A young man, fresh out of college and looking for meaning in life, wonders why everything meaningful must be in nature. He cannot understand why people can't feel full of awe in front of things that are made by man. Riding through the countryside of Pennsylvania, he finds a collection of buildings all built on the same theme, made of fieldstone and glass. It makes sense to him; he sees Roark, and asks if they are real; Roark says it's a resort, which will open in a few weeks. The boy thanks him for building them and leaves, with a new sense of purpose and courage.
Roark goes to see Caleb Bradley about the Monadnock Valley resort project when he hears about it, not expecting to get the job. Bradley calls a few days later and arranges a meeting with the board; he tells them what he told Bradley, that for a summer resort for the middle class, the best thing would be to create privacy. Each house, pool, tennis courts, etc. should be hidden from each other in the hills. He signs a contract to build the resort, making sure that Bradley initials every drawing he makes.
During the last twelve months of the project, Roark and his builders set up shacks on the construction site and live there. They see it as a crusade; they know that no one can beat Roark, not the whole world. Mallory gets the feeling that it's the Stoddard Temple all over again, and says this to Roark. Roark agrees, but admits he doesn't know what they're after.
Kent Lansing sends Roark a wire from New York telling him that the Aquitania has been completed, and Roark goes to see it. He has been very busy in the past two years; commissions have been coming from all over the country. Mallory asks him why Bradley has been so quiet about the whole project; there has been almost no publicity since the construction began only ads that basically say that you will be bored to death if you come to Monadnock Valley. From its opening, though, the resort is full, and soon it is booked a year ahead of time. One day, Mallory comes to see Roark to tell him why there had been no press. Bradley and his company had sold two hundred percent of it. They had made money off wealthy people and expected to go bankrupt. They had chosen Roark as the architect most likely to fail. This enrages Mallory, seeing it as a cruel reality that the people who ordered Monadnock to be built had believed it was the worst thing that could be built, but Roark laughs, and says that Mallory feels the same way that Dominique used to feel.
Heller writes an article praising Roark and his buildings, and within a few months Roark is famous; everyone is talking about him, though most don't understand. Toohey writes an article about the resort and calls it a fraud and accuses its patrons of bad taste. In 1936 Roark is asked to be part of an eight-architect committee to design an exposition called "The March of the Centuries" at a World Fair. He says that he will design it, alone, and will not work on a committee. Peter Keating takes control of the committee.
Roark moves his office to the top floor of his Cord Building, from which he can see the Fargo store, the Enright House, the Aquitania, and the Dana Building. His secretary tells him that Gail Wynand has arranged to meet with him at Wynand's office the following day.
