SITUATED IN A PARK-LIKE SETTING OF TWENTY-SIX ACRES, the three-story European, beaux-arts style concrete mansion overlooks the Columbia River Gorge and was designed as a residence in 1914 by the nationally recognized architects Hornblower and Marshall. The building is constructed of steel I-beams with interior steel studs. The walls, floors, and ceilings are of poured concrete reinforced with steel. No wood has been used in the structural parts of the building. The recessed windows are a distinctive trademark of the firm.

It was dedicated in 1926 by Queen Marie of Romania, opened to the public in 1940, and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. The building houses the museum’s collections, exhibits, program space and staff.

 

The gardens are an oasis of green within the stark dry landscape of the eastern end of the Columbia River Gorge. Hill purchased the site from the Gillenwaters, and the orchards and vegetable gardens developed by them were part of his farming enterprise. Although never fully realized, early plans included formal gardens in the European style.

Today the park includes the Grand Lawn, shady picnic grounds, the east lawn, the Sculpture and Rose gardens, the Lewis and Clark Overlook and Native Plant Garden, the North Lawns and Entrance Drive. The peacocks were added in the late 1970s to the delight of its visitors each year. The grounds are also home to a wide variety of wildlife, including flickers, crows, turkey, quail, black birds, raptors, fox, raccoon, and an occasional coyote or bobcat. The site is an official site on the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail and was recently listed on Sun and Sage Loop site of the Great Washington State Birding Trail by Audubon Washington.

 

Lewis & Clark Overlook / Native Plant Garden

The Lewis and Clark Overlook and Native Plant Garden sits on a point at the museum's eastern edge where its lush gardens meet sagebrush ranchlands. This dramatic setting affords visitors vast panoramic views of the Columbia River Gorge, surrounding plateaus, and majestic Mt. Hood. Situated where visitors begin their journey both to the museum and surrounding region, it includes a site-specific sculpture by architect Brad Cloepfi, The Maryhill Overlook, part of a larger concept titled the Sitings Project. Aligned on a north-south axis, the structure follows a slope right to the edge of a high bluff overlooking the Columbia River. The architect states that the “project is formed by a single ribbon of concrete that emerges from the earth and moves across the landscape, enfolding volumes that open and close to the sky. These simple volumes are marked with openings that establish specific references in the surrounding landscape. Rather than attempt to control and scale this vast space, the project marks the landscape with an experimental aperture. The overlook transforms in response to the shifting quality of light and changing point of view.” Indeed the sculpture encourages visitors to interact with the natural landscape by viewing isolated portions of it through windows and cut-outs designed into its surfaces.

Surrounding the sculpture is an accessible winding pathway taking visitors through the museum’s native plant garden highlighting plants collected by Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery on their journey in 1806 – 1806. The garden also features interpretative panels on the history Maryhill Museum of Art, its 5,300 acre ranchlands, and regional attractions.

Maryhill’s Ranchlands

In 1907 Samuel Hill (1857–1931) bought the first 240 acres of land that would soon grow to include some seventeen farms and ranches. This first parcel belonged to the Gillenwaters, and according to Hill, the family grew a wide variety of crops including grapes, peaches, plums, prunes, pears, apples, watermelons, quinces, apricots, almonds, and more. He wrote to his brother Richard, “We have found the Garden of Eden… It is the garden spot of the world — the most beautiful country I have ever seen.” He continued to write that he took his cousin to the top of the mountain and “showed her the kingdoms of the earth.”

Today Hill’s 5,300 acres of ranch land include the museum and its surrounding parklands, Stonehenge and the Klickitat County War Memorial the historic Maryhill Loops Road and Lower Road, the historic Maryhill town site, three residences and twenty-five outbuildings. The museum still manages Hill’s ranch, and while much of the land remains wild, portions are leased to ranchers and farmers to graze cattle and raise grain and fruit crops.

Maryhill Museum of Art and its surrounding 5,300 acres has been placed on the National Historic Registry of Places, and in 2001 the museum and its site was listed as an official site of the National Historic Lewis and Clark Trail.