Due to the economic depression of the 1930s, caused by the Stock Market crash of 1929, only the primary unit, the Laboratory of Anthropology (1930), and its companion building, the Laboratory of Anthropology Director’s Residence (1931) were constructed. Both buildings are filled with hand-carved woodwork, hand-forged ironwork, hand-hewn furnishings, and pressed tin fixtures, designed by architect Meem, and created by local craftspeople. Building continued in the area, although not as part of the Laboratory of Anthropology’s initial plan. Elizabeth and Martha White donated an adjacent plot of land south of the Laboratory to their friend Mary Wheelwright (1878-1958) to build the House of Navajo Religion (1937), now the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian. The White sisters also donated a plot to the northeast of the Laboratory to the National Park Service (NPS) to build the NPS Region III Headquarters Building (1937).
Later additions to the site include the Museum of International Folk Art (1953) and the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture (1987). The eleven-acre Santa Fe Botanical Garden was added in 2006. Since 1998, the Director’s Residence of the Laboratory of Anthropology has served as the headquarters of the Spanish Colonial Arts Society. The entirety of the campus is now known as Museum Hill.