door from the kitchen area.

Like traditional Navajo hogans, the front door faces east. The front door is wood, carved by Dorothy Hubbell, Don Hubbell’s widow. There is an inscription above it.

GANADO PUEBLO COLORADO
CASA Don LORENZO
FOUNDED 1876 AD ERECTED 1934 AD

The doors are framed with timbers.

The entry flagstone like the interior floor.

Inside the hogan has a flagstone floor instead of the traditional packed earth floor.

There is a bathroom with a flush toilet, sink and tub.

The radial vigas or beams are visible from inside the hogan. Traditional hogans would have the beams covered with branchs, bark and straw, then covered in adobe mud to be waterproof. The Hubbell hogan has the exposed beams covered with boards and rolled shingle roofing.

The main feature of the hogan is a huge fireplace.

Fireplace materials petrified wood and artifact veneer on brick and mortar with heatilator insert and sandstone mantle.

It is a functional fireplace with a Heatilator insert to increase the efficiency.

A massive central fireplace is built from petrified wood, local stone, pottery and various historic artifacts embedded in the masonry.

The inner wood door was hand-carved by Dorothy Hubbell, Roman Hubbell’s wife. It features intricate designs that reflect the family’s interest in Southwestern art.

Bathroom Door reverse side is plain wood.

Printable Hogan Plans

Hubbell Trading Post Guest Hogan Plan
Click to Print

Hubbell Trading Post Guest Hogan Plan
Click to Print

The family operated the trading post for nearly 90 years until it was sold to the National Park Service in 1967.

The Hubbell Trading Post Hogan continues to serve as an occasional residence for visiting artists and volunteers today. It is part of the 160-acre Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site homestead. You can see it from the outside.

See a map of  site: Map of Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site Homestead
Click “Park Tiles Imagery” in the top right corner to switch to a satellite/birds eye view.