guestrooms ruled out a single prototype. Sizes run from 240-square-foot standard queen rooms to a 660-squarefoot double king suite with two bedrooms and a wet bar. Because window placement and footprints varied, the designers set out a shared vocabulary and let each layout respond to its own dimensions, relying on custom furniture and millwork to make each one fit. The result is a hotel in which no two rooms are alike. Pate sees the variation as part of the appeal: a guest who stays twice may have a different experience each time, depending on the room type.
Design also pays homage to the hotel’ s bucolic surroundings. A palette of deep green, muted blue, clay red and natural wood links the interiors to the surrounding gorge landscape. A custom-illustrated map joins books, vintage photographs, handmade ceramics and furnishings gathered throughout the property, giving the two buildings a lived-in character. Hand-painted signage by West Virginia designer Jordana Bungard adorns walls.
EVOLVING DESIGN Design did not stop when construction started. Asked what surprised her most, Pate points to how much was resolved once the team was on site, working out solutions by looking at what was in front of them.
The hotel is an extension of the town’ s role.“ Fayetteville
The dining room at Hill Hall Hotel retains wooden shelving, a curved sitting area and warm lighting from the building’ s original use as a school.
A corridor at Hill Hall with globe pendant lighting, paneled walls and exposed ceiling beams.
has always been more than a gateway to the gorge,” said Stephen Wendell, founder and CEO of Mountain Shore Properties.“ I hope Hill Hall gives visitors another reason to spend time in town.”
Hill Hall Hotel demonstrates how adaptive reuse can succeed when design follows the building rather than the other way around. By keeping the schools’ architecture, floor plans and details, and by letting each space respond to its own history, Mountain Shore Properties has created a hotel with a clear point of view and a lasting sense of place. For Fayetteville, it gives two landmark buildings a purposeful second life. For visitors to the New River Gorge, it offers a considered, distinctive place to stay that stays true to the town’ s past and gives guests a reason to linger.
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