Then & Now 2016 | Historic stained glass window relocated to Snoqualmie Valley Hospital chapel

In 1985, liturgical artists, Robert and Jill Hill, created and designed the stained glass window for the former Snoqualmie Valley Hospital on Ethan Wade Way. The 12-pane window was designed for a chapel in the hospital that was financed by generous donations from the community.

In 1985, liturgical artists, Robert and Jill Hill, created and designed the stained glass window for the former Snoqualmie Valley Hospital on Ethan Wade Way. The 12-pane window was designed for a chapel in the hospital that was financed by generous donations from the community.

The couple designed the interior of the chapel and oversaw the project. They said they chose the floral design for the glass to appeal to all faiths and to represent purity and peace.

“People go into a chapel to pray and may feel hopeless,” Jill Hill said. “We chose blue because it is a color that makes people feel calm.”

The window was removed and put into storage a few years later when the hospital expanded services and needed to repurpose the chapel for patient care.

Plans for the new hospital that opened May 2015 included a chapel. The window was designed to the specifications of the historic stained-glass window as a central focal point and to honor the community members who created and donated the window. A few glass pieces had broken in storage and needed repaired.

Hospital staff contacted the original artists and learned that the Hills are still designing and restoring stained glass in their home studio called HillHouse Studio in Anacortes.

“The original glass was hand-blown from Fremont Antique Glass Studio in Seattle, so I had no trouble matching the colors for the new pieces,” Robert Hill said.

The restoration took nearly three months. The window was mounted in the new hospital under his supervision in the chapel off the main hospital lobby in March 2015.