welcome to The CROWN JEWEL
OF jacksonville, Oregon
The Nunan Estate is an iconic 3 acre property named for the historic Nunan House — a Queen Anne style ‘mansion’ built in 1892 by Jeremiah Nunan as a Christmas gift for his wife, Delia.
Nunan had fallen into disrepair over the years, but came into new stewardship during the Covid era.
Its grounds, facilities, and the home itself have undergone extensive restorations since,
to preserve the Crown Jewel of Jacksonville for decades to come.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
We are sorry to report that they are not at this time.
Anyone on the property is kindly informed that the Nunan Estate is privately owned, and invited to depart.
The establishments formally known as The Carriage House and Onyx are no longer operational.
There are no immediate plans to re-open a restaurant or bar at this time (though we do hope to in the long-term!).
If you would like to be notified of hospitality developments and public-facing events, please join the Nunan Estate mailing list below.
In the Summer of 2025, the Nunan House is opening for occasional private rental by select clientele.
Stays at the Nunan House are only available to book directly through our website
Any listings found on AirBnB, VRBO, or other booking sites are relics from previous ownership.
There are two apartments at the Nunan Estate available as overflow lodging for Nunan House bookings.
The Nunan Suites apartments are unavailable to book standalone.
Yes! The Nunan House itself, Estate grounds, exterior restaurant patio, and pool are available for weddings, launches and holiday parties, corporate masterminds, workshops, and other events. The weather is often lovely, and a small to large banquet tent for up to 96 guests can be erected on the upper lawn.
The restaurant and bar interior are generally not available as gathering spaces for event use (they are serving other purposes at this time). In the case of occasional large events, however, the restaurant building could be cleared temporarily for a substantial fee.
To explore holding your wedding or event at the Nunan Estate, click here to fill out the submission form.
The charming mining town of Jacksonville, Oregon is a National Landmark in and of itself, which takes great pride in preserving the history of its many unique properties.
Official resources
— Jeremiah Nunan – An Irish Success Story by Carolyn Kingsnorth for the Jacksonville Review
— Historic Jacksonville Inc. “History Trivia” pieces One, Two, and Three (bonus: Judge & Nunan Saddlery)
Building & evolution
The Nunan House is also known as “The Catalog House”, as plans for it were acquired from the first edition of George Franklin Barber’s “Victorian Cottage Architecture” catalog, published in 1891 (not the Sears catalogue, as has been widely falsely reported).
The second edition of VCA’s catalogue featured the Nunan House as having been “erected from our plans… [in] Jacksonville, Oregon”. Though the cost of construction is unverified, the advertised build cost was listed from $6,000 to $7,500 (just about 260k in 2025 dollars!).
Viewed as a mansion in its time, the house, “…one of the last and certainly the largest and most pretentious to be built in Jacksonville”, according to a snippet from its listing on the National Register of Historic Places, originally sat on 11 acres. It has 16 rooms total, with 5 bedrooms upstairs and a small sewing room. Electricity and a pull chain toilet were installed in 1909.
Additional buildings were later erected on what would become a 3.19 acre parcel referred to as The Nunan Estate. The Carriage House was built in 1982, which would later open to the public as a bar and restaurant. A large detached garage, workshop, and pool were added in 1996.
The 7th Guest
The Nunan house was the real-life inspiration for the setting of The 7th Guest, a 1993 PC-based video game which pioneered the “haunted mansion” genre, earning it the nickname “Stouf’s Mansion”. Its likeness featured on the cover of the original game, as well as a board game based on it, crowd funded on Kickstarter in 2018.
The video game franchise was rebooted in full virtual reality and released for Meta Quest in October of 2023.
Movies & Television
The home was used as a set for the 1990 made-for-tv film based on the novel A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratten-Porter.
It was also featured on the TLC show Long Lost Family.
Contemporary ESOTERIC Significance
The Nunan House & Estate continues making its mark as a site of historical, real-world magical workings, including the original Thema Mundi operation, and as headquarters to the astro-magical atelier Sphere + Sundry.
A showroom may open in the future.
Sometimes! 👻
Each rainstorm and snowmelt, the Nunan Estate’s new owners braced themselves for reports of fresh damages. The cedar shingle roofs of the Nunan House and Carriage House had been failing for a decade or more, and routine water damage had become part and parcel with the historic property.
These were painstakingly replaced by Fontana Roofing, who also installed copper gutters and flashings.
The majority of general restoration work has been handled by Origin Construction Solutions, who oversaw extensive repair of dry rot throughout the Nunan House’s ornate Victorian exterior, patios, and columns, the re-painting of all three buildings and two sheds, and an internal remodel of the pool house.
The 15 by 30 foot pergola beneath the decades old wisteria was also on the verge of collapse. Great care was taken to build a new support that did not cause harm to the existing plant, and maintained the visual integrity of the property’s iconic centerpiece.
Failing pool equipment was replaced and upgraded with a salt water system, and a major ongoing leak in the hot tub was finally resolved.
The built-in fire suppression system on both levels of The Carriage House had been disabled and allowed to fall into total neglect against regulations. It has taken over three years of effort to fully repair and satisfy code.
More than 10 dead and dying trees which threatened the safety of the Nunan Estate property and its neighbors have been removed by Bartlett Tree Experts, whose vigilant ongoing stewardship will help ensure the maintenance and longevity of existing trees for years to come.
The Nunan House piano — circa 1870, older than the home itself! — was meticulously restored by Esquire Piano.
State of the art security systems have been installed in each of the buildings, including cameras in professional settings and throughout the grounds.
Since 2021, over $850,000 has been devoted to the Nunan Estate’s restoration and facilities upgrades.
An additional $250,000 or more is required to complete the project, which includes tearing out and rebuilding the Nunan House’s front porch and a portion of the South-Eastern second story due to a failing foundation and long-term water damage, in addition to concrete, asphalt, and brick pathway repair throughout the property.
Occasional rentals opening in the Summer of 2025 go toward the Nunan House’s repair fund and ongoing maintenance.
JOIN THE MAILING LIST
Get notified about major developments with the Nunan House & Estate, including restaurant openings and public-facing events.
Note that we do not send regular updates. It may take years to hear from us!
Your information is entirely private and will never, ever be sold.
RENTALS?
The Nunan House & Estate is opening for occasional rentals from select clientele in the Summer of 2025.