When I moved to Oregon, I fell in love with the lodges the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Civil Conservation Corps (CCC) built here during the 1930s. What a perfect setting for an isolated writing academy.
Roosevelt Lodge is a fictionalized melding of a few of them, including Timberline Lodge, Crater Lake Lodge, The Oregon Caves Chateau, and Silver Falls Lodge.
E.J. Griffith, director of Oregon’s WPA when Timberline Lodge was built, explained the architectural style as follows:
America has never developed any highland architecture as the Alpine of Europe. So an attempt was made to establish a distinctive style, which subsequently was given the name of Cascadian architecture. With steep sloping roofs, massive and rugged walls to meet the weight of the snows and force of winds, the design was the development of a pioneer motif . . .
I’ve also seen the style described as “forest service gothic” or “gothic rustic.”
Learn more about Oregon’s historic lodges: