Thorncrown Chapel

Thorncrown Chapel is a chapel in Eureka Springs in the U.S. state of Arkansas. It was designed by architect E. Fay Jones and completed in 1980.

The chapel is located west of the town of Eureka Springs on a hill in the woods of the Ozarks. Jim Reed, the owner of the property, was planning to build in the seventies, a place of worship for travelers and day-trippers. To this end, he commissioned the architect E. Fay Jones. Construction began on 23 March 1979, on 10 July 1980, the chapel was opened.

The Thorncrown Chapel stands as a lightweight wood frame structure on a stone floor 14.63 meters in height. The intermediate spaces in the walls 425 provide windows that are filled with about 550 square meters of glass. 1989 next to the chapel which is also designed by Jones and focused on 300 people Thorncrown Worship Center was opened.

The Thorncrown Chapel became a popular tourist destination and venue, especially for weddings. The building won several awards, so the AIA Arkansas Design Award and the AIA Gulf States Region Award for Excellence in 1980, the American Wood Council First Honor Award in 1981 and in 2006 the Twenty -five Year Award from the AIA. The Worship Center was honored in 1991 with the American Wood Council Merit Award. In 2000, the chapel was added to the National Register of Historic Places.