Whitehouse-Crawford Restaurant

Dining at Whitehouse-Crawford is a true Walla Walla experience. Our foods are sourced from local farmers and artisans, our wines from local producers, and the dining space is a unique piece of Walla Walla history.  Originally organized in 1880 as the Enterprise Planing Mill and Furniture Company owned by the partnership Cooper and Schmuck. The wooden building on the restaurant's site was completely destroyed by a fire in October of 1903. At that time the operation had changed to the partnership of Whitehouse-Crimmins. The mill was rebuilt of brick, and completed in October 1904, when a recapitalization took place with John M. Crawford of Fairmont, Nebraska becoming a principal partner. The Whitehouse-Crawford operated as a lumber planing mill and furniture factory until its sale to the City of Walla Walla in 1988. The City planned to sell the building and the land as part of a development. The fine old building was to be razed to provide parking for a motel. Public protest eventually stopped this transaction and the building was acquired and carefully restored by its current owner, Salvation! LLC. It is listed on both the Washington Heritage Register and the National Register of Historic Places. The lumber for the red fir floors was cut in the nearby Blue Mountains over 100 years ago. The boards are 2” x 12” and vary from 16 feet to 31 feet in length. The interior window wall contains the original glass from the monitor skylight. It had to be replaced with double glazed window for Seven Hill’s Winery climate control. The boiler face that welcomes you into the restaurant originally adorned a boiler 60 inches in diameter and 14 feet long. Built by Russell & Co. of Massillon, Ohio it had a smokestack 28 inches wide and 72 feet tall. It powered an Atlas Engine Works steam engine. The engine powered a belt which turned 7 overhead shafts. The shafts powered all of the machinery via pulleys and leather belts. The engine powered a belt 72" in diameter and 17" wide, which in turn powered seven different overhead shafts totaling 312' in length. These shafts powered all of the machinery in the plant via pulleys and leather belts. The former planing mill celebrates the foods, wines, and history of the Walla Walla Valley.