Rob Kistler and Barb Bond, the owners of Amity Flats, are avid travelers, and they love to immerse themselves in natural landscapes and authentic cultural and culinary experiences all over the world. Amity is exactly the kind of place they like to explore in their own travels: eccentric, authentic and endearingly lost in time. A short, beautiful bike ride or hike can bring visitors from the city center to Keeler Estates Vineyard, where they taste world-class wines, or to the monastery of the Brigittine monks where they can sample award-winning chocolates. Hop in a car, and the opportunities for exploration are almost endless.

Rob and Barb wanted to give visitors a perfect home base for such explorations, so they created Amity Flats within a historic space that stimulates interest and intrigue all by itself. As you walk down the hallway to the flats, you can run your hand along an open-face brick wall and know that those bricks were laid more than 100 years ago by Amity’s Masonic fraternity. If you look up, you’ll see four large chandeliers that once lit their meetings; these have been restored to modern electrical standards and re-dedicated to light the hallway. The wood slats that line the entrance to each of the flats, and used as trim around interior doors, are re-purposed from the old-growth Douglas-fir in the original walls of the building. The trees that supplied this wood would have been cut before 1905 and were most likely 200 to 400 years-old at the time they were cut, so they likely were growing before the Mayflower brought the first Pilgrims to America.

Given the year-round abundance of outstanding produce in the Willamette Valley, Rob and Barb wanted their guests to be able to select from this bounty and prepare food for themselves if they desired. So, four of the Flats have efficient kitchens, outfitted by a passionate food enthusiast (Barb). And knowing that a perfect day in Oregon should start with a perfect cup of coffee or tea, all of the rooms are stocked with French Press coffee makers, freshly-ground coffee from local purveyors and excellent tea, and instructions for how to create that perfect cup to start to your day. You’ll find other food and craft items in the rooms on a rotating basis that reflect the local abundance. We hope your visit will leave you refreshed, enriched and eager to come back and explore more of this beautiful region.