Deerfoot Lodge Blue Ridge – Master Plan and Architecture

Deerfoot was established in the 1930s, and provides wilderness camping experiences for boys and young men on behalf of local Christian institutions. The camp was looking to expand beyond its New York base in the Adirondack region, and in 2015 they approached Domokur & Associates to assess properties for a new camp in North Carolina. We worked closely with Deerfoot staff and board members to choose a site and create a phased Master Plan for its development.

Deerfoot wanted the new camp to retain a rustic, simple, and natural feeling while also providing accommodations, communal shelters, bathing, and activity facilities for 150 campers. The site itself suited the rustic camp model, and provided natural isolation, a private lake, and rugged forested terrain. It met the camp’s mission and ministerial objectives. The biggest challenge was the steep slopes. The Master Plan paid close attention to selecting areas for the new development that wouldn’t require massive grading or disturbance of the natural setting. We wanted the camp to seem as if it had always been there, and we instilled this ambition by placing all the major buildings in the flatter sections along the lake or near the eastern ridge that had a series of natural benches. The camper villages strategically capture impressive views of both the lake and surrounding mountains. The individual buildings were designed to leverage the skills of the camp alumni and volunteers to build furnishings. A vernacular Appalachian Mountain camp aesthetic was applied throughout, including traditional log-cabin construction techniques, to create a consistent feel between the two Deerfoot camps.

We finalized the Master Plan in 2017, and have since completed the design and construction of the Staff Cabin, Office, and Basketball Pavilion. The Dining Hall was completed and opened in 2022. Since its first summer of operation in 2019, enrollments continue to increase each year, and the Camp continues to engage Domokur & Associates for further guidance and services.