THE ARCHITECTURAL STORY

Edgar M. Lazarus, Portland architect and member of the Vista House Association, was selected to design Vista House in 1915.  Vista House is an example of German “Art Nouveau” architecture.  Native Italian craftsmen built retaining walls and bridges for the Columbia River Highway and laid the rockwork surrounding Vista House. 

Vista House is approximately 44 feet in diameter and 55 feet high.  The floors and stairs in the rotunda and the wainscoting in the lower level are Tokeen Alaskan marble.  Most of the interior of the rotunda is light cream and pink Kasota limestone (marble), including the hard-carved drinking fountains.  The inside of the dome and its supporting ribs were painted to simulate the marble and bronze originally planned for the structure.  The exterior is faced with light gray sandstone. 

The upper windows are greenish opalized glass, like the original.  The rotunda windows are also greenish opalized glass with clear glass in the viewing areas.

The roof was originally surfaced with matte-glazed green tiles.  The roof was covered with a copper crown for more than 50 years.  During the 2002 exterior restoration, a new glazed green tile roof was installed over a protective dome membrane.  

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Website Administrator, Teresa Kasner