Located in the heart of downtown Ashland, just enough off Main Street to be quiet and charming, is the Winchester Inn and Restaurant.

The Main House is an 1886 Victorian built by a local merchant who migrated from the Bay area. Fordyce Roper created his "mansion" on East Main Street, on the site currently housing the Columbia Hotel. He lived there until 1906 when the home became the first hospital in Southern Oregon. The story has it that the building was moved to its present location by one horse and a winch. Quite a horse! It was converted from a two story building into a three story building at that time.

In 1907 the house was leased to the city to establish The Southern Oregon Hospital and on March 9th, 1909 it was damaged by a fire started by a wood stove.

Over the years, the once fine private home became a sanitarium, a boarding house, and low rent apartments, lived in by college students and actors. When the Gibbs arrived on the scene, much of the original beauty had been destroyed, either by time or by neglect. Read More>>