Imbrie Farm
Encyclopedia
Imbrie Farm is an Italian Villa
style home in Hillsboro, Oregon
. It was built by Robert Imbrie and was a working farm
for over a century. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places
in 1977.
Located just south of U.S. Route 26 on Cornelius Pass Road
, the estate is now home to a McMenamins
brewpub, the Cornelius Pass Roadhouse. Original structures on the farm include the home, a unique eight-sided barn, and a shed.
based McMenamins. The property contains English chestnut and black walnut
trees that have been there for more than 130 years.
.
James’ sons, James III and Robert, each developed farms in Washington County. James’ area was in North Plains
, while brother Robert took over and expanded a neighboring farm (Lenox Farm
), where the current buildings are located. Robert immigrated to Oregon via ship around Cape Horn
.
Robert built a granary
in the mid-1850s, then a decade later built the three-story, Italian Villa-style home that still stands today. It took three years beginning in 1866 to complete construction on the home, which they named the Gables. At this point, the family included 12 children and Robert’s mother. During this time the family raised Morgans as draft animals to sell to other farmers. Once Robert’s son Frank (d. 1945) took over, he turned the farm into a dairy and added the unique eight sided barn around 1900.
Later generations of the family lived in the home, adding electricity and indoor plumbing in the 1930s. James Hay, Frank’s son, transitioned the farm into grain and hay production, including barley that was used in Blitz-Weinhard beer in the mid 1900s.
By the 1970s the family had stopped the agrarian activities, and in 1977 Gary (James, Jr.’s great great grandson) opened the Imbrie Farmstead Restaurant at the old home.
In 1986 current owner McMenamins took over operations (eventually purchasing and restoring the buildings) and turned the property into the Cornelius Pass Roadhouse, a brewpub.
Italianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
style home in Hillsboro, Oregon
Hillsboro, Oregon
Hillsboro is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and is the county seat of Washington County. Lying in the Tualatin Valley on the west side of the Portland metropolitan area, the city is home to many high-technology companies, such as Intel, that compose what has become known as the...
. It was built by Robert Imbrie and was a working farm
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
for over a century. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1977.
Located just south of U.S. Route 26 on Cornelius Pass Road
Cornelius Pass Road
Cornelius Pass Road is an arterial road over Cornelius Pass in the Tualatin Mountains west of Portland, Oregon, USA. Running north–south, the road stretches between U.S. Route 30 on the north and Oregon Route 8 on the south...
, the estate is now home to a McMenamins
McMenamins
McMenamins is a chain of nearly sixty brewpubs, microbreweries, music venues, historic hotels, and theater pubs. The chain is located mostly in the Portland metropolitan area, but has many other locations in Oregon and Washington...
brewpub, the Cornelius Pass Roadhouse. Original structures on the farm include the home, a unique eight-sided barn, and a shed.
Currently
The old farmstead is a brewpub operated by Portland, OregonPortland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
based McMenamins. The property contains English chestnut and black walnut
Black Walnut
Juglans nigra, the Eastern Black walnut, is a species of flowering tree in the hickory family, Juglandaceae, that is native to eastern North America. It grows mostly in riparian zones, from southern Ontario, west to southeast South Dakota, south to Georgia, northern Florida and southwest to central...
trees that have been there for more than 130 years.
History
The Imbrie family arrived in the mid-1840s as part of Oregon’s first flood of white settlers. The Imbries came to Oregon from the Midwest, but the family’s patriarch, James Imbrie, Jr., was born and raised in the Kingdom of Fife on the southeast coast of ScotlandScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
James’ sons, James III and Robert, each developed farms in Washington County. James’ area was in North Plains
North Plains, Oregon
North Plains is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States, off U.S. 26 on the northwest outskirts of the Portland metropolitan area. The population was 1,605 at the 2000 census; by July 2007 the population was estimated to be 1,813.-Geography:...
, while brother Robert took over and expanded a neighboring farm (Lenox Farm
David Thomas Lenox
David Thomas Lenox was an American pioneer who settled in the Oregon Country where he organized the first Baptist Church west of the Rocky Mountains. A native of New York, he lived in Illinois and Missouri before he was captain of the first wagon train over the Oregon Trail to what became the...
), where the current buildings are located. Robert immigrated to Oregon via ship around Cape Horn
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
.
Robert built a granary
Granary
A granary is a storehouse for threshed grain or animal feed. In ancient or primitive granaries, pottery is the most common use of storage in these buildings. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animals.-Early origins:From ancient times grain...
in the mid-1850s, then a decade later built the three-story, Italian Villa-style home that still stands today. It took three years beginning in 1866 to complete construction on the home, which they named the Gables. At this point, the family included 12 children and Robert’s mother. During this time the family raised Morgans as draft animals to sell to other farmers. Once Robert’s son Frank (d. 1945) took over, he turned the farm into a dairy and added the unique eight sided barn around 1900.
Later generations of the family lived in the home, adding electricity and indoor plumbing in the 1930s. James Hay, Frank’s son, transitioned the farm into grain and hay production, including barley that was used in Blitz-Weinhard beer in the mid 1900s.
By the 1970s the family had stopped the agrarian activities, and in 1977 Gary (James, Jr.’s great great grandson) opened the Imbrie Farmstead Restaurant at the old home.
In 1986 current owner McMenamins took over operations (eventually purchasing and restoring the buildings) and turned the property into the Cornelius Pass Roadhouse, a brewpub.
Key dates
- 1843: 18 year-old Edward Henry Lenox (from KentuckyKentuckyThe Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
) travels over the Oregon TrailOregon TrailThe Oregon Trail is a historic east-west wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon and locations in between.After 1840 steam-powered riverboats and steamboats traversing up and down the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers sped settlement and development in the flat...
and stakes a claim to the present farm site. - 1850-59: Robert Imbrie acquires the Lenox farm and builds the current granary.
- 1863-66: Robert has the three-story, gabled farm home built.
- 1897: Robert dies.
- 1933: Imbries begin selling barley to Blitz-Weinhard.
- 1945: Frank Imbrie dies.
- 1962: James Hay Imbrie shuts down the family’s centennial farm.
- 1968: James Hay dies.
- 1969: James Hay’s son, Frank, moves his family onto the old homestead. His children are the sixth and final generation of Imbries to live there.