The Hidden Houses of Vancouver Washington

The Haunted Lowell Mason Hidden House

In 1884 Lowell Mason Hidden built a handsome home on 13th Street in downtown Vancouver, Washington. This house is within blocks of the St. James Cathedral, the Providence Academy, the Brickhouse Bar and Grill (still standing on the site of the original Hidden Brick Company operations), and the Carnegie Library. All of the remaining Hidden brick structures in the area have been saved by the Hidden family, which explains the heavy concentration surrounding their original homestead.
This house has mainly been used as a restaurant over the years, and has been infamous with locals for decades with locals for having a friendly haunting. Business employees over the years have reported hearing a ghostly greeting upon entering the house. Doors would open or be unlocked and phantom footsteps have been heard. There are also reports of ghostly female singing, thought to perhaps be Julie Hidden. Julie was Lowell's daughter and was known for having a lovely voice, and liked to sing for guests. The Hidden house is known for being so haunted that it's a stop on several local Haunted Ghost Tours.
After eating here several times and discussing their interest in Hidden bricks, SJ (aka "Brick Sara") has gotten to know the current business owners, David and Elaine, a lovely couple that opened the wonderful Hidden House Market and Deli here in 2019. Elaine assured SJ that she's never had a paranormal experience in the house, but graciously offered us full access to the upstairs of the home, which has never been opened to the public for decades. We can report to you however, that unlike Elaine, SJ did manage to have an unexplained experience upstairs at the Hidden house in October 2020.
One of SJ's addictions - Carrot Apple Curry Soup.
The upstairs of the home is being prepared for a major restoration towards it's original grandeur, at which point it will then be available to rent as event space. The gorgeous original glass windows greet you as you duck the low ceiling going upstairs.
There is a plethora of vintage kitchen equipment from many decades when you head upstairs. Most of the floors have orange carpet from the 1960's, while some of the wallpaper is older from the 1920's or 1930's. Layers of paint from many decades have begun peeling from the walls.
Hidden family on the porch of the home, L.M. standing in bow tie on the right.
The view of the St. James Cathedral across 13th Street hasn't changed.
One of the rooms upstairs used to be an employee break room when the Hidden house was a pancake restaurant called the Blueberry Inn in the 1960's. Old metal lockers remain from the building at that time. This room's window faces the blue carriage house and W.F. Hidden house to the west. The room with the lockers is where SJ had a strange experience. Knowing about their interest in the antique building materials, Elaine specifically told SJ to look for the Hidden brick fireplace in the front room and at the old doors. She also said SJ was welcome to open or go in anything that they wanted to while exploring, which was very generous. Up until when they reached this room with the lockers SJ had only been taking video and absorbing the space. SJ had not yet touched anything upstairs at this point, but the old doorknob caught their interest.
The upstairs front room of the haunted L.M. Hidden House. The front window oddly moves sometimes if you watch from outside.
Antique wallpaper of years gone by still hangs on the walls of the Hidden House.
Noticing one of the antique medal handles on the old door in this room, which looks west towards the blue Carriage House and the W. F. Hidden House, SJ decided to touch the closet doorknob in this room as they were drawn to it. When they tried to open it, the door was met with some sort of resistance. Because the upstairs space is in heavy transition, there were items everywhere. SJ assumed that one of these items was blocking the bottom of the door.
SJ had a video recording on their cell phone at the time and the phone was turned towards the door when they opened it about an inch. As soon as they had the thought about the door being stuck, something inside the closet firmly pulled the door back shut with a firm *CLICK*. There was nothing blocking the door at the time. Now, let's think about what just happened. People are never normally allowed upstairs and have been given permission to snoop, but whoever is upstairs would not have any idea about that granted privilege.
We all agree that there is one other spot upstairs in the house that feels unsettling, in the front of what we assume was a Living or Family room - the upstairs equivalent of the main dining room downstairs. The energy definitely felt intense in this certain spot nearing the front stained glass window, like we walked into something thick. Standing there, SJ couldn't shake the feeling that someone had sat and longingly watched outside in that window for many years before we did.
There is nothing negative or terrifying going on here inside the Hidden house. This is clearly just a home being watched over carefully by someone or something that is still protective of the space.
Could whatever is here be a past member of the Hidden family? We have no idea, but it's fun to think about. The fact that their name is literally stamped everywhere around this amazing historic block could be contributing to the activity here. After all, this is their space.
A view of the Urban Barnhouse.

The Blue Carriage House.

Between the Hidden houses there is a small blue house with a garden in front. When SJ first researched the Hidden family at the Clark County Historical Museum they learned in a volume written by W.F. Hidden that this Garden of Remembrance between the two Hidden houses is in honor of Mary Hidden (1847), Edith Hidden (1878) and Margaret A. Hidden (1910). Mary was L.M.'s first wife and the mother of the Hidden children. L.M. had a second wife, Grace - and turns out, she is one of SJ's spouse's distant relatives. We told you this story is weird.
Cousin Grace and the rest of the Hiddens are interred at the Old Vancouver City Cemetery.

The W. Foster Hidden House.

Next door to the L.M. Hidden house on 13th Street, a gorgeous two-story home with a columned deck was built by L.M.'s son, W. Foster Hidden. The home has sandstone windowsills, a slate roof, and of course gorgeous brickwork throughout the structure. The interior is known for having original high grade Douglas Fir woodwork throughout the home. I sure would like to see the inside of it, but it is not open to the public.
Most of the known history about the Hidden family is due to the diligence of W. Foster Hidden, who seems to have acted as official family historian. A volume he wrote chronicling the family's history in the area has been donated the the Clark County Historical Museum's library, the building that his father L.M. Hidden built in 1909 and eventually donated to the City of Vancouver. W. Foster Hidden was known for being extremely frugal, and he and his family grew all of their own food, had their own chicken coop and supplied their own eggs. Their fortune was tied up in property around the area, with Robert Hidden (son of W. Foster) calling them "land poor". His daughter Helen said: "We never felt rich, in fact, we were amongst the poorest kids in our class. Our money was invested....I did not have any store-bought things to wear until I was fifteen."
The front of the W. F. Hidden house is stunning, but the back of the house has some features that we really love about Hidden built buildings. The detailing on the rear staircase of the home is unbelievably charming... you can almost hear children of past years laughing and playing on them. The W.F. Hidden House is now a privately owned law office and unfortunately not available to tour for the general public.
We have a friend that worked inside as a paralegal while they were in college and described it as "creepy" and "haunted," but we have no specific reports about what it is like inside this building. Also in the rear of the house is the garage; perhaps this is the "Carriage House" proper mentioned on the sidewalk in front of the home. SJ's favorite detail is how the Hidden family typically faced out one of their famous stamped bricks in the brickwork on their projects, a clever way to announce the home's occupancy.
Over the years the bricks have obtained a gorgeous patina, making this one of the finest examples of original Hidden brickwork left in the area. Both homes are on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Urban Barnhouse and The French Door.

Amazing details of the W. F. Hidden House.
The first time SJ and their spouse went inside the Urban Barnhouse they were very excited to be able to be up close to the bricks and we were the only customers inside the store. Surprisingly, upon entering the store SJ felt nauseous, confused, and claustrophobic. They asked to take a couple photos inside anyway and struck up a conversation with the employees there. SJ introduced themselves and explained that they just came from lunch at Hidden House Deli around the corner and came to check out the building. Employees were very cordial and welcoming and were excited to hear about our awesome lunch. We thanked them for their time and could not get out of that building fast enough. We have not found anything during exhaustive research as to any historical reason that could explain the uncomfortable feelings here.
The Urban Barnhouse is actually backed up to the rear of the L.M. Hidden house. The first day that David and Elaine gave us the green light to investigate every inch of the Hidden House we went all over the complex, geeking out over antique building details throughout the site. When Andrea came to town and first visited the Hidden houses, we also went inside the charming store called "French Door." This space has much better vibes than the attached Urban Barnhouse. Lots of old Catholic items and plants were waiting for us inside... almost as if it was curated for our specific tastes! While the Hidden bricks really rolled out the red carpet for us, strangely enough, Andrea also wasn't interested in visiting the part of the barnhouse that SJ didn't like either.
As you walk around the blocks surrounding the Hidden houses, clay tiles, pipes, and cleverly placed brick paths weave all around the buildings... it almost feels like a "Hidden" oasis in downtown Vancouver. SJ simply cannot spend enough time here, and somehow it has begun to feel like home - we are certain a large portion of that has to do with the hospitality of our friends at the Hidden House Market and Deli.
Whatever is going on here, the Hidden houses are a jewel of the community, still owned by the Hidden family and leased to local businesses. The Hidden family now donates the rental proceeds for this building to Clark College, so the building truly still benefits the community - L.M. should be proud. The historically important details in all of the buildings (including the L.M. Hidden house's fireplace - with the Scallops reminiscent of our friend St. James that clever Elaine has adapted into their business logo) and amazing gourmet food at the Hidden House Market are absolutely worth a visit if you're in Vancouver... even if you aren't interested in trying to talk to ghosts of Hiddens past. Go ahead and tell 'em the one with the Hidden brick tattoo sent you. They'll be happy to see you. UPDATE: October 2022: The Hidden House Market and Deli has switched to an event space/catering business mode - you can now rent out the facility for a private event, and have it catered! Contact Elaine and David to see about spending time in this amazing, historical space.
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