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Waverly Hills Sanatorium, situated on a hillside in Louisville,
Kentucky, exemplifies early 20th-century sanatorium design tailored
to tuberculosis (TB) treatment. Opened in 1910 as a modest two-story
wooden facility to house 40-50 patients, it featured an
administrative building flanked by two open-air pavilions—one for
male patients and one for females—each accommodating about 20
individuals. These pavilions emphasized the "fresh air cure," with
large verandas for ventilation and sunlight exposure, critical in an
era before antibiotics. By 1912, a hospital addition for advanced
cases added 40 beds, and in 1914, a children's pavilion increased
capacity to around 130. Due to surging TB cases (Louisville reported
over 200 annually in the 1910s), the original wooden structures
proved inadequate and fire-prone, prompting a major expansion.
Construction of the iconic main building began in March 1924,
designed by Louisville architects James J. Gaffney and Dennis Xavier
Murphy in a Tudor Gothic Revival style with brick construction for
durability. This five-story "batwing" or "boomerang"-shaped
structure—resembling an elongated U or H with wings—opened on
October 17, 1926, boosting capacity to over 400 patients. The
asymmetrical layout maximized airflow through central solariums
(sunrooms), with long hallways connecting east and west wings. The
building spans about 500 feet in length, with patient rooms lining
both sides of corridors, opening onto open-air balconies or
"sleeping porches" for heliotherapy (sun treatment). These porches,
unglazed to allow constant fresh air, wrapped around the exterior,
even in Kentucky's variable climate. The design incorporated
isolation features: segregated wings for different patient
severities, nurses' stations at hallway ends for oversight, and
utility tunnels below for discreet operations.
The sanatorium's
layout reflected TB protocols—rest, nutrition, and isolation—while
accommodating support functions like kitchens and labs. Below
ground, a network of tunnels facilitated logistics. Post-1961
closure (due to TB's decline via streptomycin), the site briefly
became Woodhaven Geriatric Center (1962-1980), but neglect led to
decay; today, it's preserved as a historic site and paranormal
venue, with tours highlighting its eerie, labyrinthine interiors.
The overall footprint includes the main building, detached
laundry/boiler house (connected via tunnel), and the 1914 children's
pavilion (now ruins).
Below is the map of the complex of Waverly Hills as it existed in 1954. The plan is aligned so that the top is the Western direction. Most of the buildings that you see on the map have been torn down. However the roads and rail road are still in place. Several buildings are now covered by the dense forest that shrunk in the past decades due to construction boom. As far as I know no one tried to carry out any archeological digs around the area. Many items might be found that can give a greater feel for the time period and daily life of the people here.
Waverly Hills Tuberculosis Hospital was served by Illinois Central Railroad that supplied 75 carloads of coal to the medical complex annually.
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First Floor
Lobby (covered with multiple graffiti)
Morgue
Maintenance office
Dentist
Library
Solarium with patient rooms
Medical labs
X- ray and dark room
One Nurse's station
Salon/
Barber shop
Entrance to beginning of the Body Shute
Breaker and
transformer rooms
Cold rooms for food
Old electric potato pealer
Second Floor
Chapel
Two Nurse's stations
Kitchen could feed
over 500 people at a single seating
Dining room usually seated 328
people, but could expand to 448 people
Small dining room
Minor
surgery room
Solarium
Patients' rooms
Small kitchen
Third Floor
Minor surgery room
Small dining hall
Small kitchen
Two Nurse's stations
Occupational Therapy
Solarium
Patients'
rooms
Fourth Floor
Two Nurse's Stations
Waiting Room
Major
Surgery Room with adjacent room
Recovery Room
Small Kitchen
Small Dining Hall
Solarium
Patients' Room
Fifth Floor
Heliotherapy or therapy with sun light
Small kitchen
Room 520
Children's playground
Bell tower
Small kitchen
Basement
Access to Laundry Building
Elevator Maintenance
Pipe Maintenance
Solariums and Porches: Central to every floor, these glass-enclosed
or open-air spaces allowed patients to recline in beds wheeled to
windows or balconies for UV exposure, believed to kill TB bacteria. The
batwing shape funneled prevailing winds through these areas for
ventilation.
Nurses' Stations: Positioned at corridor intersections
on most floors, often with small adjacent rooms for medicine, linens,
and pantries, enabling efficient monitoring.
Patient Rooms: Typically
20x20 feet, with two beds per room, high ceilings (12-15 feet), and
operable windows/doors to porches. Rooms were segregated by gender and
disease stage.
Body Chute Tunnel: A 500-600-foot enclosed
subterranean tunnel (45 feet underground at deepest) from the
first-floor morgue to the hill's base, originally for coal/supply
delivery via motorized rail and cable car. During peak operations
(1920s-1940s), it transported up to two bodies daily discreetly to
railroad tracks, preventing demoralization. Features concrete steps on
one side, rail on the other, and periodic air shafts for
light/ventilation. Side branches connected to laundry and steam plants.
Other Tunnels: Access tunnels below the main building linked to the
boiler room and laundry, with crawl spaces for pipe maintenance.
Elevators serviced upper floors, with a basement for mechanicals.
Rooftop and Exteriors: The fifth-floor roof served as an open-air
treatment area, with playground elements for children.
The 1914 children's pavilion, separate from the main building, was a
two-story wooden structure with dorm-style rooms and a schoolroom, now
overgrown ruins. Laundry facilities were in a detached brick building at
the hill's base, linked by tunnel for soiled linens (burned if
contaminated). The site's hillside location aided drainage and views,
but contributed to isolation.
This layout, while innovative for 1926,
became obsolete by the 1950s as TB waned. Preservation efforts since
2001 by owners Tina and Charlie Mattingly focus on restoration, with
tours navigating the vast, decaying corridors—echoing with history's
weight.