OREGON INVENTORY OF HISTORIC PROPERTY

LLLIS LAWRENCEBUILDINGSURVEY

April I, 198 9

HISTORIC PRESERVATION PROGRA M
SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND ALLIED ARTS

UNIVERSITY OF OREGO N

Project Directors
Michael Shellenbarge r

Kimberly Laki n

fo r
State Historic Preservation Offic e

Oregon



ELLIS LAWRENCE BUILDING SURVEY
OREGON INVENTORY OF HISTORIC PROPERTY

CONTENTS

A. ELLIS LAWRENCE BIOGRAPHY & SIGNIFICANC E

Biography and Significanc e
Lawrence's Firms : Names and Dates

B. DESCRIPTION OF SURVEY METHODOLOG Y

C .

	

DESCRIPTION OF FORMS USED IN SURVEY AND EVALUATIO N
Inventory Form
Evaluation Form

D. SUMMARIES AND ANALYSIS OF SURVEY RESULTS

a. Evaluated Properties Lis t
b. Evaluated Properties : Evaluation Ranking
c. Evaluated Properties : Sorted by Styl e
d. Evaluated Properties : Sorted by Original Use
e. Total Inventory: Sorted by Styl e
f. Total Inventory : Sorted by Original Us e
g. Total Inventory Lis t

COMPLETED INVENTORY FORMS

1
1 8

1 9

22
3 4

a l
b 1
c l
di .
e l
f l

9 1

!3

	

R4970 I 001 XL
89

	

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2020





1

ELLIS F . LAWRENC E
BIOGRAPHY AND SIGNIFICANC E

"Harmony in Diversity" was a favorite phrase of Ellis F . Lawrence, and it wa s
his goal in life and work . He said that "to bring harmony out of this mos t
complex and involved civilization of ours, is certainly the outstandin g
challenge of this generation" . His accomplishments in responding to thi s
challenge make him the most significant Oregon architect of his time . Thes e
accomplishments include the buildings and organizations which he created, th e
work of the architects whom he trained, and his personal example of a lif e
dedicated to art and public service .

EARLY YEARS

He was born in a suburb of Boston, Malden, Massachusetts, on November 13 ,
1879 . His father, Henry Abbott Lawrence, manufactured artists' and engineers '
supplies and ran a Boston artists' materials store named Frost and Adam s
Company . Ellis would later write that his father opened the door t o
architecture for him, but his "earliest ambition was to be a portrait painter ,
for the human face fascinated me . In my teens I would often follow a face t o
the end of the car line trying secretly to sketch it ."2 "I remember vividl y
my discovery that physical loveliness sometimes masked the devil and that wha t
I then thought gaunt homeliness sometimes hid the angel . So I early began to
change my standards . . .Ugliness now often becomes exquisite
beauty . . .Architecture became to me something more than sticks and ston e
because of my love of faces . It never seemed as important ai the people wh o
were to live, work, or worship in the buildings I designed . "

The Lawrence family was sufficiently affluent to send Ellis to Phillip s
Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and to continue his education at Bosto n
Tech, even after Ellis' father was killed in a train accident when Ellis wa s
sixteen . In 1902 Ellis received his Masters degree in architecture from
Boston Tech (now Massachusetts Institute of Technology), the first school o f
architecture in this country . He was president of his senior class . At nigh t
in the drafting room he was the "champion drafting stool racer ;" later, when
he was a teacher, he would write of his students that "I have always bee n
afraid this present crp would sometime discover the possibilities in tha t
rare but noisy sport ."' One of his classmates described him as genial, hig h
principled, cultuged, and sane, adding that "only his friends knew the breadt h
of his striving . "

Constant Desire Despraedelle, his French Beaux Arts studio instructor at MIT ,
was one of three men who most influenced Lawrence during his years o f
education and apprenticeship in New England .

	

Lawrence worked for his firm ,
Codman and Despraedelle, for three years after MIT, and he said tha t
Despraedelle aught him about functionalism and "how to drink deeply of th e
joy of work ."' Lawrence kept a picture of him over his desk throughout hi s
life .

Lawrence also briefly worked in New England for architects Andrews, Jacques &

Rantoul ; Peabody & Stearns ; and John Calvin Stevens--the second of the thre e
men who influenced Lawrence's early years . Stevens' romantic interpretation s

of colonial buildings influenced Lawrence's designs, and his office becam e
Lawrence's standard for a spirit of cooperation in work . "Stevens made me



2

desire . . .the same devotion and loyalty and co-operation from my men as h e

received from his . . .He taught me to detest the architect who buys the brain s
of a draughtsman to create what he himself as architect should 8create and the n
parade it before the eyes of the world . . .saying . . .'I did it' . "

The third of the three men who influenced Lawrence was Charles F . Kimball, a
landscape painter from whom Lawrence learned an economy of manner and mean s
and the value of art that is uncontaminated by commercialism .

In 1905 Lawrence traveled in England, France, and Italy for eight month s
during which he was married at St . John's Chapel in Chester, England, to Alic e
Millett of Portland, Maine . He affiliated for five months with the Pari s
Atelier of Eugene A . Duquesne, a private studio not part of the Ecole de Beau x
Arts . Arhitects Raymond Hood and George Ford shared his Rue de Sein e
quarters .' Years later, Lawrence advised student travelers that "France and

1 0England are splendid, but when it comes to real meat Italy beats them bolri .
"Don't spend too much time at the centers but get out into the country . "

OREGON

Lawrence arrived in Portland, Oregon, in March 1906 on his way to open a n
architectural office in San Francisco for Stephen Codman . The great San
Francisco earthquake struck the following month, and Lawrence liked Portland ,
so he stayed where he was . He worked briefly for architect Edgar M . Lazarus ,
then in November 1906, joined another Lazarus employee--MIT classmate, E .B .
MacNaughton, and engineer Henry Raymond in the partnership of MacNaghton ,
Raymond and Lawrence . Lawrence was their chief designer .

In 1910, Lawrence wrote that "the West is the place for me," but he cautione d
that young architects "should not come West too soon, and should full y
appreciate what a real architect is . It is an easy thing here with the lur e
of easy speculation to forget anything but the making of money . This I thin k
is the only reason why from my point of view the combination wed at
[McNaughton, Raymond and Lawrence] . . .was not really successful . "

Lawrence left that partnership in February 1910 and practiced independentl y
for three years before associating with another classmate from MIT, his frien d
William Holford . Later, in 1928, long-time employees Ormond Bean and Fre d
Allyn joined them as partners . Bean left the firm in 1933 after being electe d
city commissioner and began a distinguished career in public service . Stil l
later, during World War II, Lawrence practiced independently, and then began a
partnership with his son and long-time associate, H . Abbott Lawrence .

Lawrence ' s office designed hundreds of buildings during these years .
Individual roles within the firm are not entirely clear today ; but it appear s
that Lawrence was usually the chief designer, conceiving the basic scheme ,
then working with others to develop it, and often designing the ornamenta l

embellishment himself .

IN HIS SPARE TIM E

Soon after deciding to stay in Portland, Lawrence designed the northeas t
Portland house in which he lived for the rest of his life . It may be th e
earliest Arts and Crafts style house in Oregon . It is also a duplex ; Lawrence
and his wife and three children lived on one side, and his mother and sister



3

lived on the other . In 1907, he purchased a forty acre apple ranch in Odel l
near Hood River, where he built a second house in which his family spen t
occasional weekends and portions of the summers until he sold the ranch i n
1924 . Lawrence painted there, sketched his three small boys, and worked i n
his apple orchards . His apples won the "Sweepstakes" at the 1910 Oregon Stat e
Horticultural Show .

The Oregon coast became Lawrence's other leisure-time destination . In the
early years he went to Neahakahni, where he had built the Neahakahni Tavern ,
and where a summer arts colony was forming . In later years he preferred
Purdy's cottages , just south of Yachats, where ,he sketched, read, dressed "i n
very disreputable clothes . . .much like a tramp," 1 and hunted for agates on th e
beach . He said that the finding

Q4
the agates must not become more importan t

than the stimulation of the hunt .

	

He never got the cottage by the sea tha t
he always wanted .

His other spare time activities included an occasional tennis match o r
fishing, and listening to classical music . He disliked jazz and boogie -
woogie . He abandoned the banjo he had played while at Andover 4pd returned t o
playing the violin, which he described as "fiddling . . .awfully ."

	

He enjoye d
good cigars and good food and wasn't very fond of physical exercise ; not
surprisingly, he was somewhat overweight .

In his early years in Oregon, he founded organizations that became th e
foundation for professionalism in the building industry of Oregon and th e
West .

THE PORTLAND ARCHITECTURAL CLU B

The Portland Architectural Club was founded in May 1906, two months afte r
Lawrence's arrival in Portland, with MacNaughton as its first President .
Lawrence was active in its educational efforts, and was chairman of th e
January 1908 First Exhibit that was Oregon's first major display o f
architectural drawings and allied arts . For two years he taught a night clas s
for carpenters at the YMCA, and in 1909 the PAC elected him to begin a
Portland design studio affiliated with the Beaux Arts Society . This atelier ,
with Lawrence as its patron, offered Oregon's first formal classes for would -
be architects . His early students included his future partner, Fred S . Allyn ,
and Louis C . Rosenberg, whom Lawrence hired as the first instructor o f
architecture at the University of Oregon and who later became a famous artist .
In 1910 Lawrence was elected president of the Portland Architectural Club .

THE ARCHITECTURAL LEAGUE OF THE PACIFIC COAS T

In 1909, Lawrence organized and chaired the first convention ever held of Wes t
Coast architects . This convention approved his proposal to create a n
association of architectural clubs and American Institute of Architects '
chapters in the Western states to be called The Architectural League of th e
Pacific Coast . Lawrence was its acknowledged founder and first vice -
president . Architect Willis Polk, the League's first president, described
Lawrence as "a 'steam roller' for work . I never saw man who works s o
industriously, so enthusiastically, so continuously ." 6 Member organization s
quickly grew to a dozen, and Lawrence became their third president in 1912 .
The League held exhibits, promoted student training, and held conventions in



4

San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Portland . Lawrence believed that the
League was better able than the AIA to meet the unique educational needs o f
the profession and its clientel in the West ; but the AIA's influence grew i n
the West, and the League was abandoned in 1915 . Lawrence regretted this ,
noting especially that students were included in the League but not in th e
AIA .

OREGON CHAPTER OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECT S

Lawrence did see a role for the AIA in raising professional standards in th e
West, and in 1910 he attempted to organize a local chapter, noting that thi s
was difficult "because the oldest practitioners in town . . .care little or
nothing for its principles .

	

He was chairman of the founding group whic h
established The Oregon Chapter of the AIA in November 1911 and was elected th e
chapter's first president . Reform of unfair competition practices was hig h
among his priorities ; and in 1911, he became professional adviser to the
Portland Auditorium Competition, the first Oregon competition to use the AIA' s
rules . In 1913, he became the second Oregon architect to be named a Fellow i n
the national AIA . In 1919, he was influential in the adoption of the Oregon
Architect's Registration Law, one of the first in the West . In later years h e
was a national director and vice-president of the AIA.

THE BUILDERS EXCHANGE

Having organized the architects, Lawrence next turned his attention to th e
entire building industry, founding The Builders Exchange of Portland in 191 1
and the Oregon Building Congress in 1921 . While president of The Portlan d
Architectural Club, he and architect Joseph Jacobberger invited responsibl e
contractors and builders to join with the architects in founding The Builder s
Exchange to promote cooperation and to encourage and protect the buildin g
interests of Portland . Their large downtown offices included meeting rooms ,
plan-check rooms, a library, and social spaces . In their offices today is a
bronze bas relief of Lawrence, "Founder, Builders Exchange Cooperative" .

THE OREGON BUILDING CONGRES S

In November 1921, Lawrence presided at the organization of the Association o f
Building and Construction, later renamed The Oregon Building Congress . Thi s
"round table" of architects, contractors, craftsmen, material suppliers ,
realtors, builders, plus representatives of the public appointed by th e
governor, followed similar chapters in Boston and New York as part of a
growing national congress movement . During the Great Depression, loca l
chapters were founded in many Oregon cities, and the organization existed int o
World War II . Lawrence described some of the problems it was initiall y
intended to address : "Skilled manpower in the building trades had come fro m
Europe for the most part . When the war and later restrictive immigration law s
stopped this flow, incompetent and unskilled labor resulted . Few sons of the
mechanic class were entering the trades . . .No successful apprenticeship syste m
existed . . .Strikes were frequent . . .The general contractor had become a
broker . . .The architects and engineers were . . .not strongly enough entrenched to
adjust alone the evils of'9competitive bidding exploitation, high costs and lo w
standards of execution ."



Lawrence was president during the first three years of the Building Congress ,
during which it approved the Code of Ethics for the Building Industry, drafte d
legislation for an Oregon arbitration court, and established an apprenticeshi p
school and the Guild of Craftsmen . Lawrence was especially proud of th e
Guild, a concept of architect Charles James, which honored selected craftsmen
by naming them Master Guildsmen for exceptional ability in a craft . Lawrence
believed that the Guild helped to promote the craftsmanship needed to provid e
modern bui Oings with "something of the spirit of man in their finishe d
structure .

	

The Guild was praised by Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt ,
and guilds based upon it were begun in New York and Philadelphia . The
apprenticeship program was also influential nationally, and Lawrence was prou d
of the success that his "round table" discussions had had in settling labo r
disputes . He considered his work ith the Oregon Building Congress to be the
greatest undertaking of his life . L

THE CITY PLANNE R

Lawrence has been called "The Father of City Planning in Oregon ." 22 He spoke
out against unbridled real estate development and corrupt government, and fo r
a healthier and more attractive city : "The City is an organism, and it mus t
be healthy, else it breeds vice and disease . Above all, As breathing spaces ,
its parks, must be ample else its lungs will be stifled ."

	

Lawrence was a
member of the 1909 Civic Improvement League of Portland and the mayor's 191 1
Greater Portland Plan Association that commissioned Edward H . Bennett of
Chicago to prepare a Portlggd Plan . Lawrence later described himself a s
Bennett's "right-hand man"

	

in development of the plan, said to be the firs t
in the country to be approved by voters . The elaborate plan accomplished
little, but Lawrence continued to serve on various planning commissions an d
was instrumental in development of plans for the Portland waterfront . Later
his planning efforts became more regional, and he promoted the "New Northwes t
Passage" to canalize the Columbia and Snake Rivers . When he was asked to form
a school of architecture at the University of Oregon, he placed the teachin g
of city planning near the top of his prioritie s

THE UNIVERSITY OF OREGON

Lawrence's association with the University of Oregon began in 1914, first a s
campus planner, then as founder and head of the school of architecture, an d
then in 1915 as university architect . He held these roles until his death i n
1946, routinely traveling by train from his practice in Portland to Eugene o n
Tuesday, spending two nights at the Hotel Osburn--at the Collier House afte r
1942, and returning by train to Portland on Thursday . He never learned t o
drive an automobile .

His exclusive commission to design all of the campus buildings as long as h e
headed the architecture program was intended to compensate for an inadequat e

teaching salary ; and Lawrence justified this arrangement as necessary t o
protect the school of architecture from a seeming lack of confidence were th e
University to go elsewhere for the design of its own buildings . Some
architects resented this exclusive contract, and it was challenged by Edga r
Lazarus and others, especially when Lawrence interpreted the agreement t o
include the University's medical campus in Portland . The legality o f
Lawrence's combined academic and professional roleA r for the university wa s
upheld in a 1938 Oregon Attorney-General's opinion .



6

THE SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND ALLIED ARTS

Lawrence was the founder of The School of Architecture and Allied Arts i n
1914, and its head for nearly 32 years . Under Lawrence the school rose to th e
national prominence which it still enjoys today . Allen Eaton, a Eugen e

artist/craftsman who said that he had never seen a school of architecture ,
first suggested the idea of the School to President P .L . Campbell . Eaton also
suggested Lawrence, whose exhibit for The Portland Architectural Club he ha d
admired, to head the School . Lawrence welcomed this opportunity to bring ar t
education to Oregonians, whom he described as "typical western Americans ,
knowin'and caring little about aesthetics at this stage of their communit y
life ." 6

Some architecture coursework had previously been offered at western colleges ,
including classes in rural architecture at Oregon Agricultural College, bu t
Lawrence's architecture program was only the second complete academic progra m
in architecture to be established west of the Mississippi . In 1919, it becam e
the 13th program accepted to membership in the Association of Collegiat e
Schools of Architecture . Among the early faculty hired by Lawrence was Alfre d
Schroff, a painter and stained glass artist, to whom Lawrence wrote that "th e
little refinements of life . . .are somewhat lacking . . .[W] I think you would b e
contented in the very fight which the work involves ."

	

Roswell Dosch, a
sculptor who had studied under Rodin, was hired to teach the first sculptur e
classes offered in the Northwest .

Lawrence adapted his architecture program from MIT's, but attgmpted from the
beginning to make it a "genuine experiment in art education .

	

He originated
three historically significant features . First, was his academic program' s
integration with building construction at the University . Second, was hi s
inclusion of allied arts along with architecture . Third, was his adoptio n
after a few years, of non-competitive design policies, and a break from th e
Beaux Arts system. Historian Arthur Weatherhead wrote that these second an d
third features made Oregon "the first school in the United States to adopt ,
completely and successfully,these two basic elements of the modern movemen t
in architectural education ." '

INTEGRATION WITH THE UNIVERSITY'S BUILDING PROGRAM . Lawrence integrated hi s
academic program with the University's building Oprogram to a degree that h e
reported as unique among architecture . schools .

	

This relationship wa s
especially evident during a period of active building from 1919 to 1923 durin g
which the University acted as its own general contractor ; the University' s
chief of construction and mechanical inspector were part-time faculty of th e
school, and classes in construction and working drawings paralleled th e

building program . Evening classes for the workmen who were actuall y
constructing the buildings brought the students and workers together t o
discuss each other's work . The students even held "smoker" social events fo r

these workers, with music, wrestling, beans, hot dogs, and cider . 31 The

faculty and students also produced works of art to ornament the campu s
buildings .

COLLABORATION WITH THE ALLIED ARTS . Encouraged by Allen Eaton and Presiden t

Campbell, Lawrence decided to teach architecture in close collaboration wit h

the teaching of the arts allied with it . This may seem to be merely a logical



result of his training in the elaborately ornamented buildings of the Beau x
Arts ; but Lawrence said that this training too often made the architec t
indifferent to the arts "as he . . .does

ngt
care for final results as he doe s

for his presentation and paper design .

	

Significantly, of America n
architecture schools, only Carnegie Tech was organized around thi s
combination ;

a

	

"Oregon was the first to establish a positive program of
collaboration .

	

Lawrence's early thinking about the scope of this art
training included weaving, textiles, pottery, tile, terra cotta, modeling and
carving, interior decoration, and landscape decoration . Once these were
established, he wanted to add book-binding, leather working, needlework ,
jewelry, costume deign, decorative design, illustration, painting, an d
commercial design .

	

Eventually, most of these were established, though afte r
Lawrence's death the arts became more "fine" and less "applied" .

THE BEAUX ARTS SYSTEM . The Beaux Arts Institute of Design controlled th e
highly competitive design programs at all American architectural schools unti l
Oregon became the first in the nation to reject their programs . The eastern
schools all followed Oregon's example more than a decade later .
Architect/critic William Purcell described the revolt against the Beaux Art s
with historic sweep, noting that the contributions of famous architects
Viollet le Duc, Joseph Paxton, and Louis Sullivan were well known, "but wha t
is not known are the details of the contribution that Ellis F . Lawrence
made . "35 Because the school's abandonment of the Beaux Arts system and o f
competition in design coincided with the arrival in the Fall of 1922 o f
Professor W .R .B . Willcox, it is often assummed that Willcox was more
responsible for this development than was Lawrence . The arrival of Willcox ,
whose views on education Lawrence knew well, is better interpreted as a
conscious move by Lawrence to implement an important step in the evolution o f
the School .

Lawrence's initial conformance witb 6the Beaux Arts system was part of his pla n
to start "along pretty safe lines" to avoid antagonizing the eastern school s
and influential Portland architects such ,4s A .E . Doyle who believed that Beaux
Arts training was "fundamentally right ."' The Architectural League of th e

Pacific Coast had also passed a resolution in 1913 affirming their support fo r
the Beaux Arts system . Lawrence worried that if hi ;8men were "given the wron g
start, they become the outcasts so many of us are . In 1916, he wrote tha t
"the Beaux Arts Society . . .is full of fault g [but] it will probably ultimatel y
be the best medium through which to work,

	

adding in 1918 that the Beaux
Arts system was being A followed "on the grounds that it offers our best contact
point with the East ."

	

His attitudes were evolving : "At first I fel t
competition was the very essence of success but . . .are we justified to make a
sudden change in methods? I hope to go gradually at a reorganization . . .That
does not mean however that I am altogether a radical against the Beaux Arts
Instfute of Design . I [would] rather correct its system, than to destro y

it .

	

Eventually however he merely ignored it . His move away from the Beaux
Arts System accelerated after the School achieved some security by it s
acceptance to membership in the Association of Collegiate Schools o f

Architecture in April 1919 . The 1919-20 University Catalog noted for th e
first time that the time spent on Beaux Arts programs was much less tha n
called for by the Beaux Arts Society, and in an April 1920 article, Lawrenc e

wrote that "the usual academic problems . . .have been largely supplanted by

practical problems given under much the same conditions as exist ip,genera l

architectural practice . . .[including] specific conditions of site ."

	

The



8

stage was set for Willcox, who soon joined Lawrence in severing the final tie s
to the Beaux Arts .

Purcell, who knew both Lawrence and Willcox well, credited Lawrence with the
rejection of the Beaux Arts programs "with an assist by Prof . Walter
Willcox"" . Significantly, Lawrence himself credited Professor Avar d
Fairbanks, Rit Willcox, as "the dominant factor in doing away with competitio n
in design . "

Purcell believed that Oregon's remoteness from the East was the principa l
reason for Lawrence and Willcox's success, but he still considered thei r
action to be courageous, stating that the ruthless leaders of th e
architectural profession at that time did not hesitate to destroy anyone wh o
opposed them .

TEACHING AND LEARNING . Facilities were meager in the early years of th e
School ; and Lawrence loaned freely from his own architectural library, notjpg
that "the McKim prints have suffered considerably from constant handling . "
After his first year of teaching, Lawrence wrote that "When I think of m y
short-comings in scholarship, I question my ability to cope with th e
situtation at the University ; but . . .I can at least . . .hammer home to the me n
under me the necessity,pf a high sense of ethics and an appreciation of th e
architects' function ."

	

The following Spring he commented : "I am enjoying
life more than I can tell you in my connection with the Universit y
youngsters . . .I find a keen enjoyment in attempting to analyize my chaoti c
feelings in architectural design . . . P4 . Have you ever etched? I made my firs t
plate the other night--great sport ." '

He developed a close paternal relationship with his students, especially i n
the early years before Willcox largely assumed this role . Lawrence taught
design, architectural history, and professional practice matters . Hi s
approach to the teaching of architecture grew largely from his emphasis upo n
social concerns . He wrote that "architecture is after all social service . . .t o
be alive, it must be of the present .

	

From this central emphasis grew th e
School's specific emphases upon local conditions, construction, craftsmanship ,
and the rejection of the academic formalism of the Beaux Arts . This modern
approach appealed to a famous visitor to the School in 1918, Victor Horta, th e
Belgian Art Nouveau architect . Lawrence wrote that "he is a modernist and ou r
ideals seem to appeal to him, for he showed plainl 9that he would like to
associate himself with us during his [WWI] exile .

IDEALISM VS . THE REAL WORLD .

Lawrence's idealistic nature found a more comfortable home in the Universit y
than it had in the Portland architectural profession . He had angered some
Portland architects by his criticism, such as his public 1908 warning tha t
"shoddy and selfish designers will dominpte unless . . .[architectural education ]
becomes a vital force in the community,"

	

and hi sh 1913 plea to his professio n
to escape "the mire and stench of commercialism ." 1 Predictably, the Schoo l
met with opposition very early, and in 1917 Lawrence respong d that "whethe r
the architects like it or not, the School is here to stay ."

	

In 1925 ,
William Knighton even drafted a legislative bill to abolish the School . 53
Lawrence also criticised the wealthy businessmen who were the principa l
clients of his profession, writing in 1918, for example, that "1 .2% of the



9

population of Multnomah County controls 75% of the wealth . . .We have a~4owed a
favored and too often unscrupulous few to exploit what God gave all . "
Lawrence's ex-partner, E .B . MacNaughton, who moved on to become president o f
the First National Bank, later sd that "while so many of us were making
money, Lawrence was making men . "

Lawrence wrote that his critics considered hip merely a dreamer, "a to o
outspoken customer who wont play the game,

	

or assumed incorrectly that he
was driven by personal ambition . But it is clear from his writings that h e
did see himself as possessing a special power of 'being right' : "At such
times work became noble, solving problems carried spiritual thrills . . .There
was might in design and . . .right planning . There was a place for the stron g
ego-- . . .the selflessness of the big moments and yes even the selfishness ."'7

Increasingly, Lawrence believed that he could best accomplish his goal s
through the future architects he was training : "There is the great hope of
the profession in the west--absolutely . . . If I am able to do anything in th e
future in up-lifting the profesgon, it will be more through [the University ]
connection than anything else . "

HARD TIMES

Lawrence's comfortable financial means dissolved during his early years i n
Oregon . He was generous in his financial support for the Portlan d
Architectural Club and his other causes . His fees were often unrealisticall y
low for the time that he and his office lavished on design and constructio n
supervision . He invested in an unproductive gold mine and other unprofitabl e
ventures . In 1914 he hesitated to take charge of the fo ding of the schoo l
of architecture because he hadn't "got out of debt yet ."

	

By 918, he added :
"What a fool I have been to let my affairs get so snarled up ."'' After bette r
years in the early 1920s, he wrote in 1926 that financial problems prevente d
him from sending his boys to Dartmouth and Andover .

	

The Great Depression
hit hard, though he had more work than many Portland architects . In 1931, he
wrote this chilling description of a day in his office : "Yesterday was
typical--first a cripple selling trinkets, followed by an old Frenc h
draftsman--wanting $2 to get his coat out of pawn, then three forme r
students--no job--no way to get back-qv' a call from [a n
acquaintance] . . .trying to find a6'oan .

	

Lawrence contemplated moving ful l
time to Eugene "to cut corners,"

	

and complained that an extra trip
bi

Eugene
on university business "cost me $25 .00 which I can't spare just now ."

	

He
even considered splitting his house up into four or five apartments . He hoped
that the rush of postwar work would finally solve his financial problems, bu t
he died still troubled about his debts .

Financial troubles, bouts of sickness, and the lack of productive wor k
contributed to the periods of depression which recurred during his last tw o
decades . He was often happiest when he was the busiest, as indicated by thi s
1920 comment : "I have never been o gloriously busy nor challenged to th e
limit as in the past few months ;"'' but he had limits too : "The school i s
taking every ounce of my spare time and is pretty nearly breaking m e
mentally .

	

Bed-ridden with painful neuritis for several weeks in earl y
1925, he traveled to sunshine and relaxation in San Diego and returne d
somewhat improved, but health problems persisted . Slackening his pace during
the summer of 1926, he wrote that he had "again learned the joy in leisure and



10

loafing--and drg4ming--and communing--and fishing--and rowing--and tramping- -
and sketching ."

	

A year later and exhausted again he wrote : "I've got to do
something it seems for the mental ggtivity is nil . . .don't want to think--don' t
want to play--don't want to work! "

Lawrence wrote, using the third person, about a significant event in late 1929
when, just having turned fifty years of age, he confronted the photograph s
above his work desk of the people who had by their examples helped him mol d
his outlook on life . The earlier three who had influenced him had been joine d
by Willcox, President Campbell, sculptor Roswell Dosch, Charles Lawrence ,
President Penrose of Whitman College, and others : "There they were, twelv e
good men and true, peering into [his] soul . . .What they seemed to see now, [he ]
was ashamed of . . .A black, black mood indeed, for one fifty and world weary .
How futile was the battle anyway--the rewards going to the mighty and th e
cunning! But was it so?--the real rewards? . . .The twelve good men and tru e
gave the lie to this thought . . .Crystal clear the twelve spoke saying--'Serve' ,
'See beauty', 'Create', 'Solve', 'Have faith', 'Admit not defeat', 'Overcome' ,
'Laugh', 'Sing', 'Be kind', 'Have charity', 'Envy not', 'Lead', 'Be humble' ,
'Have courage', 'Give praise' . . .It was as if the jury had found him guilty .
But in the process he had been washed cleaner somehow, and th twelve good me n
and true were saying--'Carry on', 'Play and work and give' . "

In September 1932, during university administrative upheavals, Lawrence sen t
this brief telegram to Willcox : "NERVES SHOT, ABOUT TO ASK FOR LEAVE OF
ABSENCE AS ONLY SOLUTION .

	

C
u

ing "the condition of my health, togethe r
with other compelling reasons,

	

he requested and received a one year leave ,
stating that he would later be better able to judge if he cared to return .
Soon after, he w~gte that he was sleeping better, "and really believe I'l l
keep my sanity ."

	

But,later his wife described him as tired, nervous, and
worried about finances,

	

and he wrote to his friend Willcox that thec wa s
"no fight left in me . Tired and heart sick over our futile efforts . "
Willcox responded : "You try to do too much ; . . .nobody can survive the pace yo u
seem possessed to sustain . When are you going to accept perfectly natura l
human limitations? . . .If you will tackle big Oings, you will have to recogniz e
that they are not accomplished in a minute ."

	

He became a finalist in th e
search for a new dean for the architecture school at Columbia University ,
though ambivalent : "I can't warm up about going elsewhe55 ." 6 "Imagine me i n
that picture--where winning is of paramount importance ."

	

He returned to the
University after his year away, but conditions had not much changed .

Lawrence's proposal in December 1933 to replace Portland's historic Pionee r
Post Office prompted what was probably his most difficult personal attack .
1933 was the bottom of the Depression, with 83% of construction worker s

unemployed . Lawrence designed a nine-story civic building to be financed wit h
credit from the Public Works Administration, which would have created over a
million hours of construction work, and provided a home for museums of art ,
natural history, and history as well as a library and civic theater . Lawrence
stated that the site of the often-threatened Post Office was the onl y
practical site, and he argued that efforts to save it would be fruitless i n
any case . The Oregon chapter of the AIA, however, had passed a resolutio n

urging preservation of the Post Office . Thgx considered Lawrence's conduc t
"injurious to the interest of the Chapter, "

	

and quietly suspended hi s
membership for six months in the chapter which he had founded . Lawrence wrote

two drafts of a letter to the national A1A objecting to this action by the



1 1

local chapter, but he served his sentence quietly and never sent the letter .
His building was not built, and the Post Office Building still stands . I n
general Lawrence was not insensitive to historic buildings . His willingnes s
to sacrifice the Post Office to create jobs in the depths of the Depressio n
seems related to his fundamental belief that people were more important tha n
buildings . Though suspended from the AIA, he was honored three months late r
by the Oregon Building Congress for his efforts in promoting work and for hi s
high professional ideals and fairness .

In spite of this episode, Willcox believed :Ellis [was] much les s
distraught . . .than he was a year or so ago .

	

Lawrence again considere d
moving to Eugene, this time including giving up his practice ; but his partners
persuaded him to stay on . In 1941, he again considered resigning as dean, bu t
worried that there would be "no telling if the Sch g

8
l ideals would survive . . . I

crave peace--contemplation--I want to write more .

	

He took a leave of
absence from the University in the Spring of 1942 and devoted much of th e
following months to writing .

WRITING

Lawrence had been writing articles and short stories for several years, mostl y
about education, personal reminiscinces, and sketches of people . Many convey
his warm personal sensitivity to people, including tales of his sailmaker
grandfather, his grandchildren and other children, a Scotch stonemason, a
cowboy woodcarver, the School's janitor of many ye s, a prospector friend ,
and people whom he had met on trains and trolleys .

	

The City of Good Will, 8 2
one of his two novels, is about a utopian community founded on the Orego n
coast by "The Old Foggies" (Lawrence and several of his friends, thinl y
disguised) after Lawrence's gold mine unexpectedly made hAm a millionaire .
The other novel is a murder mystery titled The Red Tide,

	

which stars a "Mis s
Marple"-like character patterned after Camilla Leach, the elderly firs t
secretary/librarian of the School of Architecture and Allied Arts . Lawrence
described this noggl as "three murders,

	

suicide, three dead dogs, on e
canary, one cat,"

	

and "pretty awful," 8' explaining it84s "just exercise," 86
and noting that his writing kept him "a bit more sane .

	

Some of his non -
fictional writing was published in professional journals, but The Atlantic ,
Monthly, Saturday Evening Post, Harrier's Magazine, and others rejected hi s
manuscripts . He corresponded with two literary agents who suggeste d
improvements, including the introduction of more "conflict" in his writing ,
which Lawrence resisted . In 1944, still writing, he commented "I'd drop my

88writing quick if I could get a real job at designing a worthwhile building . "

The photographs around Lawrence's desk grew in number to two dozen . Lawrenc e
took on the major problems of the world . He wrote The World Federation t o
propose an alternative to the League of Nations that would be a "Union o f
Peopl " in which "art, the only universal language", would play a vital
role . °9 His article, "Wanted : a Workable Mechanism for Effective Democracy, "
was published in Spanish and English in thp,bulletin of the Pan-America n
Commission on Inter-municipal Cooperation .

LOOKING BAC K

Only three days before his death he wrote in his diary : "rain--very low i n
spirits . worry--on verge of surrender . . .I can't measure up . at home . in



1 2

office--or at school . so depressed ." 9i But there was enjoyment and
satisfaction too in his final days . Writing a few months before his death, h e
reflected upon "the making of a School, the keeping of the family loyalitie s
of the staff, the interferences, retardents, the starting of forward lookin g
ventures and resulting steam roller tactics of our critics . . .It hasn't al l
been joy and raptu

	

these last 30 years . But gosh we did have a good time
trying didn't we? "

Lawrence's professional practice spanned the difficult years of two world war s
and the Great Depression . His goals were monumental . He held extremel y
demanding standards for himself . It is not surprising that persona l
depression sometimes intervened . The wonder is that he accomplished so much .
It seems significant that many who knew him remember best his good sense o f
humor .

In "The Old Gentleman Nears Sixty," Lawrence had written : "Can I find a way
to grow old gracefully, or will I surrender to aches and pains, resentment s
and grouches? Will I radiate serenity, or spread venom as I plunge into th e
sixties? . . .I will try to woo back my old loves--muAlc, color, poetry, th e
creative life, faces, birds, flowers and gardens .°

	

There is much in hi s
final years to indicate that these old loves were successfully wooed ;

Near the end of his life he speculated that perhap he was a tragic optimist ;
looking back, he wondered if he had played enough :~4 "Here and there have
been real highlights--but for the most part half tones have dominated tha t
have been more pleasurable in the long run I begin to think . . .I see myself as
a follower of beauty and service--a lover of human nature--a profound believe r
that the ills of civilization don't come from inherent evil in the huma n
nature--a seeker after the defects in the mechanisms on which human relation s
in politics, religion, education depends, so that if I canggin wisdom enoug h
I may contribute even in a small way to their eradication . "

Lawrence died suddenly of heart failure at his room in the Collier House o n
the university campus in Eugene on February 27, 1946 . He was 66 years old .

Allen Eaton said in memory of him: "I have never known any man to reach ou t
as far and yet preserve all those intimate personal relations that were s o
precious to him . . .To all situtations he brought in fine proportion a mixtur e
of three precious elements--a sense of beauty, a sense of humor, and a seg sbe

of right . They were not only his philosophy, but the stuff of his life .

ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANC E

The broad significance of Ellis Lawrence and his work is apparent from th e
preceeding biographical summary . Some additional observations are appropriat e
concerning the significance of his architectural work in particular .

It is difficult to separate his buildings from his other work, because o f
their interwoven nature . The best example of this is perhaps the stron g
relationship between his buildings and the allied arts . Lawrence's work i s
characterized by a life-long advocacy for the collaboration of artists an d
architects, as is apparent in the organization of the School of Architectur e
and Allied Arts, and in his collaboration with Richard Bock, Frederick Baker,



1 3

Avard Fairbanks and other craftsmen in the eclectic decoration of hi s
buildings .

Lawrence's architectural work has been little known, though of possibl y
greater influence than any other Oregon architect until Pietro Belluschi .

Many of his buildings have been unidentified, and some have been falsel y
attributed to other architects . This was due to a lack of research int o
Lawrence's work, and to the loss of much of his records and drawings . The
painstaking research to reconstruct his design record has uncovered a far
larger and richer legacy of projects than anyone had suspected .

There are three primary aspects to the significance of Lawrence's design work .
First, is his incorporation of the arts and crafts into architecture a s
described above . Second, is his pioneering attention to city and regiona l
planning issues . Third, are his unique attempts to bridge modern an d
traditional design .

Some of his work received attention in periodicals of his time, but there ha s
been no attempt, prior to the research related to this survey, to assess th e
overall significiance of his work . This lack of attention may have been du e
in part to the waning, in mid-century, of interest in the experiments wit h
eclectic styles with which Lawrence was identified . As the attention of
architectural critics shifted to the modern movement, Lawrence's integratio n
of the decorative arts and crafts in his architecture and his manipulations o f
_eclectic historic details received little attention .

Preservation architect George McMath has described this eclectic period i n
Portland by commenting that "the ingeniousness of the architect was measure d
by his ability to stuff a 20th century function into a first or 15th or 17t h
century package" (Space, Style and Structure, I :p325) . Unlike most of hi s
contemporaries practicing academic eclecticism, however, Lawrence was no t
merely applying historical details or stuffing traditional packages ; he was
experimenting boldly with attempts to bridge the gap between traditional an d
modern design and between traditional and modern ways to design and to build .
He sought ways to expand the possibilities of design without abandoning th e
ties to tradition . In this attempt to fuse tradition and moder n
functionalism, Lawrence was much like his better-known contemporary, Bertra m
Goodhue .

Lawrence was deeply committed to modern notions regarding informality an d
openness in plan, daylighting, functionalism, spatially complex responses t o
complex sites, and architecture's mission to society . He often ordered hi s
designs with Beaux Arts formality, but then dramatically deviated fro m
traditional formulas with new spatial configurations rooted in America n
informality . He dressed these forms in familiar details and ornament whic h
were often assembled in unexpected juxtaposition, for example at The Museum of
Art at the University of Oregon .

A striking expression of this approach is the contrast of the formal front an d
informal rear of so many of his buildings . The front of many of his houses i s
symmetrical and predictable, but the rear breaks out in unexpected direction s
and planes . Lawrence may well have pioneered this type of residential desig n
in the Northwest . His Spencer House of 1909 is the earliest known example .



1 4

He may have been the first architect to introduce the Arts and Crafts styl e
into Oregon, in his own home of 1906 . His Bronaugh house of 1911 may hav e
introduced the open interior plan into Oregon . These early experiment s
suggest a role for Lawrence in the development of the Northwest Regional Styl e
which has yet to be described .

In his non-residential work Lawrence pioneered innovations such as earl y
Oregon use of Art Deco, and the first use in the Northwest of a lamella roof .

In a summing up in 1944, he described his preferences in architecture, writin g
in the third person, that he "still worhips at the shrines of the Greek Dori c
Temple and the Cathedrals, but he has long since turned to the functionalis m
of Viollet le Duc, Emerson, Louis Sullivan, Greenough, as a prerequisite o f
his personal language of plastic form . . . He is trying to create the forms o f
today's civilization even though he still cherishes the masterpieces of th e
past . Once . . .it was the City Beautiful he pled for ; now it is the Cit y
Functional . "

1. Ellis Lawrence, "Modern Collaborative Tendencies in American Architecture "
manuscript (c1930), Lawrence Papers, UO Library .
2. Lawrence, speech to Pacific College, 28 April 1944 . Text in AAA

Scrapbook, Vol . 44-5, p77, UO Archives .
3. Lawrence, "The People of My City of Good Will" manuscript, c1943, Lawrenc e
Papers, U0 Library .
4. Lawrence to Hubert G . Ripley, 16 April 1937, Willcox Papers, UO Library .
5. Ted Davis, "Memorial Verses " , no date (c1946), Lawrence Papers, UO
Library .
6. Lawrence to Charles Lawrence, 29 July 1913, Lawrence Papers, UO Library .
7. Lawrence, Speech to the Portland Architectural Club, 9 June 1913, text i n
Lawrence Papers, UO Library .
8. ibi d
9. Lawrence, "A Letter from the Oregon Country ." American Society of th e
Legionof Honor Ma gazine (July 1941) : 9 .
10. Lawrence to Louis Rosenberg, 4 May 1914, Lawrence Papers, UO Library .

11. Lawrence to "Bunch", 24 December 1918, Lawrence Papers, UO Archives .
12. Lawrence to Prof . Gardner, 25 February 1910, Lawrence Papers, UO Library .
13. Lawrence to Serge Chermayeff, 6 August 1940, Lawrence Papers, UO

Archives .
14. Lawrence, "The Very Gentle Pastime of Agating", manuscript in Lawrenc e

Papers, UO Library .
15. Lawrence to W .R .B . Willcox, 27 July 1928, Lawrence Papers, UO Library .

16. Proceedings of the Second Annual Convention of the Architectura l
Leaque . . .(Los Angeles, April 1912) : 42 .
17. Lawrence to W .R .B . Willcox, 20 September 1915, Lawrence Papers, U O

Library .
18. Lawrence to A .F . Rowenheim, 2 November 1910, Lawrence Papers, UO Library .

19. Lawrence, "The Congress Movement in the Construction Industry . . ." (1930) ,
Lawrence Papers, UO Library .
20. "Lawrence Seeks Old Guild Spirit " , Oregon Journal (no date on clipping i n
AAA Scrapbook for 1922-23), UO Archives .
21. Lester Chaffee, "Under The Gargoyles ." Old Oregon (April 1924) : 12 .



15

22. Art Kirkham, "Northwest Neighbors" Radio Program #432, 13 June 1945, Text
in AAA Scrapbook, Vol . 44-5, p77, UO Archives .
23. "Architect Lawrence on 'City Planning'," The Pacific Coast Architect
(November 1912) : 62 .
24. Lawrence interview with Art Kirkham, "Northwest Neighbors" Radio Progra m
#432, 13 June 1945, Text in AAA Scrapbook, Vol . 44-5, p77, UO Archives .
25. Van Winkle, I .H ., to State Board of Higher Education, 22 June 1938 ,
10,172 #666, UO Archives .
26. Lawrence to C .C . Zantzinger, 31 December 1914, Lawrence Papers, U O
Archives .
27. Lawrence to Hermann [Alfred] Schroff, 25 February 1916, Lawrence Papers ,
UO Archives .
28. Lawrence to Joseph Schafer, 28 June 1926, Lawrence Papers, U0 Archives .
29. Arthur Weatherhead, The History of Collegiate Education in Architectur e
in the United States (Weatherhead, Los Angeles) : 127 .
30. Lawrence to P .L . Campbell, "Report of the School of Architecture", 1 3
December 1920, Lawrence Papers, UO Archives .
31. Lawrence to Glenn Stanton, 29 November 1920, Lawrence Papers, U0
Archives .
32. Lawrence to C .C . Zantzinger, 31 December 1914, Lawrence Papers, U O
Archives .
33 Weatherhead, History of Collegiate Education, 194 .
34. Lawrence to A .R . Sweetser, 12 January 1915, Lawrence Papers, UO Library .
35. William Gray Purcell, "The Bozart War" manuscript, Willcox Papers, U O
Library .
36. Lawrence to Stephen Penrose, 12 August 1914, Lawrence Papers, U0 Library .
37. "Architectural League of the Pacific Coast" Pacific Builder and Enginee r
(23 August 1913) : 101 .
38. Lawrence to Emil Lorch, 9 July 1918, Lawrence Papers, UO Archives .
39. Lawrence to Fred Hirons, 2 May 1916, Lawrence Papers, U0 Archives .
40. Lawrence to P .L . Campbell, 24 May 1918, Lawrence Papers, UO Archives .
41. Lawrence to Emil Larch, 9 July 1918, Lawrence Papers, UO Archives .
42. Lawrence, "Experiment in Architectural Education", The Spectator
(Portland, 10 April 1920) : 3 .
43. William Gray Purcell, "The Bozart War" manuscript, Willcox Papers, U O
Library .
44. Lawrence, interview with Karl Onthank, no date (c1940), transcription i n
Onthank Papers, UO Archives .
45. Lawrence to M .H . Douglass, 28 February 1922, Lawrence Papers, U O
Archives .
46. Lawrence to W .R .B . Willcox, 20 September 1915, Lawrence Papers, U 0
Library .
47. Lawrence to W .R .B . Willcox, 7 March 1916, Lawrence Papers, U0 Library .
48. Lawrence to Emil Lorch, 9 July 1918, Lawrence Papers, UO Archives .

49. Lawrence to P .L . Campbell, 24 May 1918, Lawrence Papers, U0 Archives .
50. Lawrence, "The Traveling Scholarship, " Pacific Builder and Engineer (1 6

May 1908) : 197-8 .
51. Lawrence, "Architectural League of the Pacific Coast, Third Conferenc e

June 1913," Pacific Builder and Engineer (19 July 1913) : 31 .
52. Lawrence to Joseph Jacobberger, 2 January 1917, Lawrence Papers, U O
Library .
53. Lawrence to Loren J . Ellis, 9 March 1925, Lawrence Papers, U0 Library .

54. Lawrence to Larry [Alfred H . Schroff], 9 July 1918, Lawrence Papers, U O

Archives .



1. 6

55. Mable Holmes Parson, "One of Oregon's Great Men . . ." radio script, c1946 ,
Lawrence Papers, U0 Library .
56. Lawrence to Willcox, 15 April 1933, Willcox Papers, UO Library .
57. Lawrence, "Stardust and Ashes" manuscript, c1944, Lawrence Papers, U O
Library .
58. Lawrence to W .R .B . Willcox, 17 March 1916, Willcox Papers, UO Library .
59. Lawrence to Charles Lawrence, 7 April 1914, Lawrence Papers, UO library .
60. Lawrence to Larry [Alfred H . Schroff], 9 July 1918, Lawrence Papers, U O
Archives .
61. Lawrence to W .R .B . Willcox, 21 July 1926, Willcox Papers, UO Library .
62. Lawrence to W .R .B . Willcox, no date (c .September 1931), Willcox Papers ,
UO Library .
63. Lawrence to W .R .B . Willcox, no date (c .September 1931), Willcox Papers ,
UO Library .
64. Lawrence to W.R .B . Willcox, 4 August 1931, Willcox Papers, UO Library .
65. Lawrence to Glenn Stanton, 29 November 1920, Lawrence Papers, U O
Archives .
66. Lawrence to-Allen Eaton, 17 January 1922, Lawrence Papers, UO library .
67. Lawrence to Nowland B . Zane, 29 July 1926, Lawrence Papers, U0 Library .
68. Lawrence to W .R .B . Willcox, 3 August 1921, Willcox Papers, UO Library .
69. Lawrence, "Peering In", Lawrence Papers, UO Library .
70. Lawrence to Willcox, 11 September 1932, Willcox Papers, UO Library .
71. Lawrence to C .L . Starr, 12 September 1932, Willcox Papers, UO Library .
72. Lawrence to W .R .B . Willcox, 29 September 1932, Willcox Papers, U O
Library .
73. Alice Lawrence to W .R .B . Willcox, no date (c .January 1933), Willco x
Papers, UO Library .
74. Lawrence to W .R .B . Willcox, 28 April 1933, Willcox Papers, UO Library .
75. Willcox to Lawrence, 10 June 1933, Willcox Papers, UO Library .
76. Lawrence to W .R .B . Willcox, no date (c .20 October 1932), Willcox Papers ,
U0 Library .

	

w

77. Lawrence to W .R .B . Willcox, 4 November 1932, Willcox Papers, UO Library .
78. Executive Committee of Oregon Chapter to Lawrence, 1 January 1934 ,
Willcox Papers, UO Library .
79. Willcox to Alice Lawrence, 3 February 1934, Willcox Papers, UO Library .
80. Lawrence to William Purcell, no date (1941), Willcox Papers, UO Library .

81. Copies of these and others are in the Lawrence Papers, UO Library .

82. Lawrence, The City of Good Will manuscript, Lawrence Papers, UO Library .
83. Lawrence, The Red Tide manuscript, Lawrence Papers, UO Library .
84. Lawrence to W .R .B . Willcox, no date (July 1944), Willcox Papers, U O

Library .
85. Lawrence to W .R .B . Willcox, 18 August 1943, Willcox Papers, UO Library .
86. Lawrence to W .R .B . Willcox, 3 September 1943, Willcox Papers, U0 Library .
87. Lawrence to Dorothy Mackenzie, 28 December 1942, Lawrence Papers, U O
Library .
88. Lawrence to Whitson W . Cox, 7 February 1944, in possession of Whitso n
Cox .
89. Lawrence to The World Federation, Inc ., 21 December 1942, Lawrenc e

Papers, U0 Library .
90. Lawrence, "Wanted, A Workable . . .," Boletin (Havana, Cuba, June 1944) .

91. Lawrence personal diary entry for 24 February 1946, Lawrence Papers, U O

Library .
92. Lawrence to W .R .B . Willcox, 19 July 1945, Willcox Papers, UO Library .



17

93. Lawrence, "The Old Gentleman Nears Sixty", manuscript, Lawrence Papers ,
UO Library .
94. Lawrence, "Stardust and Ashes", manuscript c1944, Lawrence Papers, U O
Library .
95. Lawrence, "Abutus and Autumn Scarlet", manuscript c1943-4, Lawrenc e
Papers, UO Library .
96. William Emerson, "Ellis F . Lawrence, F .A .I .A . 1879-1946", Journal ofthe
$IA (July 1946) : 24 .



18

ELLIS F . LAWRENCE BUILDING SURVEY
SUMMARY OF ARCHITECTURAL FIRMS' NAME S

HOLFORD & LAWRENCE

	

brief use in Boston, 1902- 3

McNAUGHTON, RAYMOND & LAWRENCE

	

began in November, 1906

ELLIS F . LAWRENCE, ARCHITECT

	

began after he left McNaughton, Raymond &
Lawrence in February 1910 .

LAWRENCE & BURLING

	

use in 1910-11 only for work in Wall a
Walla, Washington

ELLIS F . LAWRENCE & WILLIAM G . HOLFORD, ASSOCIATE ARCHITECT S
became official in March 1913

O .R . BEAN, ARCHITECT . . .EUGENE
ELLIS F . LAWRENCE & WM . G . HOLFORD, CONSULTANT S

ELLIS F . LAWRENCE & WILLIAM G . HOLFORD, ASSOCIATE ARCHITECT S
O .R . BEAN, EUGENE REPRESENTATIVE

while Ormond Bean ran Lawrence' s
Eugene office in 1914-18, he used
these letterheads

LAWRENCE AND HOLFORD, ARCHITECTS

	

began use in January 191 7

LAWRENCE, HOLFORD, ALLYN & BEAN, ARCHITECTS
began use in May 1928

LAWRENCE, HOLFORD, AND ALLYN, ARCHITECTS

began use in May 1933 when Bea n
withdrew from the firm after bein g
elected a Portland City Commissioner .

ELLIS F . LAWRENCE, ARCHITECT occasional use in 1938-40

LAWRENCE AND ALLYN, ARCHITECTS

	

used in 1940-4 1

LAWRENCE AND HOLFORD, ARCHITECTS

	

used in 194 2

ELLIS F . LAWRENCE, ARCHITECT

	

used in 1943-44

LAWRENCE AND LAWRENCE, ARCHITECTS used July 1944 to Febr . 1946

LAWRENCE, TUCKER & WALLMAN, ARCHITECT S
firm name beginning in March 1946 ,
after Lawrence's death on Febr . 27 ,
1946



1 9

ELLIS LAWRENCE BUILDING SURVE Y
SURVEY METHODOLOGY

The difficulty of the survey was much greater than anticipated, due to th e
lack of adequate surviving records and due to the logistical problems inherent i n
the survey of such geographically dispersed properties .

Project Director Kim Lakin was responsible for the survey of properties i n
the region bounded by Portland, Astoria, Salem and Yamhill County .

Project Director Michael Shellenbarger was responsible for the survey o f
properties elsewhere, plus some specific unbuilt properties in Kim Lakin' s
region . In addition, he researched records available at the University of Orego n
which pertained to all of Lawrence's work .

Lawrence's Job Index was the source for beginning the task of identifyin g
specific projects . Unfortunately, most of the projects were very poorl y
identified, often limited to a person's name (sometimes mis-spelled) or to a
possible building name but with no address or city noted . This Job Index was no t
a typical Job # List ; that is, it was not a list of projects and job number s
listed as each job was acquired . Lawrence must have kept such a list, but it ha s
not been found . His Job Index appears to have been made, sometime after Lawrenc e
died, to inventory drawings or other materials which were stored in the office .
Many of Lawrence's projects were not listed at all . Few projects from th e
MacNaughton, Raymond and Lawrence firm were listed . Unbuilt projects were no t
distinguished from built work . This list was, however, very useful even thoug h
most of the drawings and other materials which it inventoried had been lost . To
supplement this inadequate list, other sources were searched in an attempt t o
achieve as complete a listing of Lawrence's projects as was possible .

These additional sources included Lawrence's correspondence and othe r
records, and periodicals - especially The Pacific Builder and En g ineer and The
Daily Journal of Commerce, Portland (and its predecessor papers) . The survivin g
Lawrence records are incomplete ; many of them have been lost or destroyed . Th e
largest collection is available in Special Collections of the University o f
Oregon ; the UO Archives has additional materials, mostly related to hi s
university work . Except for the university buildings, drawings were very scarce .
A box of photos in the Lawrence Collection was very helpful, though many wer e
unidentified . By the completion of this survey, approximately 90% have bee n
identified . That collection also contains copies of Lawrence's statements to hi s
clients for much of his work in the 19-teens and 1920s . These bills led th e
survey team to many previously unknown projects . Correspondence in Lawrence' s
Collection, in the W .R .B . Willcox Collection (also housed at the UO Library
Special Collections), and in other collections would often mention a project, o r
provide a clue to one .

Individual research folders were maintained for each project or potentia l
project .

Because most of the remaining Lawrence records and general sources were a t
the University of Oregon, Project Director Shellenbarger was responsible fo r
researching these materials and for the research for the Lawrence Biography .



2 0

During the summer of 1988, Kim Lakin researched City Directories for th e
Portland area listings and began field work . Sources systematically searche d
were the Multnomah County Tax Assessor records, Portland Building Permit s
records, Portland Historic Resources Inventory, Oregon Historic Photo Collection ,
and the Oregon Biographical Index . Sanborn Maps were used only for downtown
Portland properties . Retired architect Richard Marlitt was extremely helpful i n
identifying photographs and locating buildings listed in Lawrence's Master Index .

Students of The School of Architecture & Allied Arts of the University o f
Oregon assisted in all aspects of the research and survey :

A Fall Term 1988 class directed by Michael Shellenbarger enrolled eightee n
students who were assigned properties and projects to research . A fifty-pag e
instruction manual was prepared to guide students through the survey process, an d
weekly class instruction and weekly individual meetings were held to guide th e
survey methods and to share information . Most projects were assigne d
geographically, and the instructor traveled with most of the students to thei r
areas for on-site survey . Three students were assigned to Portland area project s
with Kim Lakin . Several students from the Fall Class continued their researc h
over the remainder of the year .

Project Director Kim Lakin held a similar class for architecture student s
in Portland during the Spring term . Seven students participated .

Graduate Research Assistant Carolyn Sorrels spent Fall term assistin g
student volunteers and in searching city directories for the location o f
unidentified and Portland area projects . Winter term was devoted to Lawrence' s
competition entries and to a systematic review of the University of Oregon' s
Board of Regents Minutes, which was concluded during Spring term .

Project Director Shellenbarger spent much of the year researching Lawrenc e
documents in the UO Library and Archives and devoted Spring term to a systemati c
search of drawings in the University Archives and Physical Plant, assisted b y
student volunteer George Kramer .

The Pacific Builder and Engineer was recognized as a prime source o f
information about Lawrence's work . All issues from 1906 to 1946 have bee n
systematically searched . The 1906, 1907, and 1908 years were searched at th e
University of Washington library ; all other issues were sent from the Multnoma h
Library to the University of Oregon Library on inter-library loan . Except for
1908, which was searched by a student volunteer, all years were searched b y
Project Director Shellenbarger . A scanning method was used, looking through th e
pages of individual project listings for Lawrence's firm name ; so projects which
were not identified with his name would be noted only if some other name wa s
quickly identified by such a method . All Oregon listings, and listings for som e
Washington cities where Lawrence was known to work, were searched ; other areas
were considered too unlikely to warrant the search time involved . Reliability o f
this method was considered high . Time did not allow a more lengthy search ; eve n
with the method described, one year's listings typically took between four an d
seven hours to search .



2 1

Another major source of information was Portland's DailyJournal of
Commerce and its predecessor newspapers :

Portland Daily Abstract

	

June 1906 - July 191 6
Portland Daily Examiner March 1912 - December 191 3
Oregon Building Record

	

January 1914 - May 191 6
Daily Record-Abstract

	

July 1916 - Sept .1925
Daily Journal of Commerce October 1925 - April 1946

The first decades of these newspapers especially were rich with article s
about specific buildings, plus project lists, usually identified by architect .
Project Director Shellenbarger searched the daily issues from June 1906 throug h
April 1946, except for 1943 and 1944 when WWII had severely limited Lawrence' s
architectural practice . Microfilm at the UO Library was used for this search ,
except for missing months in 1926 which were searched on the original newspapers ,
available from the Multnomah Public Library . Usually the search was limited t o
scanning the headlines of each daily issue's first page, where experienc e
indicated that most pertinent information would be . Tables of information on
building activities and architect's work which were included in the inner page s
for most years, were also searched .

The other research methods employed were more typical of usual survey
procedures and will not be described in detail here . These procedures wer e
however greatly complicated by the geographical dispersal of the properties .
Building records in the city of Portland were the most complete ; most cities had
very poor records, or none, for building activity prior to WWII . Systemati c
search of local newspapers was limited to dates known to coincide with known
dates of a Lawrence project, and time did not allow even this for much of th e
work . Local historical museums, city and county planning officials, and others
were consulted whenever possible . The geographical dispersal of the propertie s
made it impossible within the project scope to always identify significant
historic persons or activities which may have been identified with specifi c
properties in the survey .

Additional grants were received during the survey process to continue th e
research and mount an exhibit of Lawrence's work . The final survey documents
were delayed in order to include the findings of this additional research .
Graduate Research Assistant George Kramer assisted in completion of the surve y
during this portion of the project .

A database of survey information was maintained using the program
"Dataease" . This program has the capacity to perform complex sorting an d
analysis of stored data . Data processing occurred on two DOS-system computers ,
one in Eugene and one in Portland . Records were merged for final analysis .

The procedure for evaluation of the surveyed projects was designed fo r
computer use and to minimize individual differences in scoring between the tw o
project director s

The next portion of this report is a detailed description of the survey an d

evaluation forms .



2 2

ELLIS LAWRENCE BUILDING SURVEY
DESCRIPTION OF SURVEY FORMS

The forms used for this suvey were developed specifically for this survey ,
and were processed using DATAEASE database software on DOS-syste m

computers . There were three basic types of survey forms plus on e
evaluation form :

1 . INVENTORY FORM - for all built properties and for other properties for whic h

sufficient information was available (such as an unbuilt project for which
complete construction drawings were produced )

2 . UNBUILT FORM - for unbuilt properties for which design drawings or othe r

sources of design information were available .

3. SHORT FORM - for projects about which very little was known .

4. EVALUATION FORM - for surviving, built buildings in Oregon only .

The Unbuilt Form and Short Form were shorter versions of the Inventory
Form . Fields on these survey forms which require some explanation, an d

fields on the Evaluation Form are described in more detail below :

HISTORIC NAME
is the name of the property when first occupied (or during design, if neve r

built) .

COMMON NAME
is the name in common use today, if different from the Historic Name .

OTHER NAME s
are other names used at some time in the history of the property .

RESOURCE TYPE
choices :
Building

	

(shelters human activity ; includes barn, garage )

Structure (does not shelter human activity )
Site
Object

STATUS
is the current condition of the property ; choices :

built & survives
total alteration
collapsed
dismantled

	

(meaning that pieces were saved )

destroyed/accidental fir e
destroyed/practice fire

	

(by fire department )

razed
destroyed/storm
unbuilt project



2 3

built ; survives ?
unknown

EFL JOB #
is Lawrence's identification number for that project, from drawings o r
other records . These were assigned chronologically as jobs were begun . .

YEAR
is the year that the adjacent job # was assigned .

FIRST DATE
is the month and year of the earliest known reference to the project ; ("c "
is used for + - 5 years ; "?" is used to indicate that the year is a n
educated guess )

DESIGN BEGI N
month and year ("c" & "?" see above )

DESIGN END
month and year ("c" & "?" see above) ; the date on construction drawings or
substantially as-built preliminary drawings .

CONSTRUCTION BEGI N
month and year ("c" & "?" see above )

CONSTRUCTION END
month and year ("c" & "?" see above )

LOSS DAT E
if property totally no longer exists, month and year ("c" & "?" see above )

OWNER
is the current owner for a property which still exists ; for a property
which has been lost, it is the initial owner .

MAP #
As instructed by the Oregon SHPO, this is the County Tax Assessor's ma p
number . USGS map numbers are used for most out of state and unbuil t
properties .

ASSESSOR #
is used only for Portland properties .

ORIGINAL US E
is the use, or function, of the property when it was first occupied . The
format and catagories follow guidelines of the Oregon SHPO .

PRESENT USE
is the current use, or function, of the property . The format and
catagories follow guidelines of the Oregon SHPO .

SITE
is an estimate, in acres, of the size of the site of the property . Thi s

usually corresponded with legal property limits, but for very large sites



2 4

it included only the portion which related significantly to the inventorie d
building, including all area designed by Lawrence or a person working wit h
him. For surviving built properties, this is the present size of the site .

THEME
"20th Century Architecture" is listed as a theme on every project in thi s
survey,'because of the association with Ellis Lawrence in this century .
One or two additional themes were selected for each survey item from a lis t
provided by the Oregon SHPO, and no other themes were possible . Choices :
Communication
City Planning
Commercia l
Conservatio n
Economics/Philosoph y
Education
Engineering
Ethnic Immigrations
Exploration
Farming
Federal Government
Fine/Applied Arts
Fraternal Movement s
Horticulture
Landscape Architectur e
Law
Literature
Local Government
Logging
Manufacturing/Processing
Maritime
Medicine
Military
Mining
Monument s

Musi c
Native American
Performing Arts
Prehistory
Recreation
Religion
Science
Settlement
Social/Humanitaria n
State Government
Stock Raising
Transportatio n

ARCHITECT
This is the official name of Lawrence's architectural firm at the time th e

surveyed building was designed . For the specific dates of the duration o f
the use of the various names for Lawrence's firms, see the biograph y

chapter of this report . (Stevens and Lazarus, two early employers of

Lawrence were included in the choices but unused in the survey .) The

choices for firm names were :



2 5

MacNaughton, Raymond and Lawrenc e
Ellis F . Lawrence, Architec t
E .F .Lawrence & John J . Burling
Lawrence & Holford, Assoc . Arch .
Lawrence and Holford
Lawrence, Holford, Allyn and Bea n
Lawrence, Holford & Ally n
Lawrence & Allyn
Lawrence & Lawrence
Lawrence, Tucker and Wallmann
John Calvin Stevens, Architect
Edgar M . Lazarus, Architect
Holford & Lawrence (Boston)

CHIEF DESIGNER
is the name of the person believed to have had principle responsibility fo r
the creation of the design for the surveyed property . This name wa s
sometimes revealed in correspondence or surviving drawings, but Lawrence' s
practice of design collaboration in his office made precise identificatio n
of a chief designer difficult . The choices available for this item were :
Ellis F Lawrenc e
William Holfor d
H Abbott Lawrenc e
Walter Church
Ernest Boyd MacNaughto n
Herbert E . Raymond
Edgar M . Lazarus
John Calvin Stevens
Fred Allyn
Ormond R . Bean
probably Ellis F . Lawrence
probably William Holford
probably H .Abbott Lawrence
probably Sidney Haysli p
unknown
probably Ormond R . Bean

ENGINEERs & CONSULTANT s
Persons or firms who collaborated with Lawrence on the design of the survey
building are listed here ; the role of each is listed in parenthesis .

CONTRACTORS
Persons or firms who collaborated with Lawrence on the design of th e
surveyed building are listed here ; the portion of the work for which eac h
was contracted is listed in parenthesis .

ARTISTS & CRAFTSMEN
Persons who provided the design and/or execution of specific art works o r
decorative embelishment of the surveyed building are listed here ; the item
associated with each is listed in parenthesis .

STYLE
The architectural style of the surveyed building as built (or as designed ,

if unbuilt) was selected from the list approved for use by the Oregon SHPO .



2 6

No other styles could be selected . Use of most style labels were wer e
restricted to specified years . Rosalind Clark's Architecture Oregon Styl e
book was used for illustrations and guidelines . Choices available were :
Adirondack Rusti c
Altered
American Renaissanc e
Art Deco
Arts & Craft s
Bungalow
Chicago Schoo l
Classical Greek/Roman
Colonial (1910-1935 )
Colonial Reviva l
Commercia l
Craftsman
Egyptian
English Cottag e
Exoti c
French Renaissanc e
Georgian
Gothi c
Half Modern
Industria l
International
Italian Renaissanc e
Jacobethan
Late 20th Century Period Architectur e
Mediterranean
Modern Commercia l
Modernisti c
National Park
none
Norman Farmhouse
Northwest Regiona l
Prairie Schoo l
Romanesque
Spanish Colonial
Stripped Classical
Tudor
unknown
Utilitarian

EFL "STYLE"
This field was used if Ellis F . Lawrence had used a specific style label i n

describing the surveyed building .

PLAN TYPE & SHAPE
The first field is the shape of the ground floor plan of the surveyed

building as built (or as designed for unbuilt buildings) . The choices for
this field were from a publication recommended by the Oregon SHPO :

square
rectangular (front long )

rectangular (sides long )
"L"-shaped



2 7

"U"-shape d
"T"-shaped
"H"-shaped
circular
polygonal
center space (atrium )

pavilion (projec . ends )
irregula r
cruciform
apsidal
apse and transept
apse and narthex
narthex and transep t

The second field describes wings to the basic plan type, if any . Later
additions to a built building were not classed as wings . Choices were :

+front wing
+side wing
+front & side wing s
+wings on two side s

+front & two side wing s
+rear wing
+front and rear wing s
+rear & side wings
+rear & two side wing s
+front, rear, side wings
+front, rear, 2 side wings
+irregular/diagonal wing
+2 irregular/diagonal wing s
+3 irregular/diagonal wing s
+parallel rear wing addition

FOUNDATION MATERIA L
This refers to the building as initially built . Minor portions of the
building with a different type of foundation were ignored . Choices :

concrete
stone
brick
unknown

STORIES
Basement, unoccupied attic space, wings and later additions wer e

disregarded . An occupied floor within a roof volume which had any portio n

of its ceiling sloping was counted as 0 .5 story .

BASEMENT
A Basement is substantially below ground level and was not counted as a

floor or story .

ROOF FORM
The first field is for the shape of the roof of the surveyed building, a s

built . The choices for this field were from a publication recommended b y

the Oregon SHPO :
low gable (6/12 max .)



2 8

medium gable (10/12 max . )
high gable (10/12 min . )
gable w/center gabl e
gable w/offset gabl e
cross gable ("X" ridge )
hipped gabl e
hipped cross gabl e
bellcast gable(s )
bellcast hipped gabl e
low hip (6/12 max . )
medium hip (10/12 max . )
high hip (10/12 min . )
truncated hi p
hipped w/center gabl e
bellcast hi p
gabled hip or gable t
gambrel
hipped gambre l
bellcast gambrel
bellcast hipped gambrel

mansard front
mansard (4 sides )
shed (single pitch )
saltbox
essentially flat
sawtooth
monitor
dome

pyramidal
vaulted
combination gable & hipped gabl e
gable w/2 offset gable s
gable w/3 offset gables
hipped gable w/2 offset hipped gable s
hipped gable w/3 offset hipped gable s
high X-hip w/offset gabl e
hipped gables & gablets
gambrel w/mansard wings
low hip w/cross gable s
high gable & offset gable s

The second field was for dormers or other additional description . Choices :

w/gabled dormer(s )
w/swept dormer(s)
w/hooded dormer(s) (rounded top )
w/hipped dormer(s )
w/hipped gable dormer(s )

w/gablet dormer(s )

w/shed dormer(s )
w/bay dormer(s )
w/triangular dormer(s )
w/gambrel dormer(s )
w/mansard dormer(s )

w/inset shed dormers



29

w/pediment dormer(s )
w/combination dormer types
w/inset dormer(s )
w/wall dormer(s)
w/inset hooded dormer s
w/center gabl e
w/offset gabl e
w/center hipped gabl e
w/offset hipped gabl e
w/conical tower roo f
w/gable win g
w/dome(s )
w/hip-roof wing(s )

The third field was for the roof material of the building as built . The mos t
visible material was chosen, ignoring other materials . Choices were :
Wood shingles
Slate shingle s
Ceramic tiles
Composition shingle s
Bituminous builtup
Metal

WALL CONSTRUCTION
Minor portions of the building which had a different construction, an d
later additions, were ignored . Choices :
brick (bearing)
brick (non-bearing )
stone (bearing)
stone (non-bearing )
nailed wood frame
nailed wood frame w/brick veneer
concrete
concrete masonry unit s
concrete w/masonry facin g
masonry bearing & non-bearingcombinatio n
masonry & wood framecombinatio n
concrete & masonry
unknown
hollow clay til e

STRUCTURAL FRAME
This is the type of frame which supports the upper floors and roof . Mino r
portions of the building which had a different structure, and late r
additions or alterations, were ignored . Choices
nailed wood frame
heavy timbe r
steel frame
concrete frame
masonry (bearing )

unknown
steel & heavy timbe r
concrete & steel



3 0

PRIMARY WINDOW TYP E
The first field was for the material of the major window type as built ;

choices :
wood
steel
aluminum
metal

The second field describes the primary window type as built ; choices :

1/1 double-hung
multi-pane double-hung
grouped 1/1 double-hung
grouped multi-pane double-hun g
single-pane casemen t
paired single-pane casement
grouped single-pane casement
casement +fixed sas h
single-sash hinged (hinges top or bottom )
two-sash hinged
grouped hinged sas h
vertical-pivot sash
horizontal-pivot sas h
horizontal sliding
fixed sash
no windows
multi-pane casement
paired multi-pane casemen t
grouped multi-pane casemen t
fixed grouped multi-pan e
grouped diamond-pane casement

unknown
fixed multi-pane
multi-pane double-hung & casemen t
multi-pane horizontal pivot
multi-pane over 1 double-hun g
union jack
grouped awning, casement, fixe d

The third field was for special windows in addition to the primary type, o r

for an additional window description . Choices :
w/special round
w/special elliptica l

w/special polygonal
w/special half-round
w/special half-elliptical
w/special bay/orie l
w/special Palladian
w/special Gothi c
w/special rounded-to p
w/special 1/4 roun d
w/special oriel, rounded
w/special union jac k

w/special ornamental patternwith transom s

w/special hexagonal



3 1

w/miscelaneous other s
& grouped multi-pane casemen t

EXTERIOR SURFACE MATERIAL
This describes the exterior wall material as built . A second exterior wal l

material could be listed in the second field, if applicable ; choices :

wood bevel siding
wood weatherboards (rectangular horizontal boards )

wood shipla p
wood drop siding

wood horizontal boar d

wood board & batte n
wood vertical board

wood panel
wood shingles
stucco
stucco w/"half timber "

brick
cast stone
terra cotta
concrete
cut stone
rubble stone
ceramic til e
slate shingle s
sheet meta l
stone venee r
hollow clay til e

vinyl sidin g

asbestos shingles
wire mes h

DECORATIVE FEATURES/MATERIAL S
as built, unless noted otherwise .

OTHER
Additional decorative features or other distinctive characteristics of th e

building as built, unless noted otherwise .

CONDITION
This refers to the physical condition or deterioration of the buildin g

materials today ; choices :

good
fai r
poor

MOVED This is to record the details if the building has been moved .

ALTERATIONS/ADDITION S
This is to list changes to the building after its initial construction



3 2

LANDSCAPE FEATURE S
This refers to the historic landscape at the completion of Lawrence's work .

ASSOCIATED STRUCTURE S
This is to list adjacent accompanying minor structures which exist today .

SETTING
This is the setting as it exists today .

EXTERIOR DETAILS/CRAFTSMANSHI P
This refers to the remaining portions-of the original building ; choices :
High-quality skilled work : some fine material s
Better than average workmanship and material s
Ordinary construction with no special feature s
unknown
no longer survive s

INTERIOR DETAILS/CRAFTSMANSHI P
This refers to the remaining portions of the original building ; choices :
High-quality skilled work : some fine material s
Better than average workmanship and material s
Ordinary construction with no special feature s
unknown
no longer survive s

EXTERIOR INTEGRITY
choices :
Essentially intact as originally built .
Altered by Lawrence firm; essentially intact .
Minor changes, but original character intact .
Moderate changes ; some original character remains .
Major changes ; original character lost .
Unknown

INTERIOR INTEGRITY
choices :
Essentially intact as originally built .
Altered by Lawrence firm ; essentially intact .
Minor changes, but original character intact .
Moderate changes ; some original character remains .
Major changes ; original character lost .
Unknow n

SITE INTEGRITY
choices :
Essentially intact as originally built .
Altered by Lawrence firm ; essentially intact .
Minor changes, but original character intact .
Moderate changes ; some original character remains .
Major changes ; original character lost .
Unknown



3 3

SETTING INTEGRIT Y
choices :

Historic character & relationship of surroundings is intact .

Minor changes to character and relationship of surroundings .

Major changes to character and relationship of surroundings .

unknown, pending further researc h

PUBLICATION

This lists publications with information about the surveyed building .

RECORDED BY

choices :
Michael Shellenbarger

Carolyn Sorrel s

Kim Lakin



3 4

EVALUATION FORM

The first six fields below are repeated from the Inventory form. All choices i n
the evaluation were assigned numerical values ; each evaluated building wa s
then assigned a rank based upon its numerical total . It is important t o
note that only several of the evaluated properties are only the portions o f
a building for which Lawrence or his firm had responsibility ; the building
which has been altered or added to may have a significance which i s
unrelated to the evaluation of the portion being evaluated here . For
example, Lawrence's alteration of the Collier House on the University o f
Oregon campus has a significance well below that of the house itself .

NUMERICAL
INTEGRITY OF EXTERIOR (repeated from inventory form )

Choices :
Essentially intact as originally built .

	

9
Altered by Lawrence firm ; essentially intact .

	

9
Minor changes, but original character intact .

	

7
Moderate changes ; some original character remains .

	

3
Major changes ; original character lost .

	

0

Unknown

	

0

INTEGRITY OF INTERIOR (repeated from inventory form )
choices :
Essentially intact as originally built .

	

9
Altered by Lawrence firm; essentially intact .
Minor changes, but original character intact .

	

7

Moderate changes ; some original character remains .

	

3

Major changes ; original character lost .

	

0
Unknown

	

0

INTEGRITY OF SITE (repeated from inventory form )
choices :
Essentially intact as originally built .

	

9
Altered by Lawrence firm ; essentially intact .

	

9

Minor changes, but original character intact .

	

7
Moderate changes ; some original character remains .

	

3
Major changes ; original character lost .

	

0
Unknown

	

0

INTEGRITY OF SETTING (repeated from inventory form )
choices :
Historic character & relationship of surroundings is intact .

	

5
Minor changes to character and relationship of surroundings .

	

3

Major changes to character and relationship of surroundings .

	

0

unknown, pending further research

	

0

DISTINCTION OF EXTERIOR DETAILS & CRAFTSMANSHIP (repeated from inventory form )

This refers to the remaining portions of the original building ; choices :

High-quality skilled work : some fine materials

	

7

Better than average workmanship and materials

	

3
Ordinary construction with no special features

	

0



3 5

unknown

	

0
no longer survives

	

0

DISTINCTION OF INTERIOR DETAILS & CRAFTSMANSHIP (repeated from inventory form )
This refers to the remaining portions of the original building ; choices :
High-quality skilled work : some fine materials

	

7
Better than average workmanship and materials

	

3
Ordinary construction with no special features

	

0
unknown

	

0
no longer survives

	

0

DISTINCTION OF STYL E
How good an example of its style is it? Choices :

It is a prime example of its identified style .

	

5
It has distinctive features of its identified style .

	

2
It has few features associated with its identified style .

	

0
It is a distinctive aggregate of styles .

	

5
not applicable

	

0
Compared to Lawrence's other surviving Oregon buildings, thi s

style is . . . Choices :
unique in Oregon

	

9
unique in its city/town or rural area ; one of few in Oregon .

	

7
unique in its city/town or rural area .

	

5
one of few (5 or less) in its city/town or rural area .

	

2

one of several (6 or more) in its city/town or rural area .

	

0
not applicable

	

0

DISTINCTION OF ORIGINAL US E
Compared to Lawrence's other surviving Oregon buildings, thi s

original use is . . . Choices :
unique in Oregon

	

9
unique in its city/town or rural area ; one of few in Oregon .

	

7
unique in its city/town or rural area .

	

5
one of few (5 or less) in its city/town or rural area .

	

2
one of several {6 or more) in its city/town or rural area .

	

0
not applicable

	

0

DISTINCTION OF ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN :
Compared to Lawrence's other surviving Oregon buildings, thi s

design is . . . choices :
among his best works, published, & of national significance .

	

9
among his best works .

	

7
above average quality, published, & of national significance .

	

7
above average quality and significance .

	

5
average quality and significance .

	

2

below average quality and significance .

	

0

Is it part of an ensemble of surviving buildings by Lawrence ?
choices :
It's located in an ordered arrangement of Lawrence buildings .

	

9

Lawrence buildings(s) nearby ; but arrangement is not ordered .

	

5

No other Lawrence buildings are nearby .

	

0



3 6

Are structural or technical aspects of the design significant ?
choices :
Of high significance .

	

9
Of moderate significance .

	

5
Of little significance .

	

0

LAWRENCE'S PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT IN THE DESIGN PROCESS :
choices :
Lawrence is known to have been the chief designer .

	

9
Lawrence was probably chief designer, though little evidence .

	

6
Another designer was probably the chief designer .

	

2
Another designer is known to have been chief designer .

	

0

EDUCATIVE OR ASSOCIATIVE VALUE OF HISTORIC EVENTS OR ACTIVITIES :
choices :
Strong association with national historic events/activities .

	

9
Strong association with state historic events or activities .

	

7
Strong association with local historic events or activities .

	

5
Some association with historic events or activities .

	

2
No known association with historic events or activities .

	

0

EDUCATIVE OR ASSOCIATIVE VALUE OF HISTORIC PERSONS :
choices :
Strong assoc . with person of national historic significance .

	

9

Strong assoc . with person(s) of state historic significance .

	

7
Strong assoc . with person(s) of local historic significance .

	

5

Some association with significant historic person(s) .

	

2
No'known association .with a significant historic person .

	

0

SYMBOLIC ASSOCIATION WITH AN IDEAL, INSTITUTION, OR POLITICAL ENTITY :

	

choices :
Major symbolic association with national ideal/institution .

	

9

Major symbolic association with state ideal or institution .

	

7

Major symbolic association with local ideal or institution .

	

5
Some significant symbolic association .

	

2
No known significant symbolic association .

	

0

RANK : choices :
PRIMARY

	

(a score of 57 or more )
Primary properties are those which are excellent architecturally and/o r

have significant historical associations . These would be eligible for th e

National Register of Historic Places .

SECONDARY

	

(a score of 41 or more )
Secondary properties are those which are somewhat less significan t

architecturally or historically, but which should still be eligible for th e

National Register of Historic Places .

COMPATIBLE

	

(a score of 23 or more )
Compatible properties are those which have less architectural an d

historical merit, and/or which have been altered enough that integrity is low ,

and/or . which were lacking in historic information during the survey process .

These properties would only be eligible for the National Register of Histori c

Places as part of a district nomination, or if their integrity was restored, o r

if additional historic significance was established through additional research .



3 7

NON-COMPATIBLE

	

(a score of 22 or less )
Non-compatible properties are those which have little known significance o r

which have been so totally altered that little historic integrity remains an d
restoration seems unwarranted .



ELLIS LAWRENCE BUILDING SURVEY

	

a- 1
EVALUATED PROPERTIES LIST

CITY IN OREGON

	

HISTORIC NAME

	

RANK

Astoria
OCEAN VIEW MAUSOLEU M

Total in Astoria :

	

1
Baker

BAKER HIGH SCHOOL
MOUNT HOPE MAUSOLEU M

Total in Baker :

	

2

TRINITY EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Total in Bend :

	

I
Carlton

DENNIS, W .B ., HOUS E
LADD, CHARLES T ., HOUSE and BEEBEE, WALTER, Alts .

Total in Carlton :

	

2
Corvallis

CHURCH OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN, Alteratio n
CHURCH OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN, RECTORY
KAPPA ALPHA THETA SORORITY HOUS E

Total in Corvallis :

	

3
Dallas

CHAPEL, Camp Adai r
Total in Dallas :

	

1
Eugene

ALPHA PHI SORORITY HOUSE
ARCHITECTURE BUILDING, Additions, Univ . of Oregon
BEAN, ORMOND R ., HOUS E
CARSON HALL, University of Orego n
CHAMBERS, FRED E ., HOUSE
CHAPMAN HALL, University of Orego n
COLLIER HOUSE, alteration, University of Oregon
COMMERCE HALL, University of Orego n
CONDON HALL, University of Orego n
DELTA TAU DELTA FRATERNITY HOUS E
EDUCATION BUILDING (1916), University of Orego n
EDUCATION BUILDING {1921), University of Orego n
ERB MEMORIAL STUDENT UNION, University of Orego n
FENTON HALL, Alterations, University of Orego n
FIRST NATIONAL BANK, EUGENE, Alteratio n
FRIENDLY, SAMPSON H ., HOUSE
GIFT CAMPAIGN BUILDING, University of Orego n
GRAHAM, DAVID, HOUS E
HAYES, SHERMAN, Garage
HAYWARD FIELD EAST GRANDSTAND, University of Orego n
HENDRICKS HALL, University of Orego n

HOPE ABBEY MAUSOLEU M
INFIRMARY, University of Orego n
JOHNSON HALL, Alterations, University of Orego n

JOURNALISM BUILDING, University of Orego n

MARTIN, ALEXANDER Jr ., HOUSE
McARTHUR COURT, University of Orego n

MUSEUM OF ART, University of Oregon

PRIMAR Y

PRIMAR Y
PRIMAR Y

SECONDARY

PRIMARY

PRIMARY

SECONDARY

SECONDARY
PRIMAR Y

COMPATIBLE

PRIMARY

SECONDARY
SECONDARY

SECONDARY
SECONDARY

PRIMARY
COMPATIBLE

PRIMAR Y
PRIMAR Y

SECONDARY

PRIMARY
SECONDARY

COMPATIBLE

COMPATIBLE

NON-COMPATIBLE
SECONDAR Y

SECONDARY

SECONDARY

NON-COMPATIBLE
PRIMARY

PRIMARY

PRIMARY

SECONDAR Y
SECONDARY

SECONDAR Y

SECONDARY

PRIMAR Y
PRIMAR Y

Bend



ELLIS LAWRENCE BUILDING SURVEY

	

a-3
EVALUATED PROPERTIES LIST

CITY IN OREGON

	

HISTORIC NAME

	

RANK

Milwauki e

Odel l

Oregon City

Pendleton

Portland

BRONAUGH, JUDGE EARLE C ., HOUSE
GARTHWICK GATES
GREEN, DONALD W ., HOUSE and Alteration s

Total in Milwaukie :

	

3

APPLE BARN, Ellis F . Lawrence Apple Ranch
Total in Odell :

	

1

COFFEY, DR . ROBERT C ., HOUSE, Alterations
Total in Oregon City :

	

1

EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF THE REDEEMER PARISH HAL L

OLNEY ABBEY MAUSOLEUM
PENDLETON SAVINGS BANK, Alteratio n

Total in Pendleton :

	

3

11388 SW RIVERWOOD ROAD
ALBINA BRANCH LIBRARY
ALEXANDRA COURT HOTE L
ARMISHAWS SHOE STORE (Medical Bldg), Storefron t

BAILEY, DR . THOMAS C ., HOUS E
BAKER SHOE STORE (Morrison St .), Storefron t
BAKER SHOE STORE (Ungar Bldg .), Storefron t
BAKER SHOE STORE (Wilcox Bldg .), Storefron t

BARKER, BURT BROWN, HOUS E
BEGGS, HOUSE
BELLE COURT APARTMENTS
BOWMAN, JOHN L ., HOUSE
BRESKE BUILDING
CALLVERT, RONALD, HOUSE
CAMERON, JAMES E ., HOUSE
CARSON, A .L ., HOUSE
CHASE, EDWIN T ., HOUS E
CHOWN HARDWARE COMPANY
CIVIC THEATRE BUILDING .
CLARK-KENDALL COMPANY (Lumbermans Bldg), Alteration s

COGHLAN, JOHN, HOUS E
COLUMBIA PARK SHELTER AND COMFORT STATION

COMFORT STATION, SW SIXTH AND YAMHILL

COMSTOCK, EUGENE C ., HOUSE

CONNER, HENRY A ., HOUSE
CONWAY, RAY, HOUSE, Alterations

CORNELL GARAG E
CUMBERLAND APARTMENTS
DANIELS, ROSE, HOUS E
DITTENHOFFER, S . WILLIAM JR ., HOUSE -
DOERNBECKER CHILDRENS HOSPITAL,U of 0 Medical Schoo l

ELLA STREET GARAGE
ELY, ASHLEY, HOUSE
FAILING BUILDING, Alterations

PRIMARY

SECONDARY
SECONDAR Y

COMPATIBLE

COMPATIBLE

COMPATIBLE

PRIMARY
NON-COMPATIBLE

PRIMARY

PRIMARY

COMPATIBLE

NON-COMPATIBLE

SECONDARY
NON-COMPATIBLE

NON-COMPATIBLE
NON-COMPATIBLE

PRIMARY
PRIMARY

PRIMARY

PRIMARY
NON-COMPATIBL E

PRIMAR Y
SECONDARY

COMPATIBLE

COMPATIBLE
NON-COMPATIBLE

NON-COMPATIBLE

NON-COMPATIBLE
NON-COMPATIBLE

SECONDARY

PRIMARY
PRIMARY

PRIMARY

NON-COMPATIBLE
COMPATIBLE

PRIMARY

COMPATIBLE

COMPATIBLE

PRIMARY

COMPATIBLE

SECONDARY

COMPATIBLE



ELLIS LAWRENCE BUILDING SURVEY

	

a- 4

EVALUATED PROPERTIES LIST

CITY IN OREGON

	

HISTORIC NAME

	

RANK

FERNWOOD SCHOOL AND ADDITION
FIRST NATIONAL BANK, Interior Alteration s
FREEMAN, CAMP,& SMITH CO (Lumberman Bldg),Alteration

GADSBY, WALTER, HOUSE

GILLILAND, LEWIS T ., HOUSE
GOOD SAMARITAN HOSPITAL, East wing & Alteration s

GORDON, A .L ., HOUSE
GOWANLOCK, E .M ., HOUSE
GRACE MEMORIAL EPISCOPAL CHURCH

GREGG, NORRIS/CARPENTER, D .L ., HOUSE and Alterations

GUMBERT FURS STORE, Storefront

HART, CHARLES A ., HOUSE
HAWLEY, WILLARD J ., HOUSE
HAYDEN, WILBUR, HOUSE, Alteration s
HEINTZ, MISS L .M ., HOUSE
HEITKEMPER, FRANK, HOUS E
HENDERSHOTT, DR . HARRY M ., HOUSE

HENDERSON, M .B ., HOUSE
HENNY, GEORGE C ., HOUS E
HERMAN, ALFRED HOUS E
HICKEY, JAMES, HOUS E

HIRSCH, MAX S ., HOUSE
HOFFMAN APARTMENTS

HOLFORD, WILLIAM G ., HOUS E
HOLMAN FUEL COMPAN Y
HOLMAN MORTUARY, Alteration s
HOLMAN, EDWARD, HOUS E

HOLMES, J .M ., HOUSE

HUNT, MARTIN, HOUS E
IRVINGTON TENNIS CLUB, Additio n

JOHNS, HENRY G ., HOUS E
JOHNSON, VICTOR A ., HOUSE
KAMM BUILDING/NORTON'S RESTAURANT

KEATING, JOHN A ., HOUS E
KENILWORTH PARK-SHELTER/COMFORT STATION & Alteratio n

KERN STORE BUILDIN G

KERR, PETER, HOUS E
KIENOW'S FOOD STORE, # 1
KIENOW'S FOOD STORE, #2
KRAUSS-McLELLAN TRIMMING FACTORY, Additio n

LADD, CHARLES THORNTON, HOUSE # 1

LADD, CHARLES THORNTON, HOUSE # 2

LAURELHURST HOUSE # 1

LAURELHURST HOUSE #2

LAURELHURST HOUSE #7

LAURELHURST HOUSE #9
LAWRENCE, ELLIS FULLER, HOUS E

LEWIS, WILLIAM H ., HOUS E

LIBRARY AND AUDITORIUM, U of 0 Medical Schoo l

LIVINGSTONE, ROBERT, HOUS E
LLOYD, WILLIAM G ., HOUSE

SECONDAR Y

COMPATIBLE

NON-COMPATIBLE
SECONDARY

PRIMARY

NON-COMPATIBL E
SECONDARY

COMPATIBLE

SECONDARY

PRIMARY

NON-COMPATIBLE

SECONDARY

PRIMARY

NON-COMPATIBLE

PRIMARY
COMPATIBLE

PRIMARY

PRIMARY

SECONDARY

PRIMARY

PRIMARY

PRIMARY

SECONDARY

SECONDAR Y

SECONDARY
NON-COMPATIBLE

SECONDARY

COMPATIBLE

SECONDARY

SECONDARY

COMPATIBLE

SECONDARY

NON-COMPATIBLE

SECONDARY

SECONDARY

COMPATIBLE
PRIMAR Y

COMPATIBLE

NON-COMPATIBLE

NON-COMPATIBLE

SECONDARY
COMPATIBLE

SECONDARY

PRIMARY

SECONDARY

SECONDARY

PRIMARY
COMPATIBLE

PRIMARY

PRIMARY
COMPATIBLE



ELLIS LAWRENCE BUILDING SURVEY

	

a- 5
EVALUATED PROPERTIES LIST

CITY IN OREGON

	

HISTORIC NAME

	

RANK

LUDERS, S .M ., HOUSE
LUMBERMANS TRUST CO . (Lumbermans Bldg), Alteration s

MALARKEY, JAMES, HOUS E
MATHIESSEN, MARK M ., HOUSE
MCDOUGALL, ALEX D ., HOUSE
MCDOUGALL, NATT, HOUSE
MCKINNON, JAMES A ., HOUSE, Alterations

MERSEREAU, E .L ., HOUS E
MERWIN, H .K ., HOUSE, Alteration s
METSCHAN, PHIL, HOUS E
MILLER, HENRY B ., HOUS E

MILLER, JAMES F ., HOUSE, Alterations

MILLS, ABBOT, JR . RESIDENCE and Alteration s
MOHAWK BUILDING, Alteration s
MORSE, W . CHESTER, HOUS E
MOUNT SCOTT PARK CEMETERY, RESIDENCE & OFFIC E
MUIR, THOMAS, HOUS E
MUNGER, THORNTON T ., HOUSE and Alteration s
MUNRO, FRANK WARREN, HOUSE, Alteration s

MURPHY, PAUL C ., HOUSE and Alteration s

NICOLAI, H .T ., HOUSE
OLIVER CHILLED PLOW COMPAN Y
OREGON CERAMIC STUDIO
OUTPATIENT CLINICS, U of 0 Medical Schoo l
OVERLOOK PARK SHELTER & COMFORT STATIO N
PARK BUILDING, Alteratio n
PARKING PROJECT, Alterations
PENINSULA PARK BANDSTAN D
PENINSULA PARK COMFORT STATION
PENINSULA PARK RECREATION BUILDIN G

PITTLEKAU, EMIL, HOUS E
PORTLAND MEMORIAL MAUSOLEUM AND CREMATORIUM, ADDTN S
PORTLAND RAILWAY LIGHT AND POWER, Alteration s

POSEY, JOHN V .G ., HOUS E
PRAEL, RUDOLPH F ., HOUS E
PRICE, ORE L ., HOUSE
RAE, ALEX C ., HOUSE
REED,. SAMUEL G ., HOUSE
RIVERVIEW ABBEY MAUSOLEUM
RIVERVIEW CEMETERY-SUPERINTENDENT ' S HOUSE

ROBERTS BROTHERS STORE (Mohawk Bldg), Alterations

	

NON-COMPATIBLE

ROCHESTER, TOM, HOUSE

	

COMPATIBLE

ROYAL BAKERY RESTAURANT, JAPANESE ROOM (Mohawk Bldg) NON-COMPATIBLE

PRIMAR Y

PRIMAR Y

PRIMARY
SECONDARY

NON-COMPATIBLE

SECONDARY

NON-COMPATIBLE

PRIMARY

SECONDAR Y
NON-COMPATIBLE

SECONDARY

PRIMARY

PRIMARY

PRIMARY

NON-COMPATIBLE

SECONDARY

SECONDARY

PRIMARY

PRIMARY

NON-COMPATIBLE

SECONDARY

NON-COMPATIBLE
SECONDARY

PRIMARY

COMPATIBLE
SECONDARY

NON-COMPATIBLE

PRIMARY
SECONDARY

COMPATIBLE
COMPATIBLE

.SECONDARY

PRIMARY

NON-COMPATIBLE

NON-COMPATIBLE

PRIMARY

SECONDARY

PRIMARY
COMPATIBLE
COMPATIBLE

NON-COMPATIBLE

PRIMARY
PRIMARY

PRIMARY

SECONDARY

SECONDARY
SECONDARY

PRIMARY

SABIN, ROBERT, HOUS E
SEITZ, MAURICE, HOUS E
SELLWOOD PARK BATH HOUS E
SELLWOOD YMCA
SHOPFRONT (Alderway Bldg), Alteration s

SHULL, FRANK L ., HOUSE

SILVER EAGLE COMPANY, Addition

SMITH, BLAINE, HOUSE



ELLIS LAWRENCE BUILDING SURVEY

	

a-6

EVALUATED PROPERTIES LIST

CITY IN OREGON

	

HISTORIC NAME

	

RANK

SMITH, STANLEY C .E ., HOUS E
SMITH, WARREN, HOUS E
SPENCER, ARTHUR C ., HOUSE
SPROUSE, JOHN A ., HOUS E
SQUIRES, CAMERON, HOUS E

ST . MICHAELS AND ALL ANGELS EPISCOPAL CHURCH

ST . PETERS & ST . PAULS EPISCOPAL CHURC H

ST . STEPHENS EPISCOPAL CHURCH

STAYER, C . A ., HOUSE
STETTLER, FRANK C ., HOUS E
STEVENS BUILDING, Alteration s
STONE, HARRY W ., HOUSE
STRICKER, FRED D ., HOUSE, and alteration s

STRONG, MRS . CURTIS, HOUS E
STUDEBAKER WAREHOUS E
TAYLOR GARAGE
TAYLOR, FRED E ., HOUSE

TRENKMAN, BENJAMIN, HOUSE
TROY LAUNDRY BUILDING, and Alteration s

TUBERCULOSIS HOSPITAL, U of 0 Medical Schoo l

U OF 0 MEDICAL SCHOOL, and Additions

WELLS, M .B ./GUTHRIE, G .B., HOUSE and alteration s

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

WHEELER, JAMES E ., HOUSE and Alterations

WHITE, MRS . VILLA W ., HOUSE
WILCOX MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
WILSON, D .G ., HOUS E

Total in Portland : 163

PRAIRIE CITY SCHOOL GYMNASIUM

PRAIRIE CITY SCHOOL, alteration s

Total in Prairie City :

	

2

ROBIN