Traveling to Portland: McMenamins Historic Hotels

Reader Contribution by Jessica Kellner and Editor-In-Chief
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Last June after the Mother Earth News Fair in Puyallup, Washington, my husband, James, baby, Julian, and I traveled down to Portland. I was going to the home of Cara and Jason Hibbs of Oh, Little Rabbit to photograph them and their home for a feature next spring. We’d booked a place to stay via Airbnb, but we didn’t know the homeowners had a cat and James is allergic, so we had to make last-minute plans. Lucky for us, we were very near The Kennedy School, one of 65 properties in the McMenamins chain of brewpubs, microbreweries, music venues, historic hotels and theaters. 

For those of you on the West Coast, this is probably old news, but many people around the rest of the country may not have heard of the chain—which is based mainly in Portland but also has locations around Oregon and Washington. The Kennedy School is an old elementary school that’s been converted to a hotel, replete with a movie theater (free to hotel guests but also open to the public), a wonderful restaurant with a gorgeous outdoor courtyard, a heated outdoor soaking pool, a variety of bars including a cigar lounge and more. Each room is decorated with vintage décor with dim lighting via antique chandeliers and heavy wooden headboards (ours was painted with an owl). 


 


 


 

We had such a great time we were sad to have to check out after two nights because they were all booked up. But, luckily for us, there are many more McMenamins locations, so we simply transferred our stuff to Edgefield. In Troutdale (about 20 minutes from Portland), Edgefield was build in 1911 as the county poor farm. It has a vineyard, huge organic gardens, a golf course, and a variety of restored historic buildings. The food—available from four different restaurants on site—is spectacular, the grounds are gorgeous. The rooms don’t include any televisions or phones, but you won’t miss them. Instead, visit the on-site spa and outdoor pool or watch live music at the outdoor pub. You can also watch on onsite glass-blower and potter at work or take in a movie at the on-site theater (family-friendly, the hotel offers a “Mommy Matinee” where kids can come and no one minds a little fussing). 


 


 

I’m a huge fan of the restoration of old buildings (my book, Housing Reclaimed, is all about homes built from reclaimed materials), so the McMenamins properties were so up my alley. They truly defined our trip to the Portland area and we had so much fun. I highly recommend anyone visiting Portland consider staying at one of these excellent historic properties!  

All photos courtesy McMenamins

  • Published on Aug 14, 2013
Tagged with: Reader Contributions
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