Our Story
How It Began
Truth be told, the roots of Oddfellow Manor were planted years before we ever owned the property.
From 2014 to 2017, I was completing my family medicine residency at West Virginia University Hospitals. During that time, I spent time caring for residents at Sundale Nursing Home. Those experiences stayed with me.
I began wondering if long-term care could look different. More personal. More connected to the land. More connected to purpose. A place where people could still garden, share meals, make things with their hands, sit on a porch, hear birds in the morning, and feel like they still belonged to the rhythm of life.
That idea never really left me.
Coming Home to Elkins
In the summer of 2017, my family and I moved to Elkins, where I continued practicing family medicine and caring for folks in our community.
Life stayed busy—raising a family, serving patients, and building a life here in the mountains—but that old vision kept growing quietly in the background.
I didn’t know what shape it would take. I just knew I was looking for something meaningful.
A Door Opened
In the spring of 2024, I came across a Facebook ad from Kaufman Realty that asked:
“Would you like to buy a piece of history?”
The property was the historic Odd Fellows Group Home here in Elkins.
I showed it to my wife, and like most folks would, we were cautious. We admired the place, but assumed it would be far beyond our reach. We placed a bid with little expectation and eventually quit checking the auction.
Then on July 12, 2024, while I was getting ready to head in for a hospital night shift, I got the phone call.
We had won.
I called my parents, gathered myself, and headed over to sign the first paperwork. Just like that, a dream I couldn’t fully explain had found a front door.
What We’ve Been Doing Since
Since then, the work has been steady and purposeful.
We formed a nonprofit organization so this effort could serve something larger than ourselves. We received federal nonprofit status in August 2025. We established a board of people who care deeply about this place and what it could become.
We also began the process of historic preservation work with Kelsey Hartmann and started planning for environmental remediation through the Brownfields program.
There is still much to do, but every old place worth saving is restored one step at a time.
Who We Are
Why It Matters
To some, this may look like an old building in need of work.
To us, it looks like possibility.
We see a place where history is honored, where people can gather, where practical skills are taught, where gardens grow, where young and old learn from one another, and where this community gains something lasting.
We believe old places still have work to do.
How You Can Be Part of the Story
Projects like this are never built by one family alone.
They are carried forward by neighbors, donors, volunteers, craftsmen, storytellers, and people who believe that preserving something meaningful is worth the effort.
If Oddfellow Manor speaks to you, we’d be honored to have your support and your encouragement as the story continues.
From Our Family to Yours
Thank you for taking the time to learn about this place.
We’re grateful to be its current caretakers—and hopeful about what it can become for generations to come.
