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 Spandrels between floor levels and broad, plain fascias were originally of brown-stained wood, but they have been replaced by burnished metal, painted brown.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