It was built in 1907–08 by a local social fraternity and has served since 1915 as the primary meeting location of the university's Pi Kappa Alpha chapter.

Construction of the building was guided by university president William G. Tight, who promoted the use of Pueblo Revival architecture on campus.

The project received support from university president William G. Tight, who was interested in strengthening the Greek system on campus.

It is modeled after the Indian fashion, and is in fact, an almost exact counterpart of the San Domingo estufas.The house consists of one large elliptical room, with no windows.

The whole is coated with cement, and makes an admirable imitation of the real estufa.The Tri-Alphas held their first meeting in the Estufa on February 20, 1908,[6] while the building was still unfinished.

[7][11] The Estufa has survived both accidental and intentional vehicular collisions[8] as well as "attempts to destroy it with fire, dynamite, water and other weapons" according to an Albuquerque Journal article from 1952.

[14] In the 1960s, the building seemed doomed by a University Boulevard widening project,[15] but city planners ultimately chose a road alignment further to the west that kept the Estufa out of harm's way.