Each year millions of visitors take advantage of the highway system, heading east from Portland, Oregon through the Columbia River Gorge. In the harried pace of today it is sometimes easy to miss the full beauty of the area. That is, until you come around the bend near Corbett at exit 22. On your right is the famous basalt promontory known as Crown Point, topped by the majestic observatory known as Vista House.
Vista House is a hexagon
building located 733 feet above the Columbia River and was designed by Edgar M Lazarus.
Completed in 1918, after nearly two years of
construction, Vista House is a
museum that welcomes more than a million visitors each year and serves as a memorial to
Oregon pioneers and as a comfort station for travelers on the historic Columbia
River Highway.
The hexagonal
building features a domed rotunda 44 feet in diameter and houses restrooms and a
gift shop. The rotunda is 55 feet high with stairs that lead to an
elevated viewing platform at the base of the dome. The exterior is of a gray sandstone,
with a roof of Terra Cotta green and gold glazed tiles. The interior is a mix of Alaskan Tokeen Marble and
Kasota Limestone.
Vista
House is owned by the Oregon Department of Transportation and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 5, 1974. Crown Point was designated as a National Natural Landmark in
1971. Suffice it to say the views are spectacular.
Revenues from the gift
store and the espresso bar are used to help support the educational and
volunteer programs provided by Friends of Vista House as well as special Vista House projects that help preserve and maintain the
building.
For further information head over to their Facebook page.
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