Overview
The Allison Inn & Spa covers 35 hillside acres out of a sustainably master-planned 450, surrounded by vineyards, orchards, and farmland, eighteen miles from downtown Portland. There are 85 rooms and suites across four levels, every one with a gas fireplace, a private terrace or balcony over the valley or vineyard hillside, custom furnishings, original local artwork, and a bathroom with a six-foot soaking tub and separate shower. Entry-level rooms start near 500 square feet.
The spa runs nearly 15,000 square feet with 14 treatment spaces, a halotherapy room, eucalyptus-infused steam rooms, cedar saunas, an indoor pool opening onto an outdoor terrace, a whirlpool, fitness studio, couples suite, nail salon, café, and boutique.
JORY is named for the red volcanic soil that makes this valley what it is. A 1.5-acre chef’s garden tended by a master gardener and beekeeper supplies the kitchen year-round, and the hives produce honey for the restaurant. The wine list runs past 500 labels.
The environmental commitment was Joan’s requirement from the start. The Allison earned LEED Gold certification less than a year after opening — solar hot water, photovoltaic cells, a sedum green roof over the function wing, no plastic bottles on property, and glassware made by a Forest Grove company from reclaimed JORY wine bottles.
Joan Austin has since passed, but the place she spent five years imagining is still here, and still setting the standard.
The art collection
The Allison holds more than 500 pieces of original Oregon artwork as a permanent collection, curated by the Austins’ daughter, artist and ART Elements Gallery owner Loni Parrish, and including six commissioned works. Beyond the permanent pieces, the hallways leading to the suites function as a working gallery — those works rotate, and they’re available for sale.
Ask the concierge for a map. Private tours are also available with advanced booking through the concierge. The sculpture walk through the gardens is worth the visit on its own, and most guests never realize it’s out there.
History
Joan and Ken Austin, the founders of the Allison, were seventh-generation Western Oregon pioneers who built the world’s largest dental equipment company in their hometown of Newberg, Oregon. When they later opened Springbrook Northwest, an alcohol and drug treatment center, Joan noticed a problem: friends and family visiting clients had nowhere decent to stay. In 1989 they planned to build a small country inn for those friends and family. Another hotel came into the area and they shelved it. Years passed, wine tourism kept climbing, and Joan watched thousands of visitors come to the vineyards and then leave without ever spending time in Newberg, her beloved town that she committed her entire life and career to support. She then five years planning what became The Allison, and by the time she was finished it was no longer a small country inn. It opened in September 2009 as the first luxury destination resort in Oregon wine country. It’s been wining global awards ever since.
While many think the name comes from a woman, it actually comes from geology. A long-vanished lake once sat here, formed when ice dams gave way and released the Missoula Floods more than 10,000 years ago. Ira Allison, an Oregon State geologist, documented its place in that history.
