Redfield Canyon Rock House, AZ, February 2016

A contemporary cliff dwelling in the desert.

The Redfield Canyon Rock House was built in 1936 in a remote canyon in the Galiuro Mountians in southeast Arizona by Chick and Harriet Logan. We're going on this adventure with our friend Dave from Tucson. The trip takes us several hours and ends with miles of rough jeep track ascending to a place on the rim where we can hike down into Redfield Canyon.

Dave takes us over miles of rough jeep track in Big Red to get to Redfield Canyon.

Dave.

The path into the canyon is often sketchy and steep.

Jim and I hiking into Redfield Canyon.

Halfway down the path we can see the Cottonwood-filled canyon floor. The trees are just beginning to bud on this warm desert February day. We see a troop of Coati in the stream below and they shuffle off into the undergrowth before we get to the bottom.

Looking into Redfield Canyon.

Redfield Canyon is flowing with spring runoff from the Galiuro Mountains. It's beautiful and wild. We hike a mile down stream before we come to the Rock House.

Dave along Redfield Canyon Creek.

It's amazing someone would build a house in this remote canyon where everything had to be packed in by mule. The couple owned a few acres in the canyon and this is were they chose to be. The beauty, solitude and magic of a desert stream provide all the reasons for being here.

Looking up at the canyon rim from the Rock House.

The Rock House isn't on a high ledge as cliff dwellings tend to be but it is about 20 feet above the stream and built against the cliff face in an overhang. We get our first view from the steam and follow a path leading up to the house.

The Rock House.

We approach the house through the courtyard facing the stream. Empty, glass-less windows stare back. The circular window above the door once held stained glass. The rock for the construction was gathered form the stream below.

Approaching the front door through the court yard.

Worn out windows frame canyon views.

The circular window above the door once held stained glass.

One last artifact.

The Rock House is built with a U-shaped floor plan. One wing are the bedrooms with a door into the court yard.

The bedroom wing.

The other wing are the dining room and kitchen with a door onto the court yard.

The dining room and kitchen wing.

The great room occupies the vaulted cliff face between the two wings.

In the great room looking toward the bedroom door. A wood stove must have stood in the corner to the left of the door.

Like cliff dwellings with southern exposures, the Rock House is warmed through the windows by the low-angle winter sun. All the glass had been knocked out. A hole in the upper right of the photo below must have been were a stove pipe for a wood stove had been. We figured someone wanted it and wasn't too delicate about removing it.

Looking out the front door across the court yard.

We explore the kitchen wing of the house first.

Jim looks out the great room side door that leads to a porch.

Jim in the arch between the great room and dining room.

A nicely crafted arch connects great room to dining room. The dining room has a wood plank ceiling and paneled wall. The door to the courtyard was sealed with galvanized sheet metal.

Looking at the dining room from the great room to the door that leads to the kitchen.

The kitchen window looks out to the courtyard.

People have squatted here at times and left canned food and a mess behind.

Canned food left behind.

The propane refrigerator had to be brought in by mule. For some reason someone cannibalized it.

The kitchen door leads to  a porch and stairs to a cellar. 

The porch outside the great room and kitchen door to the stair that leads to the cellar.

The kitchen door leads to a stair to a cellar beneath the house. We found heaps of junk and trash in it most likely tossed there by people who have squatted here.

The dining room window.

After exploring the kitchen wing we go across the house to look at the bedroom wing.

The door from the great room to a bedroom or study.

The wood arch of the bedroom door.

Like the dining room arch the bedroom door arch is nicely crafted and would have been brought to the house in one piece. The bedroom also has a paneled wall and ceiling. After all these years the floors, ceiling and paneled walls are still tight. The floors didn't squeak when we walk through the house.

The bedroom or study and left over trash from a squatter.

A hall leads to the master bedroom and bathroom at the end of the wing. The roof of the bedroom has collapsed and the exposure is damaging the floors.

The master bedroom

Looking across the courtyard to the kitchen wing from the bedroom door.

Jim and Dave look at the log book in the great room.

Looking from the study into the great room.

The house is a historical treasure but vandalism has taken its toll. It's a shame there are people who have to abuse these special places. Hopefully someone will be able to organize the preservation of this place so others can enjoy it.

Photo 1.

The sunlight was really bright on the house I took a couple photos of the house with different filters.

Photo 2.

We have our lunch on a grassy bank by the stream below the house before we hike out. On the way back up the climb to the rim I see an arch.

An arch in Redfield Canyon.

We drive back down the rocky jeep trail until we get to a dirt road. Follow the dirt to the pavement and the pavement into Tucson's hustle and bustle. A world removed from the solitude of the Redfield Canyon Rock House.

Join us next time for more adventures.
Until then.
Jackie