The Story

A Railway Hotel Built for the View

The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise began in 1890 as a small log cabin, "Chalet Lake Louise," built by Canadian Pacific Railway general manager Cornelius Van Horne on the shore of the lake it's named for. It grew fast — from fewer than fifty guests in its first year to roughly 50,000 by 1912 — and expanded in stages that are still visible in the building today. Architect Francis Rattenbury added a Tudor Revival wing, and Walter S. Painter's later concrete addition, known as the Painter Wing, brought an Italianate, cream-colored façade that remains the hotel's most historic section. Set inside Banff National Park, the hotel has hosted a long list of royal guests over the decades, including Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Rainier III of Monaco.

This shoot covers the hotel's architecture and interiors alongside the surrounding scenery — the lake, the glacier-fed color of the water, and the mountain activities the property is built around, from canoeing to hiking the trails above the chateau.

Selected work

Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, Alberta