The Most Unique Inn in Cordova, Alaska!
The Cordova Rose Lodge, LLC was a barge with its very own lighthouse. It sat on the breakwater surrounded by water on the shore of Orca Inlet. The lighthouse has been a navigation aid for marine vessels using the channel.
The main building of Cordova Rose Lodge was a 1924 landlocked barge, beautifully remodeled and upgraded offering a rustic, yet newly refreshed, setting right at the water’s edge.
We were honored to have been voted “Best Stay” by our guests, many of whom have been regular visitors for over 20 years. The Cordova Rose Lodge had been in operation for almost 34 years, with the lastowner Gary McDowell at the helm for the last 26.
It was purchased in 2024 by the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (ADOT&PF), in cooperation with the Alaska Division of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), to upgrade Point Whitshed Road in Cordova, Alaska.
History
Built in 1924 in Kodiak, Alaska it was named Berry #1. It worked the Gulf of Alaska as a pile driver and fish trap setter until it was towed to the current site just after the 1964 Alaskan earthquake. The site was once the location of a floating fish cannery.
Previously used as a machine shop, a home for a recluse and a houseboat for 12 years by the previous owners, Bob and Rose Arvidson, it worked as a community inn through the summer of 2023.
The exterior landscape consisted of a breakwater with a lighthouse, several bridges, a ship’s mast and a statue of the Greek myth character, Sisyphus and his dog, Spot. Sisyphus is a Greek myth character punished by Zeus. Zeus told Sisyphus he had to push a boulder up a hill forever. Of course, every time Sisyphus got the rock to the top of the hill it would roll down the other side and he would have to start over. As the builder of the statue, Arvidson’s philosophy was that everyone has their own rock to push.
Eldon and Jan Glein purchased the property in 1992. They renovated the barge and remodeled a building next to it called the Gear Shed. Thus continued the history of the barge, Berry No. 1, working on Odiak Slough in Orca Inlet.
The last private owner, Gary McDowell managed the lodge from 1998-2023 when it was purchased by the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (ADOT&PF), in cooperation with the Alaska Division of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), to upgrade Point Whitshed Road in Cordova, Alaska. Read more here.
Cordova is a Great Place To Be
- Watch the resident eagles
- Enjoy the Kingfishers, Sea ducks, Stellar jays, songbirds, and sea birds
- Observe the harbor seals
- Panoramic breathtaking views
- The Odiak Pharos working lighthouse is a real lighthouse listed in the coast guard house of lights and lighthouse magazines
- Keep an eye out for local bears visiting as you clean fish as the carcasses remain at low tide
The Cordova Rose Lodge was
- Featured in – Lighthouse Digest (April 2002)
- Listed in – Best of Travel guide
- Seen on – Food Network TV
- Featured in – Sunset Magazine
- Featured on – Larry Czonka’s Alaska outdoor show