EDITOR’S NOTE
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Carol@DonNunamaker.com RealEstateinTheGorge.com HoodRiverProperties.com NEW PRICE
WHITE SALMON $809,000: Custom Log Home just a mile from White Salmon. 3 BRs, 2 BAs, 2299 sqft, 3.06 acres plus a studio apt above the 2 car detached garage. Main floor: bedroom w/in room bathroom, vaulted living, dining, kitchen w/hydronic floor, wood stove & mini split, concrete countertops, eat in cooktop island. Upstairs: Master BR ensuite & entertainment loft. Mature landscaping, covered patio, lawn, garden, barn & swimming hole and walking/biking trails. RMLS 19330818
uring the first summer I spent in the Gorge, back in the early 1990s, I met some fellow windsurfers who were living in Bingen. I assumed they had rented a house there. But at some point around mid-summer they invited me to stop by and it turned out they were staying at the Bingen School Inn. They shared a (messy) dorm-style room at the hostel, which still had a lot of memorabilia around from its decades as the school for Bingen and White Salmon. I found it weirdly cool. We mostly hung around outside, sitting at the picnic tables in the afternoon sun, and I ended up there several more times that summer.
Well, a lot has changed since then. The old school was bought in 2017 and the new owners, who previously turned a defunct building in Portland’s Old Town into a popular hotel, brought their hybrid hotelhostel vision to the Gorge (page 14). The Society Hotel Bingen opened last Memorial Day Weekend and the buzz it’s generated is well-deserved. The renovation kept much of the feel of the old school — lockers in the hallway, old chalkboards, the gym and its built-in bleachers — while simultaneously turning it into a hip destination. When I go there now, instead of sitting at the picnic tables (still there, on a welcoming patio near the entry), I gravitate to the lobby library, where books line an entire wall surrounding the fireplace, complete with their Dewey decimal system catalog numbers. Everything old is new again here, and the things that are new fit tastefully in to this Bingen gem. We found some other gems around the Gorge. The National Neon Sign Museum in The Dalles is something you may not know about, but should (page 12). Founder David Benko, who has been collecting signs since he was a teenager, has turned the former Elks Lodge building into a fascinating trip through more than a century of Americana. It’s a true visual feast. Another gem is Dyana Fiediga’s Clay Commons pottery studio in Hood River (page 26), which fosters an ever-growing community of potters who learn, laugh, discuss, teach, befriend, and sometimes just quietly listen, while creating with clay. Yet another gem: the Sense of Place lecture series put on by Gorge Owned, which celebrates its 10th season this year (page 54).
HOOD RIVER $1,234,000: Classic turn of the century Farmhouse built in 1908! Mt. Hood & Mt. Adams view!!! 4 BRs, 1.5 BAs, 3353 sqft. 21.69 total acres. Interior: high ceilings, crown molding, hardwood floors, basement for recreation & storage. Remodeled outbuildings: Cottage guest house, 2 car detached garage, work studio/office w/hot tub & sauna and general purpose barn. 19.9 acres irrigable acres for cherry & pear production. RMLS 19121902
David Hanson’s feature on clean energy in the Gorge (page 44) is a must-read. He looks at some intriguing, and sometimes controversial, projects and proposals happening here that are leveraging our region’s gifts from nature with technology to take us into the future of energy. You’ll find plenty of good reads and visual fun in this issue. It’s our mission and we take it seriously. That’s why we were gratified to win several awards at this fall’s Pacific NW Magazine Group Contest, including top honors for Best Writing, and second place for Best Overall Design. We love bringing Gorge stories to you in these pages each season. Thanks for reading. Have a great winter! —Janet Cook, Editor
HOOD RIVER $475,000: Single Level Home in a Great Neighborhood. Almost one owner home meticulously maintained. 3 BR, 2 BA, 1757 sqft on .13 ac lot. Hardwood floors in living, dining & kitchen, hickory cabinets, gas range, corian countertops, pantry, 9’ ceilings throughout w/ 10’10” vaulted living room, den/office, sliders from dining and master to backyard & patio. Quick driving or walking distance to Heights or Downtown. RMLS 19083282
WINTER 2019-20 thegorgemagazine.com
SALE PENDING
LIVING AND EXPLORING IN THE COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE
About the Cover The spa and bathhouse at the Society Hotel Bingen features a saltwater soaking pool, sauna, hot tub and cold plunge, along with massage rooms. A café serves fresh juice drinks, kombucha, beer, cocktails and healthy snacks. Non-guests of the hotel can purchase two-hour passes to the spa. (photo by Micah Cruver)
Society Hotel
Inn brings new-school lodging to Bingen
Signs of the Times An ode to neon in The Dalles
Clean Energy Nature and technology will power our future
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WINTER 2019-20 II THE GORGE MAGAZINE
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