Chateau History
The Chateau has a new website (you are currently viewing the old one). Take a look! Visit the Chateau's new History page.
This historic lodge, built in 1934, retains its original charm. Designed and built in a marble canyon, the six-story Chateau at the Oregon Caves National Monument has offered rustic charm in a serene wooded setting since its opening.
The Oregon Public Broadcasting special Great Lodges of the National Parks describes the Chateau as
"one of the most architecturally exciting lodges in the entire Parks system.
Crossing the span of a woodland ravine, the Chateau makes exceptional use of the land's natural contours, and a stream runs through the dining room. The lodge was designed and built by local folks, with an emphasis on natural materials. Much of the building's original siding of shaggy Port Orford Cedar bark is still intact after 70 years."
The Chateau is part of a larger development that included a chalet, several employee and rental cottages, and a visitor’s center, all under consideration for National Register status as part of a district. The buildings were all constructed between 1923 and 1941. The Chateau is, without question, the most outstanding of these structures.
Today’s visitor to the Oregon Caves National Monument is still offered the experience of the rustic sense of place that the builders and landscape architects created in the early 20th century. Entering the area is much like traveling back into the 1930s. The Chateau is more weathered, though
that contributes to its historical gravity and the furnishings still reflect the ambience of the original interior design. The wood fragrance of the fire burning in the lobby fireplace adds to the undeniably nostalgic feeling embodied by the entire building.
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