cerro gordo | M Royce Architecture

M ROYCE ARCHITECTURE

cerro gordo

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Cerro Gordo, CA

103 Acres

6270 ft² (Hotel)

550 ft² (Surveyor House)

Hotel

In Progress

Historic Preservation,

Hospitality

The Cerro Gordo Mines master plan synthesizes historic preservation with remote eco-tourism. Situated at 8,500 feet in the Inyo Mountains above Owens Lake, this 19th-century silver boomtown features significant remnant infrastructure and subterranean networks. The revitalization strategy hinges on the adaptive reuse of existing historic volumes while navigating the severe climatic and topographical constraints of the site, establishing a highly curated, experiential destination isolated above.

The masterplan reprograms the historic settlement into a luxury hospitality destination, introducing a series of premium guest cabins dispersed across the rugged topography. The site strategy dictates the precise placement of each structure to optimize spatial seclusion, ensuring every unit benefits from visual and acoustic privacy. By orienting the primary glazing and outdoor spaces toward the surrounding high-desert landscape, the design maximizes unobstructed views of the Inyo Mountains.

A critical component of the master plan involves the historic reconstruction of the original hotel and surveyor's house. Following their destruction in a recent wildfire, the design intent focuses on an exact visual replication of the historic architecture. The project is currently in the construction phase, as documented in the site photography below.