Washington

This place plays tricks with your mind.

One minute you're gazing out at a harbor full of sleek yachts and latte-sipping tourists, and then, with just a turn of the head, you're back in the 19th century admiring the fading elegance of the 114-year-old Hotel de Haro. All it takes is a blink of the imagination to see the bonnets and top hats of yesteryear's visitors as they stroll the Victorian rose gardens in front of the hotel.

Welcome to Roche Harbor Resort. Located on the northwest tip of San Juan Island, the resort has welcomed guests from two centuries and is now extending its hand to a third. The site is an historic treasure that has long been a favorite destination of boaters and tourists from Canada and around the world.

But don't expect to be pampered 21st-century style.

Visitors will find no workout rooms, no sports bar with big-screen TV, not even a laptop in sight. Instead, they will find an aging dowager gently looked after by a new generation of owners, a place where yesterday and today coexist as comfortably as old friends.

My last visit was more than 20 years ago, but my memories were clear: the creaking stairway that led to a hallway of tiny rooms with high, old-fashioned beds and a bathroom down the hall; President Theodore Roosevelt's faded 1907 signature in the guest book; lace curtains and sepia photographs in the lobby; sloping floors; a cozy fireplace.

It's all still there.

The once-spacious lobby has unfortunately been squeezed to allow for an expanded gift shop, but the creaky stairs, old-world ambience and historic mementos have endured intact.

This time, my husband, Kevin, and I opted for a bit of luxury and stayed in one of four recently-opened McMillan Suites situated just east of the hotel, built into what was once 1910 employee housing. Though brand new, the suites feel as though Teddy himself would have felt right at home. Wicker furniture, claw-foot tubs, feather pillows and a selection of worn classics on the reading shelf provide comfortable links to an earlier era. The king-size beds, heated bathroom floors and gas fireplaces are welcome 21st-century touches.

Best of all is the veranda view - a sweeping vista of the entire harbor where sunsets and a glass of wine provided all the evening entertainment we needed.

The resort dates back to 1886 when Tacoma lawyer John S. McMillan discovered the largest deposit of lime in the Northwest and launched the Tacoma and Roche Harbor Lime Company. He built the 20-room Hotel de Haro the same year, constructing it around the original Hudson Bay Company trading post built with foot-thick walls 40 years earlier.

Within a few years a company town grew up around the hotel, complete with factory, docks, church, school and homes. At its peak, 800 residents lived along the hillside above the beach, with the single men in bunkhouses and families in rows of one- and two-story cottages.

The entire town, including 4,000 acres and 12 miles of coastline, was sold to Seattle businessman Reuben Tarte in 1956. It was Tarte and his family who turned the area into a resort. Since 1988, new owners have continued to restore and upgrade it.

A walk through the grounds is a walk through island history. The old lime quarry is just southwest of the hotel and offers paths for meandering. Two stone kilns remain, and two generators are still visible.

But most striking is the mausoleum, reached at the end of a pleasant, 20-minute walk past the old worker cottages and through a wooded area behind the resort. There in a clearing, with evergreens towering all around, are stairs leading up to a circular limestone platform surrounded by soaring stone columns. At the center is a massive stone table with chairs for each of the sons and daughters of John S. McMillan and Louella Hiatt.

This is the "family table" around which the family would symbolically gather in the hereafter. The chairs are also the crypts for their ashes. The site is heavy with Masonic symbols and a sense of mystery and decay. One can almost feel the family ghosts still hovering over this eerily peaceful, beautiful spot.

Besides the history, waterfront views and laid-back living, there are plenty of activities to fill a weekend - from hiking, biking and moped-ing to shell fishing and beach walking.

During the off-season, the renamed McMillan's Dining Room located in the founder's former home merges with the downstairs Madrona Grill and shifts to a more casual, comfort-food focus. A few steps away is the dockside Lime Kiln Cafe, where the coffee crowd gathers and fish & chips tops the menu.

And, of course, all the other attractions of busy Friday Harbor 10 miles to the south are only minutes away, along with the history lesson that awaits at English and American Camps where the infamous Pig War was waged in the late 1800s.

But for those seeking only a quiet respite, it may be enough to wander the grounds at Roche Harbor and let your mind and imagination wander as well. This step back through time may be all you need.

Arlene Bryant's phone message number is 206-464-2974. Her e-mail is abryant@seattletimes.com

---------------------------

If you go

Visiting

Roche Harbor

Getting there:

Roche Harbor Resort is on San Juan Island, reachable daily via Washington State Ferries leaving from Anacortes (800-843-3779). Direct air service to the resort from the Seattle area is offered by Kenmore Air (800-543-9595) and from SeaTac to Friday Harbor by Harbor Airlines (800-359-3220). Taxi service is available to get you from Friday Harbor to the resort.

If you're arriving by boat, call ahead to check moorage availability at 360-378-2155, ext. 500.

Accommodations:

Accommodations at Roche Harbor Resort range from the new McMillin Suites to private and shared-bath rooms in the Hotel De Haro, one to three-bedroom condominiums overlooking the harbor and the more rustic cottages with kitchens and two bedrooms. Off-season rates vary from $65 to $245 nightly.

For reservations and information on Roche Harbor Resort & Marina call 800-451-8910, or see the Web at www.rocheharbor.com.

Things to do:

Whale-watching cruises and guided sea-kayak tours are not options after October, and the pool and ice cream stand are closed. But the trick here is to focus on the plus side of an off-season visit: no crowds, no waits, no hassles. The island is in the "rain shadow" and likely to have good weather. So walk the trails in solitude, bring a book and relax on the beach, dally in the soaking tub if you're in one of the new McMillan suites. Try shell fishing in season.

Bicycles can be rented in Friday Harbor at several locations, and you'll have very little traffic to contend with on the road. The resort is developing a 3-mile trail that will take you from the resort to English Camp via farmland and pleasant views along the forest edge. Should be ready early next year.

And there's always eating. The resort's grocery store and two of its three restaurants remain open all year, and there are plenty more of both in Friday Harbor.