Sanders Estate hosts weddings, corporate picnics, holiday parties, business seminars, executive meetings, retreats and family celebrations for up to 450 guests on more than 37 acres in Auburn, Washington. The site centers on a historic mansion built between 1908 and 1910, with a pond, landscaped lawns and tented reception areas, about 35 minutes from downtown Seattle. Events are run with Blue Ribbon Cooking, which handles catering and bar service.
Seminars and company events
The estate lists business seminars, executive meetings, single-day and multi-day retreats, team-building, club events and trade shows alongside company parties and corporate picnics. Services include planning, design, catering and staffing, with box lunches and full-day meeting menus. Outdoor space suits summer company gatherings: an upper lawn with a pergola, and an upper area of 20 by 40 feet with party lighting, white umbrellas and a concrete floor. Sound equipment can be rented. Free parking on site holds up to 130 cars.
Weddings and receptions
There are four outdoor ceremony sites: a pergola above the meadow, an arbor over the Mill Pond, a terrace looking down on the lower lawn, and a rose pond with a fountain. Receptions take place in a 40 by 60 foot tent on the lower lawn, with a concrete floor, chandeliers and party lighting, next to a catering tent and a 2-acre lawn. A getting-ready suite has a private bath, a make-up table and a closet. A standard rental runs eight hours, more time can be added, and music must stop by 10 p.m. A one-hour rehearsal can be booked in the week of the wedding.
Rooms and capacities
The total facility capacity is 450 guests, and the basic package is set for 200. Included rentals cover 200 white padded resin chairs, 25 round dining tables, rectangular tables and five cocktail tables. Extra tents, tables, chairs and equipment can be hired.
Accommodation
The mansion can be rented as a whole house for up to 10 overnight guests, with a honeymoon suite and guest rooms. Check-in takes place between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. the evening before the event.
Catering
Food must come from a licensed and insured caterer, and the estate's partner is Blue Ribbon Cooking, which offers custom menus from brunch to late-night snacks, cocktail parties and plated meals, with a pastry team for cakes and sweets. Clients can supply their own alcohol or choose a bar package, but all drinks are served by Blue Ribbon's licensed bartenders.
History and setting
Erick Sanders, a Swedish immigrant who made his fortune in lumber in Seattle and on Bainbridge Island, built the mansion for himself and his wife, Sara, as a retirement home. He used timber from his own mill, glass salvaged from the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition and surplus bricks from road works. Sanders and his partners had bought 1,100 acres in the Green River Valley, where the cleared land later gave rise to the Smith Brothers dairy farm. Many original features, including light fixtures and a cage shower, have been kept.
Getting there
The address is 5516 South 277th, Auburn, WA 98001, in the Green River Valley south of Seattle. Seattle-Tacoma International is the nearest major airport.
