{"id":771779,"date":"2026-05-04T03:49:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T03:49:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/771779\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T03:49:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T03:49:25","slug":"meet-the-la-architect-who-made-a-virtual-replica-of-the-hotel-from-the-shining","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/771779\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the LA architect who made a virtual replica of the hotel from \u2018The Shining\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Love ‘The Shining’? Now you can visit its famously creepy Overlook Hotel… virtually<\/p>\n

Robert Garrova tells you how.<\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s check in to the Overlook Hotel.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the fictional place Stanley Kubrick brought to life in his 1980 film The Shining, loosely based on Stephen King\u2019s novel of the same name.<\/p>\n

A local architect who hails from South Pasadena meticulously crafted a 3D model of the iconic space so Shining fans everywhere never have to check out.<\/p>\n

A ‘rabbit hole’ took architect deeper into project\u00a0<\/p>\n

At his day job, architect Anthony Chieh<\/a> mainly works on residential and boutique commercial spaces. But over the course of five months, he spent his nights meticulously recreating a virtual replica of the Overlook Hotel from the film that first scared him when he was 12.<\/p>\n

Keep up with LAist.<\/p>\n

If you’re enjoying this article, you’ll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less. <\/p>\n

Of course he started with the deeply haunted Room 237. That\u2019s where Jack Torrance, played by Jack Nicholson, has a terrifying encounter with a ghostly woman.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Chieh’s 3D rendering of Room 237<\/p>\n

(<\/p>\n

Courtesy Anthony Chieh <\/p>\n

)<\/p>\n

\u201cBut once I started, I just couldn\u2019t stop,\u201d Chieh told LAist.<\/p>\n

\u201cI ended up modeling the Colorado Lounge, and then after that I was thinking maybe I should make the lobby and then arriving to the Gold Room, and then Grady\u2019s bathroom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a rabbit hole,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Experience the virtual Overlook Hotel<\/b>
You can download Chieh’s digital model of the Overlook Hotel by clicking the link in the comments section of his YouTube essay on the subject<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Users who download Chieh\u2019s free 3D model can fly through all of those spaces, immersed in atmospheric sounds and music from the film.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s interesting to dive into these kind of fictional environments and try to make sense of it,\u201d Chieh said. \u201cAnd the hope is people will get a different perspective once they\u2019re in there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kubrick\u2019s take on the Overlook was famously inspired by real hotels like the Timberline Lodge in Oregon and The Ahwahnee in Yosemite. But the interiors you see in the film were created on sound stages in England.<\/p>\n

\u201cReal architecture, physical buildings, are built for people to live. And for movies, these are more meant to express the emotional aspect of things. It\u2019s a psychological construct,\u201d Chieh said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

In a recently published video essay on YouTube, Chieh dives deep into those psychological constructs and how, as he puts it, \u201cKubrick designed the Overlook Hotel not as a backdrop, but as the film’s true villain.\u201d<\/p>\n

The power of architecture to frighten<\/p>\n

Chieh said during the monthslong process he was reminded of the power of architecture and design in the real world too \u2014 whether it\u2019s an uncomfortably repetitive carpet design or a claustrophobic hallway.<\/p>\n

\u201cA physical construct can affect your emotion,\u201d Chieh said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can use it in a way to make people feel comfortable and you can also use it in a way to create fear.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Chieh’s 3D rendering of the Torrances’ apartment in ‘The Shining.’<\/p>\n

(<\/p>\n

Courtesy Anthony Chieh <\/p>\n

)<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next for this architect moonlighting as a 3D modeler?<\/p>\n

Chieh says he\u2019s thinking about giving the spaceship from 2001: A Space Odyssey the virtual treatment next. Or maybe turning to a local non-fictional space, like the Stahl House<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That is, of course, if he can ever escape the Overlook.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Love ‘The Shining’? Now you can visit its famously creepy Overlook Hotel… virtually Robert Garrova tells you how.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":771780,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[648,1032,1033,171,316429,316430,160892,12757,156210,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-771779","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-design","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-overlook-hotel","13":"tag-room-237","14":"tag-stanley-kubrick","15":"tag-stephen-king","16":"tag-the-shining","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116514270812228003","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=771779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/771780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=771779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=771779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=771779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}