Vista House a stunning winter sight
There are some images that are quintessentially Spokane – the Pavilion in Riverfront Park, the Spokane River falls and those enthusiastic Bloomsday runners every May, to name a few places and events that make pretty pictures.
And there’s also the Vista House on Mount Spokane, which presents stunning images that change with the seasons – the most spectacular being the winter wonderland look it takes on when heavily covered with snow and icicles. One skier remarked that it looks to her just like the snowy cottage in the film “Dr. Zhivago,” where the cinematic hero and his love spend an enchanted winter.
Romantic images aside, the granite structure is surely the most photographed spot within Mount Spokane State Park, the largest of Washington state parks at 14,000 acres. It sits at the top of Mount Spokane, which is the southernmost mountain in the Selkirk Range. The mountain is much older than the Rockies or the Cascades, with an estimated “birth” date of 425 million years ago, according to the online Encyclopedia of Washington State History.
Vista House was the first of five fire lookout structures built on the mountain. Various historic records list the construction date as 1933 or 1934. It was designed by Spokane architect Henry C. Bertelsen and built with native stone by the Civilian Conservation Corps, who came from their camp at Riverside State Park.
Though the upstairs portion of the building is no longer used as a fire lookout post, Steve Christensen, Mount Spokane park manager, said they hope to construct a new staircase on the north side of the structure and open the upstairs as an interpretive center.
“We’re just waiting for approval and hope to be in operation next summer,” he said. “We have all the historical information ready and need to resolve staffing issues for weekends and holidays.”
Now a day-use facility, the Vista House in the past had sometimes been an overnight spot for the Spokane Mountaineers who, during the 1930s, used to hike up on skis or snowshoes for an annual New Year’s Eve climb to experience nighttime Mount Spokane.
These days, groups can rent the facility for various functions during the warm-weather months, when the top of the mountain can be accessed by road. Christensen said about a half-dozen weddings occur there every year.
In the winter, Vista House is used as a warming shed for skiers who can get comfortable on the craftsman-created knotty pine chairs that can be pulled up close to the massive open fireplace. On ski-season weekends and holidays, beverages and a limited selection of food items are available for purchase.
In 2003 Vista House received one of the State Historic Preservation Officer’s Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Historic Preservation (rehabilitation category). The arts-and-crafts style structure underwent a $151,000 rehabilitation project which included a new roof of hand-cut cedar shakes, repair of masonry, installation of copper flashing, replacing broken windows, repainting and other miscellaneous touch-ups.
Charlie Karavitas, marketing manager for Mount Spokane, said he is amazed at the superb construction of Vista House. “The joists and walls remain as true as they can be for any structure at 5,800-plus feet of elevation,” he said. “The building is subject to tremendous tectonic forces in the form of many feet of snow and winds that can exceed 50 mph.”
No matter what the conditions, Mount Spokane Vista House remains pretty as a picture – a picture that says “Spokane” to all who see it.