“Where I grew up, the only time you heard the word art was when you were talking about someone named Arthur,” Charley Harper told designer, Todd Oldham, in the short documentary, At Home with Charley Harper. Charley Harper, a beloved mid-century modernist artist, was born and raised in Frenchton, West Virginia. Yes, West Virginia. Frenchton […]

The New River Gorge may be best known for its world-class whitewater rafting, rock climbing, and adventure activities but it’s the lush Appalachian forest that makes this place so enchanting. This hardwood forest is ecologically diverse, rich in cultural and natural history and packed full of recreational opportunities. The New River Gorge National River encompasses […]

There’s something so charming about Fayetteville, West Virginia, the small town that sits on the rim of the New River Gorge. Sure, the forest that surrounds Fayetteville is enchanting (so enchanting that the National Park Service purchased 70,000 acres in the 1980s to create a National River), but the small town itself has a lot […]

We spend a lot of time in the New River Gorge hunting for mushrooms. When we’re not hunting mushrooms we’re usually talking about hunting mushrooms, which often prompts people to ask us why we enjoy it so much. Sometimes, we fear, they soon regret asking because we can go on and on about the many, […]

Of all the New River Gorge National River trails, The Endless Wall Trail has the most character and diversity. From the serenity of an ancient Hemlock forest to the pulse-quickening views from atop the cliffs overlooking the Gorge, it provides the casual hiker with a taste of everything that makes The New River Gorge National […]

West Virginia Artists Featured in Tamarack’s Annual Juried Exhibition Tamarack currently has works from many exceptional West Virginia artists on display in the 11th annual Best of West Virginia Juried Exhibition. The exhibit in the David L. Dickirson Fine Arts Gallery runs from June 15 – August 4, 2019. The show features the work of […]

Limited Edition Print Promoting art and artists from our home state is not only our passion, it’s in our business plan. Each year we dedicate a portion of our vacation rental income to the purchase of West Virginia art to add to our collection at Lafayette Flats. For this year’s art purchase, we decided to […]

One half of the duo that owns Happy Tree Coffee – Meghan McCool – is related to one half of the duo that owns Lafayette Flats – Amy McLaughlin. Meghan’s grandmother, Annabel Day, and Amy’s grandmother, Louise Johnson, are sisters. Both Annabel and Louise know a thing or two about coffee. Annabel always fired up […]

We purchased the building that now houses Lafayette Flats in June of 2014 and worked on its renovation for the rest of the summer, fall and through the winter. By the time we opened to guests in April of 2015, we had learned a lot about the rhythms of the seasons in Fayetteville. Mostly we […]

Each year we dedicate a portion of our vacation rental income to a fund from which we purchase new West Virginia art. Promoting art and artists from our home state is actually in our business plan for Lafayette Flats. You can read more about it here.   For our 2018 Art Fund purchase, we traveled […]