VIRTUAL
TOUR OF CANNON BEACH
Cannon Beach - A Castle on the Coast, Arch Cape
It's perhaps the most stunning secret on all of Oregon's coast. There's a castle a bit south of Cannon Beach, hidden behind the walls of trees just north of the Arch Cape Tunnel. You can become king and queen here, at this insanely romantic spot that smacks of something between the Bavarian castle that inspired Disneyland's signature structure and the Oregon ski lodge featured in "The Shining."
Arch Cape House (formerly St. Bernard's Bed & Breakfast) is a remarkable and elegant construction peppered with artistic details, containing seven striking guestrooms filled with antiques, beautiful furnishings and a sense of the Victorian fused with modern grace.
On this night, I arrive at Arch Cape House close to 8:30 p.m., and it's pitch black. I've been here before a few times and seen a bit of it, but for the first time I park in back, spotting the charming strings of lights in the garden and on the walls, as well as the two deer figures made of light bulbs. I stop to stare and gawk at these and the archway through the building, half expecting to see a member of some royal family show up in a carriage and be ushered out by some servant.
Inside enormous the front door, owner Barbara Dau invites me in and up the snaking, stone stairway into the living room. Here, chandeliers and classy furniture inhabit the area, with a nifty little rounded nook in one corner - obviously part of the "tower." In the early evenings, Barbara hosts "social hours" for the guests here, featuring wine and camaraderie in front of the fireplace.
