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33 THE SUNDAY OREG ONI AX, PORTLAND, AUGUST 26, 1906. " ; "
Rose Farm
BY MARION MACRAE.
IN 1849 Oregon Territory boasted of but
one really fine residence, and we of
today who Journey to Rose Farm,
near Oregon City, And that pioneer home
Intact and still occupied by the only liv
ing members of the family who .erected
it. Mrs. Dan O'Neil and Miss ' Mollie
Holmes. " This home was a mansion in
those early log-cabin days, and although
built 57 years ago It is still In an ex
cellent state of preservation, and Is
probably the only pioneer home in the
state which remains exactly as It was
in pioneer times. From many points of
view there is no more Interesting epot
in Oregon than the old Holmes home
stead, and were it not a bit difficult of
access it would be an ideal place to hold
the annual meeting of the Pioneer Asso
ciation.
William Livingston Holmes came to the
irreat Northwest Territory In ; 1S43 and
took up a land grant of 640 acres near
Oregon City. He had a large family, and
, the log cabin which was the first Oregon
home Of these southern pioneers was soon
considered too ' small. Mr. Holmes had
the Southern idea of a home, and he
proceeded to erect a spacious residence
among the giant firs of the Western for
est which would have been a credit to the
estate .of a Louisiana sugar-planter. Broad
verandas and plenty of room for the
proper entertainment of guests : were the
ideas around which this progressive citi
zen drew his plans, acting as his own
architect. It was possible to get some
rough-sawed lumber at that time, but
was not cheap, as everyone knows. Car
penters were engaged, and the hand
hewed timbers which formed the founda
tion were laid and the lumber planed by
band. The frame of this wonderful old
house Is mortised and wooden pegs used
instead of nails. The rooms are ceiled
with broad boards which were quite as
expensive as modern frescoing, and the
many windows were fitted with glass
panes, and the mammoth fireplaces built
of rock taken from the tall cliffs along
the Upper Willamette.
A 20-room residence Is out of the ordi
nary, even in these busy days of 1906, so
imagine what a house of that size meant
in '49. There is no home in Portland to
day which means as much to the commu
nity now as the 20-room house at Rose
Farm meant to Oregon 57 years ago. And
the crowning feature of this social center
was a ballroom in the second story ex
tending entirely across the front of the
house. Even today not many of us boast
ballrooms In private residences.
Southern Hospitality.
It was not alone the large, well-furnished
home which appealed to the neigh
bors and friends of the Holmeses in those
days, however. It was the gracious spirit
of hospitality which was extended to all,
the warm welcome which Invariably greet
ed every arrival, and there were many
of them. Today the two daughters of
Mr. and Mrs. Holmes still extend this
"greeting, and the visitor finds the old
home exactly as it was when' it was
necessary to travel to Oregon City by
boat and to climb the cliff on an Indian
pony to reach Rose Farm. True, there
are some changes, but the old furniture is
there, the old family portraits hang on
the wall, and the same old windlass which
was rudely constructed after the fashion
of '49 still does service at the well. In
front of the fireplace is the same shovel
which came across the plains with the
Holmeses In 1S43, now so worn tliat not
much more than the handle remains: and
odd bits of furniture which was hand
made after arriving in uregon are yet
doing service. The only discordant note I
in the living-room of this quaint home is
the presence of a telephone. It is tucked
away in the chimney corner, but it ob
trudes and offends, so out of place Is it in
this pioneer atmosphere.
One hardly knows where to begin In
describing this early mansion, but It
would seem that its two charming mis
tresses should come first. Mrs. O'Neil,
widow of the late Dan O'Neil, was Miss
Minnie Holmes, before her marriage In
1858, and now lives at the old homestead
with her sister, Miss Mollie Holmes. They
both have that indescribable charm of
manner which bespeaks gracious hospital-
Near Oregon City a Social Center in,
Pioneer Days.
The Home Remains as It Was Built and Furnished
in 1 849.
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Ity and welcome to all who turn In at
the open gate of the old home, and as
they sit and chat of those early days
when the young folks of Portland and
Oregon City flocked to Rose Farm to en
joy its social advantages, they seem to
live it all over again.
"Of course, we had to be prepared to
entertain many visitors over night," said
Mrs. O'Neil, when surprise was expressed
about the size of the house; "and we fre
quently used the ballroom for that pur
pose. We have sine run partitions
through it and made It into bedrooms,
but I have no doubt there are many peo
ple living around here who remember
when we used to dance ud there."
"There always seemed to be a lot of
horses hitched in front of the gate,"
added Miss Holmes. "Ten or twelve
standing there at one time was not at
all unusual everyone traveled horseback
then, you know. And, of course, every
one who came stayed all night, for it
wa not an easy matter to go down the
Indian trail over the cliff at night."
As they talked more visitors came up
the drive, Mrs. Eva Emery Dye bringing
a relative, Captain G. B. Emery, to call
on the widow of his old friend of M9.
And then we drew away and left the
old man of 78 years to tell his hostess
of the days when he and Captain Dan
O'Neil were officers on the same river
boat. The advent of this pioneer friend
seemed eminently fitting to the occas
ionIt fitted the frame made by the old
home for such a' picture.
With Miss Holmes, I went to explore
the quaint living-rooms of the home,
and when I stepped in I felt Just as all
visitors do who go to the homes of
"Washington and Jefferson at Mount Ver
non and Monticello, and involuntarily I
fell to picturing the scenes of other days
which had occurred within those walls.
Groups of merry young folks dressed in
the fashions of other days seemed to fill
the rooms; they sat on the broad, heavy
framed davenports. In the quaintly-fashioned
armchairs, and clustered around
the piano while one of the daughters of
the house played for their entertainment.
Then the sweet-faced mother of the
family appeared and bade them enter the
dinlngroom, where the evening meal was
served. Miss Holmes was in reality ar
ranging the furniture for the conven
ience of the photographer, but one
couldn't get away from that old-time
picture. There was another arrival out
side, heralded by the barking of dogs,
a stamping of feet on tbe broad gallery,
a welcome .at the door from the master
of the house the fiddlers had arrived for
the evening's dance.
I looked at the quaint chest which
Captain and Mrs. O'Neil brought from
India, and the many trophies from Aus
tralia and other distant countries. "They
went to Australia soon after their mar
riage," Miss Holmes was saying, and
then I thought of their wedding, which"
some one told me of long ago, when I
had never seen Rose Farm. Many of the
guests of that wedding are living in Port
land today, and although they have seen
their children and their grandchildren
married, they will probably never forget
the time when they went to Oregon City
in boats to attend the ceremony at Rose
Farm which made popular young Dan
O'Neil and Miss Minnie Holmes hus
band and wife. At that Ume Oregon had
not known such elaborate entertaining,
and this was a social event never forgot
ten by the beaux and belles of a half cen
tury ago. They danced until broad day
light, it is said, and it was one of the hap
piest times of that, or any other season, of
those early years.
The piano which Is still in use at Rose
Farm Is perhaps the most interesting
object in the house. It was not the first
one brought out, but is now probably the
(Concluded oq Fag 41.)