Today, we have a guest editor. Jennifer Blacke, director of the Howell House, agreed to tell us about the Bybees and their beautiful house on Sauvie Island.

Says Jennifer: James Francis Bybee knew what he was doing when he built his home on high ground on Sauvie Island. Bybee's house stayed dry as a bone, despite annual floods which submerged much of the Island until dikes were constructed in the 1930's. The distinctive Greek Revival style architecture of the structure is one of the more elaborate examples in the Northwest. But then, Bybee knew what he was doing, and he had the money to do it.

An 1847 Oregon pioneer, James Bybee made it big in the California gold fields. His wife Julia Ann, who had traveled sans husband to Oregon with her parents and two small children in 1845, welcomed the appearance of her affluent spouse. The two claimed 640 acres of good farmland and had a family of eleven children. In 1855, James began work on a grand residence complete with expensive plasterwork, elaborate wood trim, and an impressive white facade.

Money was not a friend to James Bybee, and by the early 1870's his disappointing political career and bad financial luck resulted in a desperate situation. The Bybee house and the entire donation land claim it stood on were sold to neighbors John and Amelia Howell. James Bybee and Julia parted company as well, with good ol' Jeems spending the rest of his life as a successful horse breeder and racer.

The Bybee home was occupied continuously by members of the Howell family until the 1960's, when the dilapidated structure was sold to Multnomah County by Rose Howell, daughter-in-law of John and Amelia. The entire structure had been seized by blackberry bushes and insects, but Rose lived there, carrying water from a well and stoking the flame in a crumbling parlor fireplace.

Recognizing the significance of the home, the Oregon Historical Society teamed with the county to restore the building. Today, where once the river rose to within only a few feet of the foundation, the Bybee House is operated as a museum and is open weekends during the summer for guided tours. An impressive collection of historical artifacts and antique furniture await visitors. To get there, take the bridge to Sauvie Island and go straight until Howell Park Road. The Bybee House stands on a small hill, dry and safe, just as James intended.