Our historic bed and breakfast reflect elegance and peace that is as timeless as the countryside that surrounds it.
The story of the Sandlake Country Inn, our historic bed and breakfast began on Christmas morning in 1890, when Ezra Chamberlain received an unusual gift – one million board feet of virgin red fir bridge timbers dumped on his beach by a shipwrecked wooden full rigger, the Struan.Historic Bed and Breakfast farmhouse 1894
By 1894, his neighbor, W.C. King lugged enough of the 3×12’s to his homestead to construct a sturdy farmhouse. Everett & Nellie Allen bought it in 1907 and for 80 years the “Old Allen Place” stood the test of time with character.
Now on the Oregon Historic Registry, Sandlake Country Inn welcomes you to cross over the time bridge into a quieter, unhurried world.
Historic Bed and Breakfast farmhouse Sandlake Country Inn 2015When you enter Sandlake Country Inn one of the first things you will notice is the ceiling of exposed 3″ x 12″ bridge timbers the house was built from.
There are several places in the house you can find evidence of the original bridge timbers.
The Timbers Suite is the room that shows these timbers off the most.One million board feet of these bridge timbers had been strewn on the beach just south of Cape Lookout and was quite a bonanza for homesteaders since lumber mills were far from this community and moving lumber over crude roads was nearly impossible.
Although the lumber from the Struan was available for the taking, it had to be moved from the beach, which was a formidable task. With teams of draft animals, the settlers hauled the big 3 x 12’s southward to the mouth of Sand Lake estuary. At high tide they rafted and floated the pieces as close as possible to building sites, using animals again for the final leg. exposed bridge timbers in Timbers Suite at Sandlake Country Inn
The original homesteader, W.C. King built this strong farmhouse where he became one of the first cranberry farmers in Oregon. On the farm he also kept bees, made cheese and raised hogs and beef cattle for market.
In the late 1800’s, life was not easy for these settlers. In the rainy winter time, the men were forced to take the Native American trail over Cape Lookout, row across the mouth of Netarts Bay and hitch a ride into Tillamook for supplies. Then they would reverse their route, each with 100 pounds of food staples on their back and walk the final leg over the cape to Sandlake.
the exposed ceiling of bridge timbers at Sandake Country Inn
In 1903, W.C. King sold the farmhouse to the Allen family who lived and farmed this property for many years. After more than 80 years, in 1989, the farmhouse was sold and turned into the historic bed and breakfast, Sandlake Country Inn.
To discover more about vacationing at our award-winning bed and breakfast near Pacific City, OR, please visit our Area Attractions page or our Getaway pages
For guests interested in the pioneers and history of the area, be sure to visit the Tillamook Pioneer Museum in downtown nearby Tillamook