Indiginous materials provide low-cost maintenance and hand-crafted elegance.
Adirondack architecture dates back to the 1800's. William West Durant has been credited as being the originator of this style, having created rustic estates for wealthy clients in the 1880's. His use of native materials such as birch bark wallpaper and rustic details was then and still is well known. The style quickly spread through the Adirondack Park, and eventually throughout the country, evident in mountainous areas from the Appalachians in North Carolina as far west as the Rocky Mountains.
Theodore Roosevelt became acquainted with the Adirondack style as a child when he was sent to these mountains to help control his asthma. He recognized that the Adirondack style best harmonized the relationship of the woods with man-made structures. When he created the National Park system, he felt strongly that the structures to be built within those parks would also fit in with the environment by emulating the Adirondack style. The Inn at Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park is an excellent example of Adirondack architecture.
|The Adirondack Style: excerpts from "The Great Camps of the Adirondacks"|