The July sun filtered through the branches, casting funny pear-shaped shadows on the grass. The orchard was laden with fat purple pears. Vast vegetable gardens extended into the distance. A brick hotel rose from the gardens like a centerpiece, and laughter floated over to us from the patio restaurant around the corner. This seemed a place removed from the chaos of the city, a countryside outpost of peace.
I closed my eyes and tried to picture this place, McMenamins historic Edgefield Manor, when it was new. Edgefield Manor may be a quirky resort today, but back in 1911, it began its history as a “Poor Farm” for Multnomah County. That’s like a shelter becoming a Marriott. It’s weird.
If you enjoy exploring weird & wonderful places, McMenamins Edgefield in Troutdale, Oregon (about 30 minutes east of Portland) is one for the list. Visitors are welcome whether they’re hotel guests or not, and there’s a printable walking tour to help you explore the grounds and the fascinating history.
In today’s post, I’ll share the intriguing history of Edgefield and everything you need to know to visit Edgefield Manor yourself. For a virtual tour, start with our video below.
Video highlights of McMenamins Historic Edgefield Manor
History of Edgefield
According to the Oregon Encyclopedia, Edgefield Manor was built to shelter the poor in the countryside, where they could support themselves through growing food on the farm’s 345 acres. The poor farm began with about 200 residents and grew to just over 600 residents at its peak (during the Great Depression in the 1930s). As jobs became more available through the New Deal and to support the war effort for World War II a few years later, the population of Edgefield Manor began to decrease.
Per the McMenamins history of Edgefield, the majority of the residents who were left at Edgefield after World War II were quite old or ill, so the farm model wasn’t the right fit anymore. It transitioned over time into a nursing home instead. When the nursing home closed in 1982, the buildings fell into disrepair and were at risk of being demolished.
They were purchased by McMenamins in 1990 and gradually transformed into the quirky and creative resort we know today. Edgefield was the very first McMenamins hotel—before that, co-founders Mike and Brian McMenamin had specialized in pubs.
McMenamins in a Nutshell
Now Edgefield Manor is one of many McMenamins hotels and pubs in Oregon and Washington, all whimsical historical places that have been brought back to life. This interactive map shows all of the McMenamins locations.
What I love most about these places is that they don’t feel like old spaces or new spaces, but both simultaneously. The places’ history is used to inspire artists, who blend elements from the history with their own creativity to create unique paintings that fill the hallways.
Walking Tour of McMenamins Historic Edgefield Manor
It’s easy to wander through the halls of the main Edgefield Manor lodge, entranced by the combination of weird surreal artwork and historical photographs.
The main lodge was the poor farm’s dormitory building, but the farm had several smaller buildings—a cannery, a power station, an ice house, and various sheds, to name a few. These buildings have been beautifully reimagined, and transformed into restaurants and theaters, a distillery, pubs, a tea house, and even a glass-blowing studio and a pottery studio. The basement of the old infirmary wing has been transformed into a winery. We enjoyed stopping by the glass-blowing studio, where we saw one of the glass artists at work.
Food is still grown on site, and the extensive gardens are open for visitors to explore. We saw vegetable gardens, vineyards, and orchards with pear trees and apple trees laden with fruit. There are also ornamental gardens seemingly everywhere, with flowers bursting from all the in-between spaces.
McMenamins has put together a walking tour map of Edgefield Manor, so we used it as a guide to explore the grounds and learn the history. Here is the link to download the walking tour map, in case you’d like to visit Edgefield Manor yourself!
The “Loading Dock” grill has outdoor seating, so we paused in our wanderings for lunch. The menu is pretty standard “pub” food—burgers and sandwiches, with a plethora of creative drinks. There are always multiple vegetarian options, and this time I had a garden burger and sweet potato fries.
McMenamins Passport
I just learned about the McMenamins passport program after our Edgefield Manor visit, so we didn’t get our passport stamps! This is a fun program that encourages visitors to earn a passport stamp from each McMenamins location they visit. The stamps can be used to earn prizes, with the grand prize featuring points that can be used for hotel stays. The passport books are $35, but theoretically they pay back through the prizes earned.
You can either earn a stamp by solving a clue or completing a task about the location, or by making a purchase. Since we love exploring all the weird art and creative spaces, we’re excited to join the passport program and solve the location clues. Hopefully we’ll solve enough to earn a stay at one of these bizarre hotels! I’ll share more about the passport program once we’ve started on our passport stamp quest.
Have you participated in the passport program already? Let us know in the comments how it’s going!
Other Adventures in the Pacific Northwest
Thanks for joining us at McMenamins Historic Edgefield Manor! For more travel ideas in the Pacific Northwest, check out our PNW Trip Planner. You can find adventures near you and filter by season and difficulty level. There are weird and wonderful things to explore any time of year. The trip planner links to blog posts to help you plan your next adventure.
Happy exploring!
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