Oh the Places You'll Go: Pittock Mansion

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I think I started a series kind of like this years ago with a similar title—and like most series I start around here, it eventually got pushed to the side. I was reminded of it when I happened to check my followers list and saw @JohnRoberts. He used to post often about where he’d been and what he’d seen, and it inspired me to bring this back. I also know that @FourWalls shares all of her travel adventures too, and we love reading those—so I figured I’d join the party! (Don’t worry, I promise I’m not trying to steal anyone’s thunder.) I thought I’d kick off this little journey with a place I visited often while growing up. Many of you—well, at least some of you—know that I grew up in the Pacific Northwest. This particular mansion played a big part in the early history of several areas of Portland, Oregon. So, first stop on this adventure: Pittock Mansion, right in Portland. This gorgeous home (technically a château) was completed in 1914 for Henry Pittock—publisher of The Oregonian, Oregon’s biggest newspaper—and his wife, Georgiana. It has 46 rooms and sits on 46 acres of land. (I’ve always wondered if the matching number was intentional?) The mansion was built in the French Renaissance style using a unique type of sandstone, and construction began back in 1909, taking five years to finish. One of the first things you’ll notice when you arrive at Pittock Mansion—and it was always one of my favorite parts as a kid—is the incredible rose gardens. Georgiana had a serious green thumb and grew all kinds of plants and flowers while living there. She was also the founder of the Portland Rose Festival, which is still a huge event for Portland locals. Another thing you can’t miss is just how massive the house is—five floors in total. The ground level holds the laundry and boiler rooms, along with the museum space. The first and second floors were the family’s main living quarters, and today, they’ve been beautifully restored to show what they would have looked like when the Pittocks lived there. Those floors are included in the museum tour. The top two floors were originally staff and servants’ quarters. I think they’re used as office space now, but I’ve heard you can request special tours that include the entire house. I got to see all five floors at least once while growing up! One of my absolute favorite things in the mansion? The staircases. Even as a little kid, I was completely obsessed with them. They’re just so grand and beautifully crafted. I guess you can thank my grandpa for that—he taught me a lot about woodworking when I was tiny, so I’ve always appreciated a well-built staircase. The first big renovation of the mansion happened in 1965, and it took fifteen months to complete. Once it was finished, the house officially opened for tours and became the museum it is today. Fun fact: the house and its grounds have appeared in a few movies! With its dark wood and vintage early-1900s decor, it makes a perfect backdrop for spooky films. In fact, my aunt and uncle were extras in The Haunting of Sarah Hardy, a 1989 movie starring Sela Ward that was filmed there. And of course—because it’s an old mansion—there are rumors of hauntings. Some visitors say they catch the scent of rose perfume in the air, which people like to think is Georgiana’s way of saying she’s still around, keeping an eye on things. There are also reports of a woman in a white dress, who many believe is her spirit. So that wraps up the first stop on this journey through places I’ve been. I hope you enjoyed it—and I can’t wait to share more!