Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Oct 06, 2025

This Mountain Retreat in Alaska Offers a Stylish Escape from Extreme Conditions

This Mountain Retreat in Alaska Offers a Stylish Escape from Extreme Conditions

A remote, hexagonal lodge in the Alaskan wilderness invites adventurous guests to take refuge from the elements.

Set on a granite outcropping known as a nunatak, atop Ruth Glacier in the snowy landscape of Alaska’s Denali National Park, this five-room hotel-built by the descendants of bush pilot and original homesteader Don Sheldon-rests on the mountain at 6,000 feet, surrounded by nothing but sky and compressed ice. Animals are few, and there’s no internet-the nearest town is 50 miles away. Everyone who visits has to arrive by air transportation.



Located just 10 miles from the summit of Ruth Glacier, Sheldon Chalet is dwarfed by its mountainous setting. "I don’t get to spend enough time there, but when I do it leaves me with a full and content heart," says owner Marne Sheldon.

"The beauty exists outside and we didn’t want the interiors competing with the gorgeous landscape," says the hotel’s owner, Marne Sheldon, of the family’s approach to designing the hexagon-shaped lodge, which now attracts guests from around the world. "Loud, bold colors would have been out of place. Instead we chose a warm, inviting, and clean style that focuses attention on the grandeur outside," she says.



Hunter Douglas shades soften the natural light and prevent UV rays from damaging the furniture, flooring, and artwork at Sheldon Chalet.

For visitors, the chalet experience is a mix of austerity and comfort. Guests can hike on the glacier or dip into nearby hot springs before enjoying a glass of champagne back at the lodge. They can cast a line into icy water to catch salmon, and then indulge in artisan chocolates decorated to resemble the aurora borealis before tucking into a plush bed.

But amid all the natural beauty to take in, there’s one element that has the potential to eclipse everything-sunlight. In this environment, the sun is intense and in summer it shines well into the night. "The light becomes uncomfortably bright when it is bouncing off the snow and relentlessly reflecting back at you," says Marne, recalling how she often noticed guests and staff would wear sunglasses even when inside the chalet.



The chalet’s common areas feature windows that have been optimized with Hunter Douglas shades to shield guests from harsh light while allowing views.

To mitigate the glare, the Sheldon family decided to upgrade the lodge’s windows with state-of-the-art treatments by Hunter Douglas. In the living room, for instance, the S-shaped veins of the brand’s ​​Silhouette ClearView shades filter light without blocking views, making it possible to recline on an Eames chair in the library and comfortably read a good book.

In the bedrooms, Duette Honeycomb shades seamlessly blend with the window frames while providing insulation and total light blockage, so guests can get a good night’s rest. "The channels have a black, ridged interior that traps and absorbs the light from all angles, preventing it from entering the room around the perimeter of the shade," says Natalie Hatmaker, Senior Product Manager for Hunter Douglas, explaining how the system works.

The chalet’s new window coverings may seem like a small detail, but they’ve had an enormous impact. "The experience before had a survival element to it, along the lines of traditional mountaineering," says Marne. "Now guests can be immersed in all the wonder and awe of Denali in comfort-and enjoy it without sunglasses."

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
×