A retired teacher built a glass chapel in the Arkansas woods and it changed American architecture

It’s part forest, part church, all Arkansas

A retired schoolteacher bought 26 acres outside Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and strangers kept stopping on his driveway just to look at the Ozark hills. So he built them a place to sit with it.

What came out of that simple idea is now one of the most honored buildings in American history, a 48-foot glass chapel that rises through the trees as it grew there. The story behind it is just as good as the building itself.

48 feet of glass reaching into the treetops

The chapel rises 48 feet, with 425 windows and more than 6,000 square feet of glass.

It sits on more than 100 tons of native stone and colored flagstone, and even though it looks like a structure that should let the wind through, it’s fully enclosed and air-conditioned. About 100 people can sit inside at one time.

Admission is free. The chapel runs on donations, and it has been that way since the day it opened.

One teacher’s idea, one architect’s 30-year dream

Jim Reed bought those 26 acres in 1971 for his retirement. Tourists kept pulling over to admire his view, so he decided to give them somewhere proper to stop.

He hired E. Fay Jones, a fellow Arkansan, to design a small glass chapel. Jones had wanted to build a chapel for about 30 years before Reed walked into his office.

The two men found each other at exactly the right moment. Thorncrown opened on July 10, 1980.

The Arkansas architect trained by Frank Lloyd Wright

Jones was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, in 1921 and studied at the University of Arkansas, Rice University, and under Frank Lloyd Wright at the Taliesin Fellowship.

He developed a style he called “Ozark Gothic,” blending the organic architecture Wright was known for with the pointed, light-filled qualities of Gothic cathedrals.

His model for Thorncrown was Sainte-Chapelle, a 13th-century chapel in Paris built almost entirely of stained glass. Jones passed away in 2004.

No piece bigger than two men could carry through the woods

Jones had one rule during construction: nothing could be larger than what two men could carry through the forest by hand. The main materials are pressure-treated pine, mostly 2x4s, 2x6s, and 2x12s.

Workers assembled the trusses on the ground and raised them into place. The only steel in the whole structure forms diamond shapes inside the wooden framework.

The native flagstone floor and stone wall along the base connect the building to the hillside. The surrounding trees came through construction almost untouched.

Light patterns that shift every hour of every day

The wooden trusses overhead and the trees outside create patterns of light and shadow that move constantly. The chapel looks different at 8 a.m. than it does at noon, and different in October than it does in June.

Jones considered that the movement of light was the most important element of the entire design. At night, reflections of the crosses appear in the glass and seem to wrap the whole building.

A ridge skylight along the roof keeps drawing the forest light down into the space throughout the day.

Fourth-best building of the entire 20th century

The American Institute of Architects ranked Thorncrown fourth on its list of the top buildings of the 20th century. Within a year of opening, it won the AIA Design of the Year Award for 1981.

In 2006, it received the AIA Twenty-five Year Award, given to buildings that stand the test of time. Jones himself received the AIA Gold Medal in 1990, the highest honor an American architect can earn.

The chapel landed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 28, 2000, just 20 years after it opened, which almost never happens for buildings under 50 years old.

Nine million visitors and 250 weddings a year

More than nine million people have visited since 1980, and the chapel draws over 100,000 a year. Jim Reed’s son, Doug, has served as pastor there for more than 40 years.

About 250 wedding ceremonies take place inside every year. The chapel is non-denominational and welcomes visitors of every faith and background.

It was designed, as Jones put it, to be a place where people could think their best thoughts, and that intention carries through in how people describe the experience of walking in.

Step inside and the forest comes with you

The glass walls put the trees on every side of you. Wooden pews face forward, and through the glass, you see trunks and branches in every direction.

The structure feels both close and open at the same time. In spring and summer, green leaves press against the glass and fill the room with soft light.

Come fall, the Ozark hardwoods shift into color and the backdrop changes entirely. The building doesn’t compete with the woods around it.

It just frames them.

Arkansas has three glass chapels, and this one started it all

Jones went on to design the Mildred B. Cooper Memorial Chapel in Bella Vista, Arkansas, using the same glass-and-wood approach.

Jones’s partner Maurice Jennings and David McKee later designed the Anthony Chapel at Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs in a related style.

People sometimes group the three together as the glass chapels of Arkansas.

None of the others has reached Thorncrown’s standing, and the original has held its reputation for more than four decades without much effort.

Why a 40-year-old building still turns heads

In 2019, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named Thorncrown one of its “40 Under 40 Places,” a list of important American places under 40 years old at the time.

The recognition points to something the building keeps proving: architecture that works with its surroundings instead of bulldozing them tends to last.

This whole place started because a retired teacher wanted to share a view with strangers passing by. That idea is now one of the most visited sites in the state of Arkansas.

Plan ahead before you make the drive

The chapel sits about 1.5 miles west of Eureka Springs on Highway 62 West.

GPS often drops you at the wrong spot, so check the chapel’s official website for an accurate map before you leave. Parking is available on-site, with room for buses and RVs.

The facility has ramps and paved paths, so it’s wheelchair accessible. Tour groups and church groups can arrange a short presentation about the chapel’s history.

On weekends, the chapel sometimes closes early for weddings, so call ahead if you’re timing your visit carefully.

Visit Thorncrown Chapel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas

You can walk into one of the most honored buildings in American history for free. Thorncrown Chapel sits at 12968 Highway 62 West, Eureka Springs, AR 72632.

It’s open March through December from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free, though the chapel runs on donations.

Sunday services run at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. from April through October, and at 11 a.m. from November through mid-December. The chapel closes in January and February except for weddings and special events.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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