Winn Homestead

At the base of the Blue Mountains in Oregon, about 30 minutes from Walla Walla, Washington and about the same distance from Pendleton, Orgeon is the Winn Homestead. What was believed as started as a stop for the stagecoach, ended up in the hands of the Winn family in 1875.  It was the family farm and included a few dairy cows and some draft horses to help pull the plows through the fields. In 1916, the big red barn was built for a haven for both the cows and the horses. It took 30 men 30 days to complete and about $3000. Around 1920, they got their first tractor and started doing farm work with in, and over the years the draft horses weren’t necessary anymore. The horses were sold in the 30s, and the family was ranching Herefords at that time along with the crops. The family has been on the homestead for over 4 generations, but the owners, Arlene and Preston, felt like their barn wasn’t being utilized as it could be.

A daughter of theirs had gotten married and that’s when Arlene got the idea. She knew what they could do with the barn, and that’s when they started toying with the idea of turning it into the perfect setting for weddings. They ripped out the lawn around it, and started from scratch, except for the two huge trees that are believed to have been there since the beginning. Their trunks are huge and a good indication that they have been around for quite some time. Their lawn is immaculate and well landscaped. It’s full of all assortments of flowers, and there’s so many great places for photos! Upstairs they have the wide open loft that actually walks right out into the upper part of the lawn, and for a small fee, they will hang twinkle lights in the barn for you to make it THAT much sweeter! 🙂

As your wedding venue, Winn Homestead supplies their gorgeous barn, tables and chairs for seating up to 300 guests (though if you have that many, some will have to be outdoors for your reception), a garden arbor with matching picket fences you can use, crates, a watering trough (it’s an actual trough) for guest’s drinks, shepherd’s hooks, and more to make your day a little less stressful. You also have access to their bridal suite, and a location for your groom and groomsmen to hang out before the big show, they are also there to help out through the day. If you have a larger wedding, they will be there to help move chairs from the ceremony to reception, and help with other tasks to make things run a bit easier. There is also a few choices when it comes to the actual location of your ceremony. You can do it out on the upper lawn, up the stairs in the lawn, up to the barn, or even upstairs in the barn, for small weddings. There’s many options so you will be able to get just what you want. It really is an awesome place!

As far as plans for the future, Preston and Arlene are very proud of the Winn Homestead barn, and they love it the way it is. I did find out that eventually they will have to replace the roof, but that is understandable considering how long it has been on site! With weather and wind in the area, it’s really in amazing shape. It’s even more impressive that the barn in on the national register of historical places! I don’t think I would change anything myself.  The history buff in me was super excited when I found out that the cellar from the original home was still on the property as well as an outhouse (you better believe I got some pictures of that! That’s history right there! So cool).

So, if you’re thinking that this awesome barn would be the perfect location for your wedding, and you have a specific date in mind, then you better act fast. They book almost a year and a half in advance! They try to have weddings throughout the summer months, only taking a few weeks off, but they still manage to book far out in advance.

All in all, Winn Homestead is a gorgeous wedding venue in northeastern Oregon. It’s close enough to the Tri-cities that your guests don’t have to travel too far, and they’ll have a beautiful drive going through the wine country of Walla Walla and the rolling hills at the base of the Blues. It’s peaceful out there, and would make for a great place for such a special day!