During the next teen years, Bishop and Willard regularly camped on the land and began planning a design for a family cabin. In 1967, Bishop married Phoebe and began building a cabin for them in 1969. One of the most prevalent natural materials in the area was rocks, so Bishop decided to craft a stone cottage. From 1969 until 1971, Bishop and Willard alternated working on the cabin and running the family business.
Cliff Palace and Balcony House are ancient cliff dwellings that the ancestral Pueblo Indians inhabited in the 12th and 13th centuries. Located in Mesa Verde National Park, both are World Heritage Sites and National Monuments. Balcony House had forty-five rooms and two kivas (ovens), and it can only be accessed on ranger-guided tours. Tour participants must climb a thirty-two foot ladder and then crawl through a twelve-foot tunnel to access Balcony House.