History of Green Gables Inn Bed and Breakfast in Walla Walla, Washington

History

For nearly a century, what today is Green Gables Inn Bed and Breakfast has played an important role in the history of Walla Walla, Washington. It was built in 1909 for Rowland Hugh and Clarinda Green Smith on homestead land owned by Clarinda’s parents, William O. and Mary Green. The Craftsman style mansion was designed for a family who loved entertaining. The Emerson inscription over the fireplace welcomes guests today as it did then,

“The Ornaments Of A House Are The Friends That Frequent It.”

The Greens were among the early residents who helped shape the character of Walla Walla. After moving here from the Oregon Territory in the early 1860’s, the family took the lead in developing a neighborhood that was later annexed to the city as Green’s Park Addition which encompasses the Whitman College campus. Whitman, the first institution of higher learning in the Pacific Northwest, received its charter in 1859, just five years after Walla Walla County was created as the first county in the Territory east of the Cascades.

The Bonsella Street residence was a lifetime home for the Smiths and remained in the Clarinda Green Smith estate until 1950, when it was purchased by the Upper Columbia Medical Missionary & Benevolent Association. For nearly three decades, until 1978, the mansion served as a home for nurses and later as administrative offices for the Walla Walla General Hospital, then located just across the street. From 1978 to 2007, a succession of four individual owners lived in the residence. In 2007 Albert Musard purchased the mansion..