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William Holmes came overland from Missouri in 1843 with his wife, Louisa, and four children. The family claimed 640 acres outside Oregon City because of a good spring on the property and a beautiful view of Mount Hood. The family resided in a hastily built cabin until the house was completed in 1847. The Holmes' new house was the first frame house built by an American in Oregon City, though the family couldn't move in until the windows and doors arrived from New England. The Holmes House came to be called "Rose Farm" by friends and neighbors who admired the many early mission roses lovingly tended by Louisa Holmes. The house was a mansion for its day, and the ballroom on the second floor became the social center of the area.

The ballroom was also used as a government meeting hall. John McLoughlin and other officials of the Hudson's Bay Company were entertained there by Americans who had only recently declared their sovereignty. It is believed that the Rose Farm is the only building in which both the Provisional and Territorial Legislatures met. When Jospeh Lane, the first federally appointed Territorial Governor, took office in 1849, he delivered his first official address from the balcony to a crowd of 300 people assembled on the lawn below.

The Rose Farm Museum is open on Sundays from 1 to 4 PM from March through November. Group tours are available by appointment for groups of eight or more. Call (503) 656-5146 or (503) 245-0588 for further information.