As part of his inspiration for the interiors and decorative art of the Laboratory of Anthropology and its Director’s Residence, architect, John Gaw Meem consulted the three-volume Spanish Interiors and Furniture (1922–1925) by Arthur Byne and Mildred Stapley. At least twenty designs in the Director’s Residence —from shutters to radiator covers to nichos (niches holding decorative or religious items) —can be identified in the books. In addition to these woodcraft details, other original features such as handmade tin work and wrought iron created by artisans in Walter P. Gilbert’s shop in Albuquerque are featured in the building.
The Laboratory of Anthropology and its Director’s Residence are constructed of “pentile” (hollow, fired clay blocks manufactured at the New Mexico State Penitentiary in Santa Fe from the 1920s-1950s). The blocks were formed into three-foot thick walls, battered, and covered in tinted Portland cement plaster to resemble regional adobe buildings.