Outlook Inn

Built in 1912


whispers of yesterday

Outlook Inn

The Outlook Inn rose on the dunes at North 8th and Pacific in 1912, built by the Baileys as a grand wooden structure that seemed to watch over everything. To the west, the Pacific Ocean stretched endless and restless; to the east, quiet Lake Lytle shimmered in the morning light. The inn stood four stories high, its second floor lined with bright windows, its third floor adorned with seven gabled patio nooks, and its top floor marked by two small dormers peeking toward the horizon.

In 1921, George and Helen Watts took ownership and gave the place a new name, the Lake Lytle Hotel, hoping to usher in a new era of travelers and summer visitors. Later, in 1935, the University of Portland acquired it, turning the old hotel into housing for Coast Guard personnel during World War II. After the war, ownership changed hands more than once, and by the time Art Middleton purchased it in 1962, the building was no longer operating as a hotel at all.

  • A three-story, dark-colored building with an American flag; a car parked out front.

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  • Vintage photo of the Hotel, a large building with a covered porch and unique angled windows on a sandy hillside.

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  • Lake Lytle Hotel, three-story building with dormer windows, wooden siding, men standing outside, sand dune setting.

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  • Back of a vintage postcard for the Lake Lytle Hotel in Rockaway, Oregon, advertising rates and amenities.

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  • Postcard, handwritten message, stamp, and postmark from Rockaway, Oregon, addressed to Astoria, Oregon.

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  • People sit on steps leading to the

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  • A bulldozer near a partially demolished two-story building under a blue sky.

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  • Damaged brick building with collapsed roof and debris.

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  • Black and white photo: Large wooden building with peaked roof, connected by a bridge. People are gathered on the bridge.

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  • Advertisements for the Lake Lytle Hotel in Rockaway Beach, promoting ocean view rooms starting at $3.00, dated July 13, 1951.

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  • Black and white photo of a weathered motel with a fire escape and overgrown shrubbery.

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Eventually, the Lake Lytle Hotel closed its doors. The once-grand landmark became a private residence and slowly began to decay in the salt air. Locals who were young then still remember slipping inside, exploring its long, quiet halls and dim rooms, finding furniture frozen in place as though the guests had simply stepped out for a moment and never returned.

The end came in 1967, the same year the Natatorium fell. Bulldozers rolled in to level what remained. As the operator worked, he kept catching the scent of whiskey in the air. When he tore open the chimney, he found the source, a hidden cache of liquor, bricked away long ago. Realizing that every last bottle had shattered in the demolition, the operator could only shake his head. A final secret lost, just like the hotel itself.

March 13th, 1940 Postcard from Lake Lytle Hotel owner Blanche:

Just a line. We sold the Hotel last week and moved to the cottage last Thursday. Such a scramble and such rain, but we are glad it's over. Our mail will still come to Rockaway. Children getting over their colds but still not 100%. Weather miserable most of the time.

Blanche

August 15th, 1916 Postcard from Outlook Inn Guest: Come on down Sis, and get a bath in the Ocean.

Aunt E

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