Patrick Hughes House - Cape Blanco State Park, OR - Victorian Style Architecture on Waymarking.com

Reflecting the wealthy status of the Hughes family, the fireplace in this room has a shallow firebox designed to burn coal rather than cheaper and easily obtained wood.

The men's parlor was well used. Simply furnished, it was here the men retired at day's end to catch up on bookwork and reading. The central focus of the room is a massive wood-burning fireplace, making it one of the warmest rooms in the house.

For the most part, it was the men who gathered around the large table in the dining room. Jane, and later Annie, spent a great deal of time in the spacious kitchen fixing meals for the men. A cheery place to work, it was warmed by a great cast iron wood cook stove. Adjoining the kitchen and dining room is a pass-thru-pantry with storage bins for the large quantities of staples they purchased.

Also on the first floor is the master bedroom and bath. While electricity was late in coming (1942), the house was built with indoor plumbing. Water heated by the kitchen stove provided the enjoyment of a warm bath. The room still has the original wood trimmed claw-footed tub, from which one could enjoy the beautifully painted ceiling.

A beautiful mahogany banister leads the way to the second floor where the most interesting feature is the chapel. John Hughes was a Roman Catholic priest serving a parish in Portland. The chapel was for Fr. John's convenience on his visits home and features some original carpet, which may have been recycled from another area of the home during a restoration or preservation project. Clouds are featured on the hand-painted ceiling; original date of painting is unknown.

Edward, Thomas and Francis each had a room on this floor. Francis married, and brought his bride Annie home to live on the ranch. Their only child Joseph used the smallest room with the dormer window. The largest room was set-aside for guests. It was the fanciest of all the bedrooms and well used by friends of the Hughes family.


Patrick Hughes was born in County Tyrone, Ireland in 1830. He came to America about 1850. In Boston, Massachusetts, he met and married Jane O’Neill, also from County Tyrone. Eventually they arrived in Deady, Oregon (north of Roseburg), where they are recorded in the 1860 Federal Census with the first-born son John age 3 months. Patrick's next move was to begin purchasing land in Curry County along the Sixes River, establishing what was to become a large ranch encompassing hundreds of acres on both sides of the river.

Patrick was a progressive and prosperous dairyman. He built his ranch from the original 80+ acres to over 2,000 acres, employing many ranch hands. He produced high quality butter for sale to the San Francisco market, as well as for sale and trade locally. Progressive rancher that he was, he was diversified selling and trading other ranch commodities, such as smoked and cured meats, milk, and fish to local markets as well. Of the original acreage, a little over 1,800 acres remained when Oregon State Parks purchased the land in 1971, marking the end of the Hughes Ranch.

Public/Private: Public Tours Available?: April 1 - Oct. 31 Year Built: 1898 Web Address: [Web Link]

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Date Logged Log User Rating   09/01/2009 Volcanoguy visited it