How Queen Marie of Romania, the Last Queen of a Vanishing Kingdom, and Sam Hill, the King of Roads & Visionary, Created an Unlikely Royal Friendship and a Lasting Piece of History with a Remote Museum
Have you ever heard of Maryhill Museum of Art, a unique and isolated art museum in southern Washington State? If not, you're missing out on one of the most fascinating and surprising cultural destinations in the Pacific Northwest. In this blog post, I'll tell you the condensed story of how this beautiful and remote museum came to be my most favorite museum in the PNW, and how it is connected to two remarkable historical figures: Sam Hill and Queen Marie of Romania.
Maryhill Museum of Art is Sam Hill's former mansion turned museum, situated on a bluff overlooking the Columbia River Gorge, about 100 miles east of Portland, Oregon. This museum has such an eclectic collection of art and historical and natural resources, ranging from European sculptures and paintings to Native American artifacts and baskets, to Romanian folk costumes and furniture, to chess sets and icons. It also features rotating exhibitions, educational programs, and special events throughout the year. The museum’s gardens and grounds are also visually stunning, with many sculptures and eye-catching art.
So, who's idea was it to build a mansion in the middle of a desert? Sam Hill was a visionary entrepreneur, engineer, philanthropist, and pacifist, who was born in 1857 in Minnesota and moved to Seattle in 1901. He was involved in various projects, such as building the first asphalt road in Washington, designing and promoting the Historic Columbia River Highway, which was the first scenic highway in the country. He built the Astoria-Megler Bridge, The Bridge of the Gods, and The Hood River Bridge just to name a few of his PNW landmarks. He promoted agriculture and irrigation, and was a huge supporter of education and the arts. In 1907, he bought 5,300 acres of land in Maryhill, Washington and started building his mansion there in 1914, intending to make it his home and a Quaker farming community. However, he was forced to abandon the project in 1917, due to the lack of water and people, and thought to turn the unfinished mansion into a museum of art and culture, with the help of his very close friend, The Last Gypsy Queen.
Marie of Romania was the granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England. She's known for rejecting a marriage proposal from the future King George V because they were cousins. Instead, she married King Ferdinand of Romania and became the Queen of Romania. She was a wildly popular and influential figure who, not only played a key role in Romania’s entry into World War I, its unification with Transylvania, and its recognition by the Treaty of Versailles, making her a national heroine, but she was also a passionate patron of arts and culture, a fashion icon and a prolific writer of memoirs, novels, and poems. She had met Sam Hill in 1922, when he was visiting Romania to promote the International Peace Movement, and they had become kindred spirits. She donated more than 100 objects to the museum, that included paintings, sculptures, furniture, costumes, and personal items, and she also personally traveled to dedicate the museum in 1926. In her speech she praised Sam Hill's vision saying, "Sometimes the things dreamers do seem incomprehensible to others, and the world wonders why dreamers do not see the way others do."
As you can see, my fellow romantics and Pacific Northwest history buffs, Maryhill Museum of Art is not just another museum, but a true gypsy's gem. It's a testament to the vision, passion, and friendship of Sam Hill and Queen Marie of Romania, two extraordinary people who left their mark of beauty on history and culture. If you are looking for a unique and unexpected destination that offers something different and surprising, you should definitely visit this museum and experience it for yourself. You can find more information about the museum, its collection, and its events on its official website. maryhillmuseum.org
If you have any questions, comments, or stories to share, please feel free to leave them below. Thanks for reading, and happy traveling!
With love & prayers to all my kindred gypsy spirits,
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