Barn Kestrel — Attraction in Lake Oswego

Recap: After signing a contract, paying in full, and securing a date months in advance for our school wide medical school graduation - Debra/Barn Kestrel called us 6 days before and canceled our event to host a wedding (with a higher price tag) instead, ruining the celebration of one of the biggest moments of a lot of our lives that was the cumulation of years and years of hard work.

I was a part of a June 2024 medical school graduating class. Myself along with other students and faculty on our graduation planning committee ended up deciding on this venue for our classes graduation party - not an individual person’s but rather a party for the entire graduating class scheduled through the school. We booked, signed a contract with, and paid for our event at Barn Kestrel months before our event. We spent weeks-months before and after booking the barn putting in so much hard work (on top of balancing finishing our last term of medical school) into planning this party, as it is obviously a momentous occasion. Graduating students, current students, teachers/faculty, and even family flying in from different states and countries had made arrangements to attend. 6 days before our event, Debra called us and told us she was cancelling it so somebody else could have their wedding on that day. I’m unsure if she did so because the wedding was a higher price tag or better for marketing or whatever reason we were less important as someone already with a contract on that date. Needless to say, there was no way to find a new venue to rearrange all our vendors (with deposits) to in less than a week during the summer. Debra/Barn Kestrel’s unprofessionalism, lack of honoring paid contracts, and overall lack of empathy was really disheartening and ruined what was supposed to be a celebration of the biggest moment of a lot of our lives cumulating all our hard work. I live in West Linn and personally found this venue because I think our area is beautiful and full of good people I’d prefer to support. Unfortunately this wasn’t the case with this venue. I would not feel secure to book here for an event, especially not a graduation, wedding, or other party of...

We recently had our wedding at this beautiful venue, and it was truly everything we hoped for and more! From the moment we booked, the owners, Debra and Ed, were incredibly pleasant and accommodating. They gave us full access to everything on the property, which allowed us to personalize our day exactly how we envisioned it.

Although the weather didn’t cooperate and we had to move the ceremony into the barn, it turned out to be absolutely magical. The lights already set up inside transformed the space into something straight out of a fairytale. The saloon also made for some stunning photos—we’re so glad we took advantage of that unique backdrop!

We rented the bridal suite, which was another major highlight. It came with a full kitchen and plenty of space for my three bridesmaids to stay overnight. The morning of the wedding, we had our hair and makeup done right there while enjoying an incredible view of the hills, horses, and garden. It was peaceful and picture-perfect.

We also rented a 40x100 tent that fit beautifully on the lawn in front of the gorgeous Victorian house. When it started pouring rain just before the ceremony, Debra kindly let us take photos inside her home and even provided umbrellas for the bridal party—an unexpected but thoughtful gesture that made a big difference.

We had a hiccup with our party rentals not being able to deliver on the original day, but Debra and Ed were so understanding and flexible, allowing us to have the rentals delivered a day early. That level of kindness and cooperation is something you don’t always find, and we were so grateful.

The three-day reservation is such a great value—it gave us the perfect amount of time to set up, enjoy our day, and clean up without feeling rushed. And the house was such a bonus—it made getting ready stress-free and convenient.

We would absolutely host another event here. The setting, the flexibility, and the warmth from the owners made it unforgettable. Thank you again, Debra and Ed, for helping us create such...

We had the dreamiest elegant garden party wedding at Barn Kestrel at the end of May 2023. We highly recommend the venue. The flower gardens were in full bloom, the oak tree was full of fresh leaves and the weather was perfect! The views were amazing and yet it’s so conveniently located to lodging and other activities for our guests. We had full dinner family-style catering, a bar setup, live music + a DJ, and it was all fairly easily done. Debra and Ed were very nice and easy to work with. We had baby goats come in (separate company) which were a huge hit. The new restrooms with plumbing are a great benefit that many other garden/farm venues lack. The bridal suite is absolutely amazing - above and beyond any other place we toured or a hotel room. We wish we would have spent the night there after the wedding instead of going to a hotel - it’s an extra fee but it would have made everything even easier for us.

I would 110% recommend a day-of coordinator or planner, generally for a wedding, but also specifically for this venue - they helped immensely to coordinate the efforts of all the vendors coming to the site, especially with the weather being an unknown and the site being huge. I was dubious about paying a planner but she allowed our families and bridal parties to relax and not deal with all the tiny issues that have to be resolved during the course of the day (which we never even had to know about!).

The property could easily accommodate a much larger event but the 100-person wedding felt perfectly sized. The barn was so cute and perfect for dancing + music + an indoor bar/lounge setup.

Barn Kestrel has very few vendor requirements but we recommend the ones we worked with here: Vibrant Table, Amaro bartending, Lauren Miles photography (which you see here), Arden event rentals (in conjunction with VT). The pairing of catering + venue is critical and Vibrant Table did a great job with the unknowns of cooking for 100 people at an outdoor setting, including table setup, to...