The Pittock Mansion, the iconic estate that overlooks our fair city from a hilltop high above West Burnside Street, turns 100 this year. To celebrate, visitors can tour the beautiful 23-room home for FREE, Saturday, February 1 through Monday, February 10. That’s a savings of $9.50 for adult general admission. Hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.
The mansion was built by Henry L. Pittock, who came to Oregon by wagon train in 1853. Just seven years later, when he was 26 years old, he took over ownership of The Oregonian newspaper and built it into a thriving enterprise. The same year he took a bride, Georgiana Martin Burton of Missouri. She was just 15 years old and like her husband, had moved to Oregon via wagon train.
In their 58-year marriage Henry and Georgiana had six children and numerous successful business enterprises. They were generous with their money and their community spirit. As a visual representative of the pinnacle of their success, they commissioned the construction of the mansion in 1909 and moved into the house in 1914. Besides a showcase of fine craftsmanship, the Pittocks’ home boasted some gee-whiz features for the day, including a central vacuum and an intercom system, an elevator and Henry Pittock’s amazing shower, where streams of water blasted his diminutive (5’2″) body from all directions.
If you feel adventurous, don’t visit the Pittock Mansion by car. Take the hiking trail that begins under the Thurman Street Bridge at the Lower Macleay Park Trailhead. Follow the trail along Balch Creek to the Wildwood Trail and the Upper Macleay Park Trail. Cross Cornell Road at the crosswalk to the Pittock Mansion’s 46-acre spread that sits nearly 1,000 feet above the city that the Pittocks loved so dearly. From here you’ll enjoy the same spectacular view of Mount Hood that they admired from their window. Round-trip it’s a five-mile hike.
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