Eastern WA’s historic Weinhard Hotel has a new owner and new name
The tiny but historic Weinhard Hotel in Dayton has closed and will reopen next spring as the Hotel Hardware.
Padraic Slattery, a self-taught historic preservationist from Seattle, bought the 1890-built property for $788,000 in a deal that closed Nov. 27.
The 10,000-square-foot, 15-room hotel was listed for sale at $900,000 by its Spokane-based owner, Weinhard Boutique Hotel LLC.
The hotel is at 235 E. Main St. Formerly known as the Weinhard Building, it is a contributing structure to the Downtown Dayton Historical District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places around 1999.
Historic district
The Weinhard and its neighbors, the Dayton Depot and the Columbia County Courthouse, were exemplars of the late 19th century and early 20th century, according to nomination to the national register.
In the decades after 1870, when Dayton was founded, “The wealth of the region was expressed in Dayton’s exuberant commercial architecture. The new business blocks included many two- and three-story brick buildings with vertical proportions, ornate roofline detailing, and cast iron storefronts fashionable in the late 19th century.”
Coffee, bar, food trucks
Slattery described the hotel as tired and in need of renovations.
The update is financed by a Small Business Administration-backed loan from Sound Credit Union.
It will retain the 15 rooms and its $165-a-night pricing. It will gain a rooftop event space and three ground floor businesses — a natural wine shop, a craft cocktail bar and a specialty coffee shop.
Slattery intends to host a rotating lineup of food trucks, local artwork and live performances at the Hotel Hardware.
Brewing royalty
Slattery said the new name honors a hardware store that occupied the ground floor but the property will honor Jacob Weinhard, who built it 133 years ago.
Weinhard was a nephew of Henry Weinhard, the Portland brewer who began making beer in the Northwest in the 1850s and whose name graces a brewery today.
Jacob Weinhard moved to Dayton in 1880 to establish his own brewery on Front Street, now demolished.
In 1890, he enlisted John Nash of Ellensburg and designer William Burrows to build the reinforced brick structure on Main Street. It served as a saloon and billiard hall on the first floor and offered lodging on the second.
Main Street wouldn’t be paved until 1915.
Survived a fire, sortof
A fire destroyed half the building in the mid-20th century. An innovative-for-its-time fire wall preserved the half that survives today, Slattery said.
Slattery said the project will rely on Northwest vendors and suppliers. The work is supported by the National Parks Service, the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, the federal Opportunity Zone program and Q Hospitality management.
Slattery has renovated a number of historic properties in Washington and Oregon. He was appointed to the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board in 2022.
Earlier this year, the Washington historic preservation office honored his work in Seattle on several projects that rehabilitated mid-century buildings throughout the city. Samples include The Lumberyard Bar, an inclusive spot in White Center, and several apartment buildings.
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