Campus Planning, Historic Preservation

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Tree Tops Historic Context
(University of Oregon, 2016) Campus Planning, University of Oregon
Tree Tops--also known historically as the Hampton House, Campbell Church House, and most recently the Chancellor’s House--was built from 1908-1910 for prominent local businessman Alton Hampton. One of the first grand houses to be built in the southern, hillier area of Fairmount (known as Fairmount Heights), Tree Tops was part of a building and population boom in Eugene. According to the Fairmount History Project, a record-high 266 homes, 56 in Fairmount alone, were built in 1909. Tree Tops is one of several important early estates on the electric streetcar Fairmount Loop. Other important, adjacent estates include the Washburne Estate (c. 1920), the Fellman-Jewett Residence (1921), and the McMorran House (1925), which continues to house the acting University of Oregon president. Like Alton Hampton, George McMorran and his partner Carl Washburne were successful Eugene businessmen. Wilson H. Jewett was a Eugene lumberman and the brother of Mrs. Washburne. These estates, built into the same steeply sloping hillside, all have panoramic views of the University and the city below.