tragedy struck the Clarks. Lewis was rapidly losing weight, and it was thought he was dying of cancer at age 49. In 1913 the Clarks spent Christmas in Santa Barbara, California. Their fortune had largely been spent, their mines stopped producing, and the real estate market had fallen. After Lewis took Winifred to the train station to return to Idaho, he dismissed his chauffeur and walked off into the night. Meanwhile Winifred returned to Hayden Lake and waited for Lewis’s return. He never came and he was never heard from again. His jacket was found in the ocean, but his body was never found. A rumor was he had committed suicide though some think he was a victim of foul play. In 1922, Winifred auctioned off her furnishings and lost her beloved Clark House. She died in 1940 with an estate valued at $10,000. For the next 25 years the Clark House was owned by a corporation, but it was abandoned and was vandalized and used by youths in the area for impromptu and illegal parties. Sadly, the stately mansion was trashed. The owners were considering burning it down and putting in a condo development, but because of the concrete structure, this was deemed financially prohibitive. The property, by now down to 10 acres of land, was put on the market. Mark Danner, from the San Francisco Bay area, was visiting the area for a wedding, and someone encouraged him to look at this structure. Though it was a wreck, he saw possibilities and called his father Monty, a successful businessman in San Francisco. Mark suggested that his dad come to Hayden Lake to see this still impressive property. They purchased it with plans to make it into a fine inn. It took them two years to clean and
A bench to view Hayden Lake offers a place for reflection.
refurbish it and make it into one of the most beautiful bed and breakfast inns in the country. The Clark House on Hayden Lake was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. It truly is a gem of the Northwest. We were so fortunate in dis-
August 2012 | The Good Life
covering for ourselves this place, and we hope to return here again for future anniversaries or any other excuse we can think of. Jim Brown, M.D., is a retired gastroenterologist who has practiced for 38 years in the Wenatchee area. He is a former CEO of the Wenatchee Valley Medical Center.
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