Maryhill, Washington

Maryhill, Washington was named after Sam Hills wife and daughter. Sam Hill was an early successful settler to the Columbia River gorge. Having acquired 7000 acres, Sam Hill went on to construct the first paved road in the Pacific Northwest.

Sam Hill was born a Quaker and planned on developing a community for other Quakers to come to the Northwest for settlement. It never happened and the unused buildings burned to the ground a few years later.

This is the only building remaining of Sam Hills vision.

Sam Hill built this mansion on a cliff overlooking the mighty Columbia River for the family and on it's dedication was filled with American and European royalty.

The view from the back patio, 1000 feet above the river, is awesome.

Did I mention that the mansion is now an art museum? Called the Maryhill Museum of Art, it holds an eclectic collection from American Indians, kings and queens of Europe and modern mixed media as piece by Aurthur W. Higgins shows.

Marie, the Queen of Romania was a life long friend to Sam Hill and when the mansion was dedicated, she and her children traveled here with housewarming gifts.

Kenneth Standhardt of Pennsylvania has been doing geometric designs for over 40 years using just clay and a church key, ya...a beer can opener. With the many examples of his work was also a video showing you how he produces the complicated designs.

The star of the show, in my mind only, were the numerous pieces by the artist/sculpture Rodin.

Maryhill has the only plaster cast, reduced figure, version of "The Thinker" known.

Seraphine Soudbinine, a Russian artist, was a marble cutter in the Rodin studio and created this bronze portrait of the master as a gift.

There were 5 rooms with wonderful black and white photographs of indian chiefs and women along with Indian artifacts, these unusual beaded head-ware was an item I have never seen before.

What a great lunch view! If anyone notices that there is only one coffee and one sandwich, that is because...someone had to stay at the motorhome with the dogs and I won the "paper, rock, scissor".

Sam Hill was born a quaker pacifist who was heartbroken at the loss of of human life in the war of 1914-1918. He built a concrete "stonehenge" as a memorial to Washington's veterans. Finished in 1929, this was the first memorial to the WWI veterans in the United States.

Columns hold brass plaques with names and dates of the youth lost in Klickitat county during the war.

How lucky am I? I'm on the Maryhill property that utilizes the Maryhill Loops Rd as a race track for different speed trials. The Loops road was the first asphalt road in Washington, built to Hills specification with assorted materials.

This weekend, skateboarders were all up and down the Loops road at astonishing speeds. They were not all young daredevils, I talked to some racers who were in their 40's or early 50's and many from other counties.

Some groups stood on the boards and other trials had the speedsters sitting down. Figure this, the race Loop is 2.5 miles and the record on a skateboard is 3:04 minutes...that's flying on a road filled with nothing but tight corners and very few straightaways. 

If the museum,  speed course and stonehenge wasn't enough...there is also the Maryhill Winery. This is a huge stage with sloped grass seating for free live music on the weekends.

The winery had a beautiful cafe overlooking the Columbia Gorge next to the tasting room. I wasn't going to pay for tasting, I hate that...but it was only $5 for any combination of 6 wines. After tasting I still wished I hadn't done it because I found three reds I'd die for but I'm not about to spend $40 a bottle. All in all it was a wonderful visit and would not hesitate to tour all again.