3North: Warm Springs Pools

For some two and a half centuries, people have been trekking to Bath County, Virginia, to “take the healing waters” of the Warm Springs Pools.

Set in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the public pools are part of the Homestead Resort in nearby Hot Springs, and they have hosted some of history’s most famous figures, including Thomas Jefferson.

Their allure, then and now, lies in their primitive charm—the unheated changing rooms in the wooden structures and the open-to-the-sky pools with natural stone floors offer a deeply emotional, immersive, and spiritual experience.

But every 50 years or so, the structures deteriorate because of the steamy waters and require extensive repairs, which is the state they were in when the Richmond, Virginia-based architectural firm 3North was commissioned to make them operational again.

In this case, the structures were in such bad shape that the local authorities had condemned and closed them to the public.

“If you breathed on them wrong, they looked like they would have fallen down,” says 3North Principal Ed Pillsbury, AIA, who added that the firm’s role was to design the architecture, interiors, and landscape architecture with its team of consultants handling civil engineering, structural engineering, mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering, and signage design.

The first order of business for project manager Pillsbury and his team—Principal-in-Charge Jay Hugo, AIA, ASLA, ASID; Architectural Designer Sarah Milberger; and Landscape Architect Andrea Almond, PLA, ASLA—was determining which time period to adhere to.

“Because they were repaired so often, there were constant improvements, with wings and other pieces being added slowly over the centuries,” says Pillsbury, adding that the structures were built between 1761 and 1890.

After extensive research, they chose to bring the structures back to the way they looked in 1925, the year that all the significant historic structures, notably the Ladies’ Bath, the Reception House, and the Gentleman’s Bath, were in place and in use. Warm Springs Pools, the historic name, also was restored, replacing the moniker Jefferson Pools that referenced the president’s 1818 visit.

“This was also a pragmatic decision,” Pillsbury says. “We relied upon Historic American Building Survey photographs from the 1930s, which showed just how much had changed in the last 100 years.”

The design process was complicated by the fact that unlike many traditional buildings, there was no finished form because “these structures were continuously rebuilt,” he says.

Because it was a tax-credit project, 3North was charged with rehabbing, not razing, the structures, which include the Ladies’ Bath, which dates to 1875, the 1890 Reception House, and the Gentlemen’s Bath, whose octagonal foundation was laid in 1761. Unnecessary demolition was not part of the program, and parts had to be replaced piece by piece.

“Our mission was to make it work better,” Pillsbury says.

During the design process, laser scanning was used to document the structures, and the resulting detailed digital model became the team’s North Star.

“Our goal was to maintain the character of the pools,” Pillsbury says.

To that end, the natural stone foundations, set on a natural streambed, were retained and improved with new micro-pile footings and cast-in-place concrete underpinning, and the structures were stabilized to meet life-safety requirements.

Historic photos showed that the Gentlemen’s Bath remained largely as it was built.

The Ladies’ Bath, however, had undergone significant alterations during its long life. Its original heavy-timber domed roof, which 3North replicated, had been removed and replaced with a straight roof framed with dimensional lumber and bearing a center post.

When the design team began reconstructing the geometry of the structure, the dimensions of the roof seemed to follow an ideal geometric proportion, with the radius of the roof dome matching the diameter of the pool and the oculus being one-third of that diameter.

“Tracing the geometry and finding that underlying structure was a surprising connection to the past and adds to the feeling of unity and completeness in the space,” Pillsbury says.

To make the rehab as authentic as possible, 3North chose not to use artificial materials, selecting wood products with high-performance coatings and specialty paints that are durable. The team created adequate ventilation for the structures and avoided creating concealed spaces that trap moisture, choices that are practical for long-term maintenance.

“I’ve never worked on anything like this before,” Pillsbury says. “The biggest piece for me was rehabbing the structures and restoring the user experience.”

Since Warm Springs Pools reopened, it has been booked solid.

“They have garnered immense community and regional enthusiasm,” Pillsbury says, “and have reclaimed their place as one of the Homestead’s most popular venues.” TB

Architect
3North

Structural Engineer
1200 Architectural Engineer

General Contractor
Lionberger Construction

Window Restoration
Museum Resources Construction & Millwork

Historic Research
Will Rourk, University of Virginia Department of Architectural History