A NEW GUEST POOL
at the TIMBERLINE LODGE
Architecture services by Soderstrom Architects
Dan Van Calcar, AIA Principal-in-Charge
Andrew Blumm, AIA Design Architect
Completed in Spring 2024, this pool addition restores architectural integrity to the historic Timberline Lodge, the beloved WPA-era masterpiece perched at timberline on Mount Hood. The previous pool structure—a brutalist intrusion—completely obscured the lodge's historic west facade, disrupting the composition of one of America's most significant public buildings. The new design removes this architectural impediment, creating instead a thoughtful bridge that reopens views to the original facade while providing contemporary amenity.
Simple in form yet elegant in detail, the addition demonstrates that new construction can honor rather than compete with historic precedent. The structure employs materials and proportions sympathetic to the original lodge's craft tradition—heavy timber, natural stone, and considered massing that defers to the 1930s architecture. Set against the dramatic alpine landscape, the pool pavilion serves its practical purpose while re-establishing the visual and compositional clarity that has made Timberline Lodge an enduring icon of American vernacular architecture.