A Flurry of Fun - Ashland is Base Camp - Winter '24 Issue

Friday, February 8, 2019

Where Dining and History Meet

Where Dining and History Meet

Parrott House, Roseburg

Story by Sarah Smith

Photography provided by Parrott House

 

For thousands of years, men dominated the history books, and women were forgotten. While most influential women were overlooked by history, every so often a woman came along who no one could ignore. History remembers the late Rosa Parrott and her family’s house that still stands in solidarity on a knoll in southeast Roseburg. A teacher of English and philosophy, Parrott was the tenth child of Moses and Tennessee Parrott, who came to Oregon in the early 1850s. She taught at a number of prestigious universities, colleges, and schools in the East as well as in Roseburg. Following her death in 1961, the Parrott House was bought and sold a number of times before Heidi Lael, a builder by trade, purchased the historic home in 2011.

Today, with its place on the National Historic Registry, the Parrott House stands as tribute to pioneering women. Established in 1891, the newly renovated restaurant and Reform Bourbon Bar is approachable by all, meeting the needs of the Roseburg community. With a new executive chief, the Parrott House boasts formal dining, a glass pavilion that includes reclaimed wood from Seattle’s Rainer Brewery, and plenty of outdoor seating beside the Bourbon Bar and wood-fire pizza oven.

Opened in 2017 as a farm to table restaurant, the Parrott House features several local growers and wineries. Vegetables are purchased from Big Lick Farm in Winston, organic honey from Tanya Butterfield, and microgreens from Champion Club Farms. In addition, the restaurant has its own herb garden and space for a vegetable garden.

The adage that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure resonates with Lael. Owner of Re-claimed LLC, she looks for ways to repurpose, reuse, repair, rebuild, refurbish, or refinish the past. Next to the Bourbon Bar, a new, semi-private outdoor space was created by rehabbing wood from Wildlife Safari’s rhino pen. Lael likes to think it wasn’t the end of something, but the beginning of something else.

Tastefully decorated by Andrew Calvert’s The Perfect Occasion, the rebooted space feels alive with holiday spirit, inviting family, friends, and foodies alike to sit, visit, and celebrate. 

The vast windows overlook a sprawling lawn, large stone fireplace, and an ancient Magnolia tree. On the lighter side, the menu offers starters, soups, and from-the-garden options, in addition to Parrott-izza and the Rose-Burger. The menu’s other half features Parrott pasta, fresh seafood, and steak-centric entrees.

It is the idle person, not the great worker, who is always complaining they have no time or opportunity. With several new projects forthcoming, Lael’s no stranger to hard work. The petite vineyard, home to Tempranillo grapes, the outdoor amphitheater for weddings and summer concerts, and the Old Town Bakery (opening to the public this winter), will be instrumental in the rebirth of the Parrott House.

Like Rosa Parrott, Lael will leave an indelible mark in the history books with the next chapter of this historic home in the heart of Douglas County.

  

Parrott House

1851 SE Stephens St, Roseburg

541-580-0600

www.parrotthouseroseburg.com

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