Mount Carmel Monastery

Built 1917, architect Frederick Faris. 96-104 Carmel Road. Perhaps the most unexpected architectural style in Wheeling is this monastery that looks like it belongs in New Mexico. Faris designed the building in a missionary style because the founder of the Carmelite Order was from Spain. To quote Kate Quinn from a May 2009 article in the Wheeling Intelligencer: From the warm, pinkish-orange color ofhe exterior stucco-covered walls to the low-pitched clay tiled roof, the monastery reminds one of the Spanish missions of California. The nuns lived in simple cells and slept on plywood beds supported by wooden horses. The public chapel had a 39-foot ceiling, marble statuary any stained glass windows. The monastery, which covers 2.4 acres, closed in 1975 and was converted to apartments. This is a difficult structure to photograph - if anyone has a better image please send it to me!

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