Raley House History
Continued, Page 2
James Raley occupied the house after his father's death in 1956. He and his wife, Beverly Simpson Raley lived in the home for many years. He followed in the family footsteps and practiced law until his death in 1967, after which his widow rented the home to one of Pendleton's long-time mayors, Joe McLaughlin. The Mc Laughlins raised their children in the home and loved to entertain the towns people. After the mayor moved out Mrs. Raley moved back in and upgraded the home.
In 1991 we bought the beautiful Raley home and transformed it into a combination of Raphael's Restaurant & Catering and our living quarters. We were thrilled to have purchased the building so everyone could come in and enjoy the ambiance of the house and Chef Rob's innovative N. W. cuisine. Prior to buying this home we operated the restaurant at the Pendleton airport for six years and established a great clientele that followed us to our new site.
When entering the restaurant you will first see the spindled oak staircase with a large rawhide and metal teepee chandelier depicting a Native American buffalo hunt. As you look up in the stairwell hangs an original contemporary painting of Jackson Sundown, a Nez Perce Indian, who was the first Native American to win the World Saddle Bronc Championship here at the 1916 Pendleton Round Up. Above the painting is a huge mounted buffalo head. (Courtesy of Walchli farms in Hermiston!).
The room to the left of the foyer was used as a very spacious living room with a large fireplace framed in green Italian marble. Some of the lead glass windows feature an art deco design from the 1929 era. The room behind the living room was used as the formal dining room with single paned windows so you can look out onto the lush rock garden and patio. If you walk into the rock garden you will discover a trail that leads to a large sitting rock transported from the Blue Mountains.
The home's original kitchen was expanded to accommodate Chef Rob's culinary creations and the butler's pantry is now used as our server's station. The former den is used as the lounge with an oak back bar and has the original lead glass window. The view out of the window enhances the scenery and the atmosphere of our lounge - when you think about it there are not many lounges that have a window as part of their back bar!
