PORT TOWNSEND — For 112 years, Manresa Castle has stood on the hill overlooking Port Townsend, its aristocratic profile giving it a somewhat aloof air.
Now, Ron Myhre wants everyone in town to come to the castle.
“How many castles are there in this country, especially on the West Coast?” Myhre asks.
“People have to realize what we have in our midst.”
Myhre is the new manager of the Manresa, a European-style hotel, restaurant and lounge that sold at auction in May.
The buyer was Bill Massey, an Oak Harbor housing developer who plans to awaken the castle to its full potential, Myhre said.
Massey outbid more than 20 others and paid $2.255 million for the Manresa.
“The place was sleeping,” Myhre said. “It was here, but it was just maintaining.”
That the property has a million-dollar view — but was losing money — led to speculation that the castle, a private residence turned monastery turned hotel, would undergo a third transformation.
