Tuberculosis sanatoriums and resorts were built throughout the United States during the late 19th century until the mid-20th century. They were the products of the idea that rest, exposure to healthy climates, nature and good nutrition could affect a cure for tuberculosis. This thesis analyzes the tuberculosis sanatoriurn movement across the Westem United States. In particular, the relationship of the built environment to the outdoors and how this relationship may have affected the patient's outcome. The development of two sanatoriums is detailed. Seattle', Washington's Firland Sanatorium (est. 1912) was built in response to the need for public health control in the developing City of Seattle. Firland serves a good example of a medium scale municipal sanatorium set in an agrarian landscape. Developed as a result of corporate welfare, Valmora Industrial Sanatorium, located in Valmora, New Mexico, treated employees of Chicago companies from 1910 until the 1950's. Valmora treated 70 patients at a time in a domestic scale cottage plan in a high desert setting.

As ideas of healthcare changed in the early part of the 20th century, different models of tuberculosis care evolved. The continuum shifts from male centered Wildemess model to the feminization of those who took the Rest cure, and later to an more invasive Institutional-Medical model. These changes are reflected in the spatial arrangement of sanatoriums. These different models may have also affected the patient's exposure to the natural environment. This thesis also explores how this relationship may have varied in relationship to the gender of the patient. At a first reading, the constructed environment was egalitarian, men and women were given equal amounts of space, resources and treatments. Through the use of three different types of methods, interpretation of the physical environment, archival research and oral histories-another set of interpretations make it apparent how gender differences played a role in the "cure" in the sanatorium.