Degnan’s Kitchen represents well over 100 years of Yosemite concessioner history. The Degnan family were Irish immigrants who settled in Yosemite Valley in the late nineteenth century. Bridget Degnan baked bread to sell to tourists and residents. Her initially small operation grew to a substantial enterprise.

During Mission 66, Degnan’s was still a family-operated business also known as Degnan-Donohue, Inc. Frank Donohue, Bridget Degnan’s grandnephew, led the business at the time of Mission 66. Donohue agreed to the National Park Service’s request to construct a modern facility, continuing the Degnan’s legacy. Donohue partnered with well-known mid-century modern architect Frank Lloyd Wright to draft a design for the new Degnan’s building. Much to Wright’s chagrin, the National Park Service rejected the proposed design, deeming it too futuristic. Director Conrad Wirth famously critiqued Wright’s design by calling it “a mushroom dome type of thing.

”Walter Wagner and Partners, a firm from Fresno, created the distinct A-frame structure we know today. Its floor-to-ceiling windows are a signature of mid-century park designs, and the prominent wood elements and interior fireplace remind the visitor of a mountain lodge.