The Bonnie Betty Jean Cottage was featured on the 2008 tour.

Trust me the Cannon Beach History Center and Museum staff, volunteers and sponsors can keep a secret. The tight-knit band of participants working on the seventh annual Cannon Beach Cottage Tour will not budge or be bought when asked for advance addresses or sneak peeks at the “whos” and “wheres” of this year’s cottage selections. Those whereabouts will remain, as the familiar quote goes, “in the sealed envelope” until Saturday’s event. Price-Waterhouse has nothing on this group. 

The first of the tour’s two related events gets under way at noon Saturday, when “Lunch and Learn” takes center stage at the Tolovana Inn, 3400 S. Hemlock St. “Tolovana Inn is situated on the site of the old Warren Hotel, one of the first lodging facilities on the Oregon Coast,” said Sharon Stewart, History Center coordinator. Built in 1911, the Inn registered Oregon’s 14th governor, Oswald West (his term 1911-15) as its first guest, a fitting piece of history in itself. 

Get ready for a midday meal and a stage, screen and star production when two historical insiders and well-known men about town, Dick Frank and Don Royse, don several hats as they share the history of this year’s eight featured cottages.

The two sleuths will point out features particular to each cottage: its age, its renovations, occupants both past and present, plumbing, pots, pans, plats and plans, all culminating in the changing role each of the cozy homes has played in Cannon Beach during the first half of the 20th century.

Frank has promised that, in keeping with that secrecy code, one of the eight designated sites is a very special property “a real surprise and something not to be missed.” Guesses, anyone?

The second part of the day’s happenings, the self-guided cottage tour, is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Each cottage will have a docent present to answer questions and provide information specific to the cottage. Check your socks for holes there are booties waiting for you in each doorway. Any time after 4 p.m., you can make your way over to the History Center, 1387 S. Spruce St., and enjoy wine and refreshments until 5:30 p.m., along with door prizes and a raffle. This year’s raffle winner will take home a wall hanging, “From Mountains to the Ocean,” created by fabric artist Jean Williams.

Secrets secured, here are some things we do know from information the History Center’s program director, Grace Saad, would share (and yes, she’s another one of the good secret keepers): “This is the second year that the Cottage Tour will focus on the historic Tolovana area, located just south of Cannon Beach. The eight early vintage beach cottages date back to the 1920s, and each one teaches us something about the neighborhood’s development through the 1950s.”

This is a walking tour; the cottages are a comfortable walking distance from each other and each cottage is open to tour both inside and out, “highlighting history, home and garden, local culture, heritage and craftsmanship,” adds Saad.

This is a good “get to know more about the area” event for tourists and local townspeople too.