Dorgan House and the Milky Way - courtesy Jen Pena

Adobe testing at Alvino House - April 2020

Testing adobe bricks April 2020

Dorgan House courtesy Jen Pena

Historic Renovations

Project Debuted:  April 2020

Amount Raised:  $150,000

Our thanks to the following donors for funding this project which is a collaboration between Big Bend Conservancy, the National Park Foundation, and the National Park Service's Centennial Challenge Fund:

The Estate of David England
The Powell Foundation
The Summerlee Foundation

In Spring 2020 Big Bend Conservancy teamed up with the National Park Foundation and the Center for Big Bend Studies at Sul Ross State University to restore adobe work at the historic Dorgan and Alvino houses in the Castolon area of the park.  Both homes are popular with park visitors and both are on the National Register of Historic Places and pre-date the park.  

Despite the park's closure for the COVID-19 pandemic, the Center for Big Bend Studies was allowed by park staff to continue their work on both structures.  In April 2020 time was spent testing varied adobe mixtures to find the correct local mix that would hold up to weather over time.  

This project is ongoing and we will update this site as the work continues.