A taste of history

Arbor Crest Cliff House opens doors for public tours

Hope Brumbach   /  Correspondent

If you go •Arbor Crest Cliff House tasting room: 4705 N. Fruit Hill Road in Spokane. •Hours: Noon-5 p.m. daily. •For info or to schedule a tour: arborcrest.com or call (509) 927-9463.

The life-sized checkerboard tucked in the garden at Arbor Crest's Cliff House may be the first tip-off that the surroundings are far from commonplace.

Then there's the gatekeeper's house, an ivy-covered building atop a stone archway. And the Vista House, a pagoda-like structure perched at the edge of a bluff and accessible only by bridge.

And, of course, the Cliff House itself, a technological marvel when it was built in 1924.

The attractions, now the site of Arbor Crest Wine Cellars, recently were opened to the public for scheduled private tours. The winery decided a year ago to offer tour packages, which include a wine tasting and a full tour of the Cliff House – also known as the Riblet Mansion – and the extensive grounds.

"People have always wanted to know and see the house," said Angelika Tann, who works in the wine tasting room and serves as the tour guide. "The need evolved and we decided to make it formal after all these years."

The 70-acre estate is nested at the top of a volcanic rock terrace above the Spokane River, providing panoramic views of Spokane Valley.

Eighty-three years ago, inventor Royal Newton Riblet built the three-story, Florentine-style home on the land he later dubbed the Eagle's Nest.

The estate served as Riblet's residence – and laboratory. An eccentric inventor, Riblet secured more than 20 original patents in his lifetime, including a pattern sprinkler system, mechanical parking garage and a square-wheel tractor, which still is displayed at the Cliff House.

When it was built, the Cliff House was considered the most electrically advanced home in the country. Fox Studios shot a newsreel of it in 1929.

Riblet's brother, Byron, was a chairlift manufacturer, and he inspired Riblet to install a passenger tram, powered by an automobile motor, from his estate down 450 feet to the river valley. Riblet was known to stop the five-passenger tram along the way and fish the river from the suspended car, Tann said. It was in operation until 1945 and dismantled 11 years later.

During its heyday, the grounds included walkways, a waterfall, a 60,000-gallon swimming pool, an airstrip, bridle paths, a ski slope, toboggan run, multipurpose croquet court and a putting green.

Today, the rock-bottom swimming pool isn't in use, but guests still can meander through the charming gardens circled with stone walls, view Spokane Valley from the Vista House atop the basalt cliffs and play checkers on the 16-foot-square board, which Riblet fashioned to cover up a massive rock on the grounds.

Guests also can wander through the Cliff House and its period pieces, with thick pedestal sinks in the bathrooms and armoires in the bedrooms.

The estate still features the original sunken rose garden and terraced flower and herb gardens. In the springtime, the flower beds feature 1,000 tulip bulbs, Tann said.

Riblet died in 1960 at the age of 88. In 1985, Arbor Crest purchased the house, which was named a National Historic Landmark.

Offering tours of the home, which is also is used for weddings and events, allows the public to satisfy its curiosity, Tann said.

"People … have lived down there for decades," Tann said, "and see the house up here."