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McKeever Lodge

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  • McKeever Lodge (West Virginia Division of Tourism, Stephen J. Shaluta, Jr.)

The largest of all the TAC structures commissioned by the West Virginia state park system, this 113-room lodge stands on the rim of the Bluestone River gorge. Its sandstone base supports walls faced with vertical wood siding, painted a cream color. Spandrels between floor levels and broad, plain fascias were originally of brown-stained wood, but they have been replaced by burnished metal, painted brown.

As with all TAC buildings, the design of the lodge attempts a purposefully small scale: its public areas are broken up by varying floor levels and by numerous recesses and projections. The result is a convoluted floor plan with a profusion of seemingly purposeless corridors and stairways. The massive, multistoried walls that face the canyon have a certain Japanese flavor, but the lodge lacks any meaningful relationship to its setting. The strict linear lines and forms of this and other TAC buildings at Pipestem contrast sharply, but not effectively, with the rugged contours of their surroundings.

Writing Credits

Author: 
S. Allen Chambers Jr.

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