Cabot Yerxa began building his pueblo in Desert Hot Springs, California, in 1941. He was 58 years old and working with materials that other people had left behind. He gathered wood, glass, metal and other objects from abandoned structures and construction sites around the Coachella Valley. Some of the material came from cabins that were dismantled for reuse. He also used handmade adobe-style bricks and found objects from the desert. His project began as a much smaller structure but grew over the years into what is now Cabot's Pueblo Museum, a four-storey building with 35 rooms. A report prepared for the City of Desert Hot Springs describes the pueblo as a 5,000-square-foot structure with 150 windows, 65 doors and 30 rooflines. Construction began in 1941, and Yerxa continued working on the property until his death in 1965.
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