ELBE, Wash. — There’s a sight that can't be missed while entering the gateway to Mount Rainier. Driving through the small town of Elbe, you’ll see the Mt. Rainier Railroad Dining Co. and Hobo Inn.
"When people come in they are completely amazed," owner Elisa Butler said.
On the property, there is a restaurant with a dining room and down the hall, a full-service bar. Next door there are several places to spend the night at the Hobo Inn. It sounds like a standard hotel, but the catch is that the entire experience is in train cars from as far back as the late 1800s.
"The cars came from all over the world,” Butler said. "They were brought in by rail and cherry-picked on the track."
For example, the diner is an original train car from 1932.
There are decades of history at the diner, but now owner Elisa Butler plans to sell.
She has backed off on the hours a bit and said she is ready for a change.
"It's time for me to be grandma and to be mom," Butler said.
The property and train cars are listed at a whopping $4.25 million. It has quietly been on the market since 2022.
It has not actively been advertised, but Butler said she would be ready to close the deal if the opportunity presented itself.
"I don't necessarily feel like it’s a tough one to sell. It's going to be a specific person to create a vision like the family did," listing agent Christine Baumann of John L. Scott Real Estate said.
They believe it will eventually sell because of the guaranteed tourism. About two million people visit Mount Rainier every year. Baumann said the buyer would have a lot to work with.
"It's like your own little village here to create so many business opportunities,” Baumann said.
That village opened in 1987. It was created and built by Butler’s father, Robert W. Thurston.
"It was quite a vision that he had," Butler said.
Three generations have now lived and breathed the business, while generations of families have visited the diner over the years.
The listing doesn’t have a stipulation to save the trains, but that’s what Butler would like to see.
"Somebody else can have this amazing opportunity and keep the history of the trains," Butler said.