The Old St. Francis School

A 1925 Catholic school in Bend, Oregon, where you can now watch a film in the old classrooms and swim in a tiled soaking pool.

Hugh Thompson designed it, on the site of the Catholic parish house adjoining St. Francis Catholic Church. The budget was 45,000 dollars, split 35,000 for the building and 10,000 for equipment. The two-storey structure faced Lava Road, with four classrooms, an assembly hall and a principal's room on the ground floor, and two more classrooms upstairs alongside a large parish hall intended for the altar societies, the Knights of Columbus and the children's organisations of the parish.

The parish house was moved to the rear and construction began in May 1925, aiming to open for the next school year. A playground was planned, and four teaching sisters of the order of St. Joseph were expected to come and teach up to eighth grade. It was said to be the only school of its kind in Central Oregon, the nearest comparison being a parochial academy at Klamath Falls, and it had been discussed for years, from before the new Catholic church replaced the old structure.

The timing says something about the town. In that same year of 1925 Bend School graduated the largest class in its history, 58 students, with an invocation from Father Luke Sheehan of St. Francis. Two more classrooms were added in 1953.

McMenamins own it now and run it as a hotel with restaurants and bars, live music, a cinema, a brewery, an art collection and a soaking pool. The property is certified bike friendly through Travel Oregon, which means secure overnight bike storage, racks, restrooms and wifi.

Stay in a former classroom. That is the whole pitch and it is a good one.