a farmhouse called HANFORD CASTLE

Back in 1890, clean air and simple living were the goals of Edwin and Carrie Hanford and their five children, who'd left crowded Chicago for Oakesdale, a small farming community in the heart of eastern Washington's Palouse countryside. Here amidst softly rolling hills covered by wheat fields, they created a 230-acre farm to grow apples, pears, and plums. In 1896, they built a Victorian “castle” on a promontory overlooking the property. The Hanford family descendants continued to live here for the next century. Terri Gravelle and Paul Matthews purchased it in 1989.

- BY BRIAN D. COLEMAN

FOR DECADES, the two had been collecting Victoriana: lighting, textiles, furniture, and ephemera. They'd long wanted a proper setting for the collections. Hanford Castle was perfect: 8,000 square feet, four storeys, 18 rooms, a tower, and a wraparound porch with expansive views. The interior boasted four fireplaces, 13 original stained-glass windows, woodwork never painted, and original designs in the plaster, including the Hanford family’s English family crest featuring a stylized sun.