Identifying
Oregon Architecture
PART ONE
By Matthew Hayes
By 1846, there
were a dozen log cabins etched out of the primeval wilderness fronting
the west bank of the Willamette River. Three years earlier the name
Portland had been decided by the toss of a coin—three years later,
California’s Gold Rush would lure most of the town’s population
south to seek their fortune.
Despite rival
competition from ambitious neighbors communities like St. Helens,
Oregon City, and Milwaukie, Portland forged ahead on its juggernaut
quest to become chief metropolis of Oregon. Supplying provisions (timber,
food, clothing) to the seemingly endless traffic of miners, speculators,
and emigrants, Portland established itself as a vital trading hub.
With municipal incorporation in 1851, Portland officially developed
as the region’s navigation nexus.
To keep apace
with its tremendous growth, dense forests were cleared to build new
homes and neighborhoods. Unfortunately, the unsightly stumps of innumerable
chopped trees remained, garnering early Portland the unflattering
nickname “Stumptown.”
Portland’s
prosperous business population endeavored to change this image by
beautifying their raw frontier town. Thus the ubiquitous stumps were
rooted out, while new streets and subdivisions were added. With the
aid of plentiful local timber, dirt roads (mud roads during the winter)
were planked and wooden sidewalks constructed. Architecturally, the
decrepit log cabins of a generation ago were rapidly being replaced
by sturdier, frame constructions. More elaborate owner-commissioned,
carpenter-built structures were built or rebuilt in imitation of fondly
remembered homesteads back East. By most accounts, Portland resembled
an overgrown New England village.
Due to the devastations
of flooding, tandem fires, progress and time, little survives of Portland’s
settlement era. Oregon City, however, contains several fine examples
of the territory’s hand-hewn pioneer styles.
The Hudson Bay
Company’s chief factor, Dr. John McLaughlin, built his famous
house in Oregon City in 1846, where it remains today—typifying
Oregon’s earliest vernacular building style. The 80x50 foot house
was designed in the Georgian Colonial spirit, and was one of the first
buildings in the country to become a National Historic Site. Next-door
is Forbes Barclay’s house of 1849, now thought to be the oldest
Classic Revival structure in Oregon. At 504 3rd Street, also in Oregon
City, is the James Milne House of 1869, a very rare surviving example
of Carpenter Gothic architecture. Of special note is the steeply pitched
gable roof. This triumvirate serves to represent a prime example of
Oregon’s first phase of residential construction.
By the late 1860s,
a renaissance of cast-iron commercial blocks lined the waterfront,
and elaborate Italianate mansions extended west to Sixth Street and
beyond into the “suburbs” and hills. Italianate is a term
that best describes the popular American building frenzy of the late
1860s and 1870s that attempted to capture the picturesque look of
Italy’s elaborate palaces and country villas. Typical Italianate
features include a flat-topped roof with overhanging eaves, ornamental
woodwork, an entrance porch with balcony and columns and symmetrical,
pronounced bay windows. Pattern books with easy-to-follow blueprint
drawings were published and distributed across the continent, making
it possible to replicate the fashionable Italianate style in the available
materials of any region.
Philadelphia’s
Centennial Exposition of 1876 inspired a new era of building. Eclectic
styles such as Queen Anne, Eastlake, Stick, and Shingle were radical
departures from the staid norms. Reflecting America’s bustling
spirit of opportunity and individuality, these bold new expressions
triumphed over the nation’s formerly formal Italianate tastes.
Queen Anne flaunted
the new wealth of the emerging industrialists. With exaggerated hipped
and gabled roofs, corner turrets and asymmetrical projections, Queen
Anne was an exuberant eruption of the changing times and their unbridled
economic and creative energy. In Portland, the famous Simon Benson
House is a prime example of the style.
Around 1895, the
decidedly more conservative Shingle style appeared. Considered to
be the most American variation of the Queen Anne, Shingle houses exhibited
striking horizontality and sparse ornamentation. Most noticeably,
their exterior surfaces were completely covered in natural wood shingles,
often left unpainted.
The Stick, another
Queen Anne digression, proved particularly popular in Oregon because
it allowed local carpenters and builders a great deal of creative
freedom. No real precedent had yet been established, though vertical
and diagonal “sticks” set against horizontal clapboards
were an oft-repeated signature of the style. This was seen as an attempt
to suggest the structure’s unseen skeleton. Roofs were likely
composed of steep intersecting gables to further express the house’s
inner frame.
As more working
families migrated to Portland in the years that followed, architectural
trends modified considerably. While those of moneyed means continued
to build mansions, the designs were less flamboyant, reflecting multiple
popular revival styles. Meanwhile, Portland’s surging middle
class fanned out into newer divisions and subdivisions, most replacing
the former farmlands east of the Willamette River.
In Part Two, the
development of the bungalow will be traced. In addition, we will discuss
the profound influence of the Craftsman, Prairie, and Arts and Crafts
movement on local building styles. |
