About
Thank you for your interest in Union Chapel Lodge. A unique and memorable experience is sure to await. The writer Ella Winter once said, “Don’t you know you can’t go home again?” But what if you could? Ms. Winter was referring to the feeling of nostalgia and the way our memory memorializes the past. As our own seasons go by, we will always hold the memories of our past in the same joyful light as we once did as children. We welcome you to stay with us at Union Chapel and give yourself the opportunity to find a small piece of that joy once again. Hear the thousands of tiny laughing voices soaked into each brick. Walk the fields that little feet trampled so many times. Allow yourself to be immersed in a simpler time.
Union Chapel Lodge started it’s life in 1960 as the completed design of architect Charles Nield Bayless. Bayless spent his life photographing historical structures in the state of Kentucky. He was a member of the American Institute of Architects. His own designs were a vision of the future. With it’s clean straight lines and purposeful design, the building has gracefully aged into a mid-century modern work of art. Union Chapel faithfully served the community know as Old Ogla in Russell County for over 50 years. The area was comprised of mostly farms and homesteads. The class sizes were always small but as the needs of the community grew, so did the building. Several additions were made to the campus during the 1970’s and again in the early 2000’s. Each addition was carefully designed to flow seamlessly into the original design of the building. Eventually the demographics of the area changed. Several other local elementary schools were now performing the lions share of work in Russell County. The younger families were concentrating around the towns of Russell Springs and Jamestown while the kids that grew up in the country side on the farms had long since moved on to college, careers and families of their own. With a heavy heart, the Russell County Board of Education made the decision to shutter the doors of Union Chapel and auction off the school to the public.
The VonFumetti family were the first private owners of the school when they purchased it at county auction in 2014. The family matriarch Wanda had once gone to school here as a child. I imagine she, like many of us, wanted to go home again. With a vision to create an epic family home and an amazing place to raise kids and grandkids, they went to work. Under the loving care of the VonFumetti’s, the school underwent an amazing transformation into a place where anything is possible and dreams always come true. Somewhere along the path, several classrooms were converted into lodging. With their kids now approaching or entrenched into adulthood, in 2020 the VonFumetti’s decided their needs were changing. They decided to sell the school and move closer to the grandkids. Finding the right buyer and not just any buyer was of huge concern to the family. They hoped and prayed that someone would come along with a similar vision for Union Chapel. A family who would love and cherish the property as they had. Enter us, the Smith Family.
In late 2020, under the persistent rain of the coastal Pacific Northwest, we hatched a plan. Our young family needed a change. We needed something to free our hearts and imaginations from the confines of the cresting global pandemic. After finding Union Chapel on a real estate web site, we knew without a doubt we had turned the page on the next chapter of our lives. In early 2021 when all the lines had been signed, we loaded up a moving truck and drove 2800 miles to arrive here in Russell County Kentucky. Into the hills of Old Olga and the Union Chapel neighborhood to make our wildest dreams come true.
We invite you to take a chance and come stay with us during your next trip to the Lake Cumberland area. The school is peaceful and clean. Parking is abundant. We are extremely hospitable and polite hosts. Many generations of kids reside here. The decades of quiet ghosts that float up and down the halls and the beautiful children that now call this place home. Life is hard and it can wear you down. Take a break from all that and visit Union Chapel Lodge where at least for a few days, you can finally go home again.
