AFA Autumn 2018

Autumn 124 www.afamag.com | w ww.incollect.com David Fried (1911–1990), Ski Lodge, Mt. Mansfield, Stowe, Vermont, ca. 1938. Graphite on onion skin paper, 10⅝ x 14¼ inches (sight). Collection of Mark Fried. The Civilian Conservation Corps played a significant role in the early development of Vermont’s ski industry. Perry Merrill, State CCC Director and Commissioner of the Vermont Forestry Service, saw the potential for winter recreation in the state forests if a network of ski trails could be built. The present resort in Stowe was one of his successes. In a few years, CCC workers constructed ski trails, a base lodge, ski dorm, access road, parking lot, and warming huts on Mt. Mansfield—everything but the lift, which was built later by the Mt. Mansfield Company. The CCC was also involved in creating the ski facilities now operating on Bromley, Okemo, and Burke Mountains, as well as defunct areas in St. Albans and Shrewsbury. Most of the buildings constructed by the CCC for Vermont’s state park system were simple rustic structures made of accessible local materials, including rough-hewn logs and stone. David Fried, who graduated from Cornell University’s School of Architecture in 1933, spent his first few years out of school designing rustic buildings in Vermont and New Hampshire for the National Park Service. He was one of the few known architects of these buildings who injected a modernist sensibility into his work. The lodge at Mount Mansfield is one of his distinctive buildings that blend rustic and modern design.