Oregon Resorts
Explore Oregon

Escape To An Oregon Resort

written by Sheila G. Miller In the beginning, there was Sunriver. And it was good. It was very good. Sunriver Resort, which was built as a World War II training post called Camp Abbot, became Oregon’s first big resort back in the 1960’s. It wasn’t alone, though it was certainly the best known of the group. Early resorts in Oregon include Black Butte Ranch outside of Sisters, Salishan Resort on the Oregon Coast, Tu Tu’ Tun tucked away on the Rogue River in Southern Oregon, and Resort at the Mountain in Welches (now known as Mt. Hood Oregon Resort). #1 OLD FAVORITES Sometimes glory fades. Sometimes it’s reborn again and again. At Salishan, one of Oregon’s first and most reliable resorts, that rebirth is taking place as we speak. It’s hard work keeping a coastal resort looking good—the wind and the rain of the Oregon Coast can weather even the…

Business

GoCamp Is a Dream Deliverer

GoCamp gets camper vans in on the sharing economy and delivers adventure written by Sheila G. Miller Instagram posts with the hashtag #vanlife have become all the rage in recent years. I can’t possibly be the only Oregonian who looks wistfully at the wild vistas and the perfectly kitted vans and thinks, “Why not me?” Here’s why not: a new or gently used camper van can set you back between $20,000 and $100,000 and aren’t necessarily realistic for daily driving. Most of us will never own one. But that doesn’t mean the dream is dead—that’s where GoCamp comes in. Deborah Kane started GoCamp partly out of a desire to get others out into the wilderness and partly to prevent her camper van from sitting in her driveway all the time. Kane, who rents out her basement apartment in Southeast Portland using Airbnb, had her a-ha moment in 2017. “Through my…

Business

Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue: Rhonda and Jim Urquhart’s devotion to donkeys

written and photographed by Joni Kabana Rhonda and Jim Urquhart of the Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue, had no idea what they were getting into when they decided to uproot from their arid Arizona homes and “move to green” after visiting an Oregon farm with its caving red barn. “I think we’re home!” exclaimed Rhonda during their first viewing, while driving past the front gate. They returned to Arizona and rounded up their dogs, loaded up a van and followed a leap of faith into lush Oregon territory. Fast forward more than a decade to present day—it is apparent they found their calling: fostering neglected and misunderstood donkeys via the Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue organization and working with the Wild Burro Project. After adopting their first two donkeys soon after moving to the 40-acre Oregon City farm, they immediately “fell in love with this invisible equine.” “They aren’t stupid or stubborn…

Explore Oregon

The Hoxton Portland

written by Jen Stevenson If banishing the winter doldrums with a vacation (or staycation) to Stumptown is just what the doctor ordered, pack your best walking wellies and check into this hip, playful, delightfully designed new downtown Portland hotel for a long cozy weekend of binge-watching, basement bar cocktail sipping and breakfast in bed. The sixth addition to the globetrotting U.K.-based chain, on the heels of outlets in Paris and Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood, The Hoxton Portland chose to homestead in downtown’s historic Old Town/Chinatown. Set in the 1907 Grove Hotel building at the corner of busy Burnside and NW 4th Street, just inside the landmark Chinatown Gateway, it’s steps from Voodoo Donuts and Portland Saturday Market, and a short stroll from the trendy Pearl District’s shops, parks and restaurants. Adventure seekers can rent a bicycle nearby and loop around Tom McCall Waterfront Park’s riverfront trail to the Eastbank Esplanade and…

Food+Drink

Smallwares

written by Jen Stevenson To the great delight of fans left devastated by the 2016 closure of chef Johanna Ware’s “inauthentic Asian” restaurant, and only somewhat mollified by her ensuing counter-service spinoff (Wares) inside Sandy Boulevard’s The Zipper food court, Smallwares has risen again in the former Chalino space on NE Fremont Street—with the same signature red shelves and fish-sauce-splashed fried kale and candied bacon, plus a few new culinary twists. As usual, Ware’s menu pulls no flavor punches—try the Dungeness crab and pickled pear salad in Korean chili dressing, hanger steak with curried tomato jam over smoky braised greens, and seared scallops with yuzu brown butter and chickpea miso purée. Oyster lovers, get in on the daily dollar happy hour bivalves doused in fish sauce vinaigrette. Brunchers, arrive at the stroke of 10 a.m. for a hangover-banishing kimchi juice-spiked Bloody Mary, loco moco smothered in togarashi gravy, and buttery…

Home+Garden

Portland Condo Interior

An interior designer turns a small Portland condo into a personal haven written by Melissa Dalton | photos by Christopher Dibble Kristen Siefkin is no stranger to reinvention. The Portland-based interior designer first became intrigued with her field while working as a public relations professional for McMenamins Hotels, Pubs and Breweries in the late ’90s. “Design had never really been on my radar,” Siefkin said. “I always hear designers say, ‘I grew up rearranging my family’s living room,’ and that was never me. I learned about design from Mike McMenamin, who was obsessed with the details and history and creating layers and creating spaces that people talk about.” After that unofficial introduction, Siefkin studied the topic formally at the Heritage School of Interior Design and swapped her PR career in 2015 to start her own firm, Interior Design Alchemy. In the interim years, she cultivated her passion for design via…

Oregon Books

If, Then: The Road Not Taken

A debut novel takes on visions of what could have been, or could be interview by Sheila G. Miller In Kate Hope Day’s new novel, If, Then, you can almost feel the gloom and fog of an Oregon mountain town pressing in on you. Put up your hood—the downpour is coming, and it’s not just rain. Day’s book takes us into the lives of a group of neighbors who live near the base of a dormant volcano known as Broken Mountain. Their lives get complicated when they begin seeing flashes of their lives, but different—a mom who didn’t die of cancer, a different partner, a new pregnancy. Day sat down with 1859 to explain just what it is about Oregon that inspired this type of imaginative work. How did you develop the idea for this first novel?It came out of two big life changes—having my first child and moving to…

Farm to Table

Oregon-grown hot peppers can spice up any meal

written by Sophia McDonald | photography by Amanda Loman Chili peppers have long been considered an aphrodisiac. The theory goes that the capsaicin, or spicy compound, in these colorful vegetables triggers a release of endorphins as it hits the tongue. That little release of pleasure makes your body warm and ready for other pleasurable activities. Oregon-grown hot peppers aren’t available in stores or farmers markets around Valentine’s Day, but those lucky enough to have stocked up on chili powders and fermented hot sauces from Crossroads Farm near Eugene can still get their spicy fix. Debbie Tilley, who operates the 25-acre organic farm with her husband, Ben, has been producing value-added goods for decades. She used to specialize in dried flower arrangements and ornamental produce, including strings of chilis similar to the ristras found all over New Mexico. “About [the year] 2000, dried flowers died. Dead in the water,” she said….

Food+Drink

Home Grown Chef: The Spice of Life

written by Thor Erickson | photography by Charlotte Dupont My wife’s brother-in-law is a great cook. He has no formal training in the culinary arts, yet Kelley is one of the best cooks I know. Not only does he have the right instincts for flavor and texture, he practices great technique, has a mind for weight and volume conversion, and keeps a seriously clean kitchen. I know that his upbringing as the second youngest son of six kids in 1960s, pre-Disney-World Orlando played into this. When he was not horrifying his mother by repairing motorcycles in the living room while blasting Lynyrd Skynyrd, he was helping her make supper. A decade ago, well after Kelley had moved to Tigard, he gave me a Christmas present—a quart-sized Mason jar of what his homemade label declared “Three Jackass Rub.” He and a couple of neighborhood buddies had made the spice blend, primarily…

Home+Garden

Global Eclectic

Get the global eclectic look of Siefkin’s unique home at these Oregon-based marketplaces Don’t have any international travel plans in the near future? Take a stroll through Cargo instead. With locations in Astoria, Portland, and online, Cargo offers handmade crafts, vintage treasures and décor items from a vast array of countries. We’re partial to the selection of textiles, including vibrant kantha quilts from India and ikat pillows from the Ivory Coast. https://www.cargoinc.com/ If inspired by Siefkin’s use of Tansu chests, plan a visit to Aurora to shop at Aurora Mills Architectural Salvage and seek out similar, unique storage items, such as a Mid-century basket locker or early-1900s oak printer’s cabinet. You never know what you might find. www.auroramills.com Mix in a few modern pieces with the vintage gems after perusing the wares at the Portland-based Good Mod, a Mid-century furniture warehouse that also sells its own custom designs and those…