The Pacific lodge style of architecture

Architecture

Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...

 is based loosely on vague notions of cedar lodges and log cabin

Log cabin

A log cabin is a house built from logs. It is a fairly simple type of log house. A distinction should be drawn between the traditional meanings of "log cabin" and "log house." Historically most "Log cabins" were a simple one- or 1½-story structures, somewhat impermanent, and less finished or less...

 dwellings of early inhabitants of the Pacific Northwest

Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...

 region of the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. This style can be seen in historic National Park

National Park Service

The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...

 hotels, such as the Lake Quinault Lodge

Lake Quinault Lodge

The Lake Quinault Lodge was built in 1926 in Olympic National Forest in Washington, USA. The hotel was designed by Robert Reamer, a Seattle architect, in a rustic style reminiscent of Reamer's work at the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park...

, and in the houses of some wealthier Seattleites of the timber baron era. However, most early Seattleites preferred to mimic the accepted styles of the East; to this day, historical pastiche

Pastiche

A pastiche is a literary or other artistic genre or technique that is a "hodge-podge" or imitation. The word is also a linguistic term used to describe an early stage in the development of a pidgin language.-Hodge-podge:...

s remain more popular throughout the region.

Pacific lodge style is not well defined. Rather, it is a colloquial term for Northwest style houses that are more reminiscent of lodges, cabins and frontier styles than other well known styles. Often a house in this style will be built at least partly of cedar, will likely have very high ceilings, raw exposed wood, and a lot of glass. It is common to surround such a house with trees rather than packing the house in a dense urban neighborhood, waterfront locations with a dock being preferable.

Real life applications

The Bill Gates estate

Bill Gates' house

Bill Gates' house is a large mansion in the side of a hill overlooking Lake Washington in Medina, Washington. The house is noted for its design and the technology it incorporates...

is based on this style.