Drawing by Jeff Kleinsmith Harmony in Diversity: The Architecture and Teaching of Ellis F. Lawrence Frontispiece: Edwin Merrill, construction drawing for east facade of Education Building (Gilbert Hall west wing), University of Oregon, two-color ink on linen, 1916. Courtesy of University of Oregon PhysicaL PLant. Title page: ELlis Lawrence in SchooL of Architecture and Allied Arts, 1939. From 1939 Oregana. ... LIJ F LAWUNC[ 6 WH G 1-\0UOl.O Ass oc \n A:tc4mcrJ - 1;\Cl'>i..!:.> ._)f V~\:R_C[ fiUL~ I~J 't • N' Ou ::;cr.. ~DUCATIONAL ENTRANCE DETAIL 5c4Lr: ,Yt"• P- o" Blli~DING FCH T 1-i E LJ N I V E R. .\ : ~ Y EUGENE OR.EGON '- "-' r 5 ,l ~=1--i -::j :, . .- L . ~ ~ &~~.~ ~~ .!.. . '-· I·:::- ·~- : l=' ~' ~ • ' .. .,. /'! ! ' • "- y I .:. , · t Harmony in ,,, ~, Diversity: ~· The Architecture and v 1 . ~, Teaching of · Ellis F. Lawrence Edited by Michael Shellenbarger Essays by Kimberly K. Lakin Leland M. Roth Michael Shellenbarger Museum of Art and the Historic Preservation Program School of Architecture and Allied Arts University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon 1989 © 1989 by the University of Oregon. All rights reserved Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 89-27791 International Standard Book No. 0-87114-253-8 This publication accompanies the exhibition Harmony in Diversity: The Architecture and Teaching of Ellis F. Lawrence, University of Oregon Museum of Art. Exhibition dates: October 19-December 3, 1989 The Lawrence survey, exhibition, publication, and related research have been funded by major grants from Oregon's State Historic Preservation Office and the NationaL Endowment for the Arts, with additional grants from the Oregon Community Foundation Van Evera and Janet Bailey Fund, the Oregon Committee for the Humanities, and the Oregon Arts Commission. Cover and book des ign by George Beltran, Univers ity of Oregon Office of University Publications . Unless otherw ise noted, all photographs were reprinted for this publication by Northwestern PhotograjJhics, Eugene, Oregon. Acknowledgments The Lawrence project would not have happened without John Goff, who initially conceived it;James Hamrick, who proposed thesurveyfundingplan; and Donald Corner, who approved research time I needed to make it happen. I especially thank Kimberly K. Lakin, who codirected the Lawrence survey and spent two years research- ing buildings in Portland and vicinity . Special thanks are due the UniversityofOregon for a wide variety of services; in particular I thank the staffs of the Architecture and Allied Arts Library and the Special Collections division of the University of Oregon Library, the University Archives, the Office of Univers ity Planning, the Museum of Art, and the Physical Plant. Additional major ass istance with research and exhibit materials was provided by the Archives and Physical Plant of Whitman College, the Oregon Historica l Society, the Lane County Historical Museum, and the City of Portland Building Permits Center. In part icular I thank Hilary Cummings, Larry Dodd, Kenneth Duckett, Lawrence Fong, Tommy Griffin, Joanne Halgren, Sheila Klos, Richard Marlitt, Max Nixon, Keith Richard , and Marty W est at the above institutions. Loren Allen, Elizabeth Potter, Marion D. Ross, David Rowe, and Alvin Urquhart provided valuable ass istance by reviewing manuscripts. Leland Roth's wide knowledge often provided valuable perspective. Lawrence family members Amos Lawrence , Denison Lawrence, Mrs. H . Abbott Lawrence, and Judy Hunter provided research materials and rev iewed the Lawrence biography chapter. William Holford, Jr., shared memories of his father's association with Lawrence. The administrative and produc- tion assistance of Nan Coppock- Bland, Karen J. Johnson, Carol Roth, and Christine Sundt was impeccable. Sharing the joy of discovery with graduate student research fe llows George Kramer and Carolyn Sorrels kept me going. Additional thanks are due the Crook County Historical Society, Binfords & Mort Publishers, W. A. Palmer Films, Regis ter-Guard columnist Don Bishoff, research- ers Sally Donovan and Sarah Igleheart, and student participants Michael Blutt, John Breisky, Tracy Brink, KristopherCollins, Angila Conibear, Bryan V. Crawford, Andrew C urtis, Peter Dixon, Denise Durrell, Michael Ellis, Michae l Espey, Kimberly Emerson, Libby D. Farr, Jay G iliberty, Kenneth Guzowski, Kristi Harapat, Robert Kackman , Marianne Kadas, Lisa Kramer, Sung Lee, Stephen Lewotsky, Catherine Mahle, Kelly McCusker, Samir Mokashi , C harles Nickelson, Eric Peterson, Suann Redd ick, Donald Rich, Marie Richter, Kathleen Rose, Peter Russell , Patricia Sackett, Kaye S imonson, David Sk ilton, Nahani Stricker, Max Struble, Ross Sutherland, and C hrist ine T aylor. This project would not have been possible without the support and ass istance of many others, too numerous to list here. They include the city and county govern- ments, historic museu ms, and libraries throughout the Northwest that ass isted with this project, and especially the many owners and occupants of the bu ildings of Ellis F. Lawrence who opened their buildings to project researchers and shared old photographs, scrapbooks, and sometimes ice cream and cook ies. Michael Shellenbarger Project Director and Guest Curator of the Exhibition Foreword HARM O NY IN DIVER S ITY: THE EXHIBITI O N Stephen C. McGough Director Museum of Art University of Oregon J T lS FlTT lNG , on the occasion of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the establish- ment of the School of Architecture and Allied Arts at the U niversity of O regon, that the university honor the school's founding dean, Ellis F. Lawrence, with an exhibition and study of his work. The exhibition at the Museum of Art is a happy "coming home," in effec t, since Lawrence designed the building. In fac t, Lawrence was the architect for a to tal of twenty-five buildings on the campus. Ellis F. Lawrence designed more than 500 buildings , yet his work is little known . Many of his buildings have been unidentified, and some arc falsely attributed to other architects. Lawrence pioneered in his incorporation of the arts and crafts into archi - tecture and architectural tra ining, in his attention to city and regional planning issues, and in his unique attempts to bridge modern and traditional des ign. His buildings, the educational and profess ional o rganiza tions he founded , and his other creative and profess ional activities make him the most significant Oregon architect of his time. The present exhibition , for which this publication is a companion, results in part from a proj ect to document all of Lawrence's work. This maj or undertaking of the graduate Historic Preserva tion Program of the School of Architecture and Allied Arts is led by Program Director Michael She llenbarger. I am grateful to Assoc iate Professor Shellenbarger for serving as gues t curator of the exhibition . In addition , I thank asso- c iate gues t curator Kimberly K. Lakin, who codirccted the Lawrence survey, and Associate Professor Leland M. Roth, who has provided frequent advice and perspec- tive. The Historic Preservati on Program was founded in 1980 and quickly established a national reputation fo r its broad cultural emphas is and technica l focus. Dean Law- rence would no doubt have approved of the interdisc iplinary nature of the program, which draws fro m facul ty members and course work in architecture; art history; inte- rior archi tecture; landscape architecture; and planning, public policy and management. I acknowledge as well the contributions of the Museum of Art staff in bringing toge ther the many facets of the exhibition . T ommy Griffin , curator of exhibitions, des igned the installat ion . Lawrence Fong, registrar, and C laudia Fisher, registrar's ass istant , attended to the deta ils of the many loans. Mark C larke and Dorothy Schuchard t ass isted in the insta llation . O ther staff members-Stephen Deck, C hes ter Kasmarski, Rebecca S lade, Ethel W cltman , and Michae l Whi tcnack-each len t their ta len ts to the show's success. Fina lly, I than k the many lenders who, th rough the ir generosity, have made the exhi bit ion poss ible. The bulk of the ex hibit ion comes from other parts of the Un iversity of O regon : the A rchitecture and A llied Arts Li brary, the Special Collec- tions d ivision of the University of Oregon Library, the Un iversity A rchi ves, and the Phys ica l Plant. Addit ional items have been loaned by the W hitman College A rch ives, the Massach usetts Institute ofTechnology Museum, Amos Lawrence, Denison Law- rence, N. S. Penrose, Jr. , and Dorothy A. Penrose. Cover illustration H. Abbott Lawrence, wall elevation study for Museum of Art, University of Oregon, watercolor on paper, 76 em. x 46 em., 1929. Courtesy of Special ColLections, Knight Library, University of Oregon. H. Abbott Lawrence, "East End, P. L. Campbell Memorial Court in the Museum of Fine Arts," University of Oregon, design study, watercolor and graphite on paper, 60 em. x 60 em., 1929. Courtesy of Special Collections, Knight Library, University of Oregon. Contents Chapter 1 8 Ellis F. Lawrence ( 1879-1946): A Brief Biography by Michael Shellenbarger Chapter 2 Ellis F. Lawrence: Residential Designs by Kimberly K. Lakin Chapter 3 Ellis F. Lawrence: Nonresidential Designs by Michael Shellenbarger Chapter 4 25 43 61 Ellis F. Lawrence: The Architect and His Times by Leland M. Roth Ellis F. Lawrence: List of Selected Projects compiled by Kimberly K. Lakin and Michael Shellenbarger 78 Checklist of the Exhibition 88 compiled by Lawrence Fong Index 90 •• .- -; ' 8 .t 1. E. F. Lawrence, building elevation, watercolor and ink on paper, drawn while a student at Massachusetts Institute of T echnoLogy, 61 em. x 109 em., c. 1900. Courtesy of Architecture and ALLied Arts Library, University of Oregon. Chapter 1 ELLIS F. LAWRENCE (1879-1946): A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY "H by Michael Shellenbarger Department of Architecture Historic Preservation Program School of Architecture and A llied Arts University of Oregon ARMONY IN DIVERSITY" was a favorite phrase of Ellis F. Lawrence, and it was his goal in life and work. He said that "to bring harmony out of this most complex and involved civilization of ours, is certainly the outstanding challenge of this genera- tion."1 His accomplishments in responding to this challenge make him the most sig- nificant Oregon architect of his time. These accomplishments include the buildings and organizations he created, the work of the architects he trained, and his personal example of a life dedicated to art and public service. Early Years He was born in Malden, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, on November 13, 1879. His father, Henry Abbott Lawrence, manu- factured artists' and engineers' supplies and ran a Boston artists' materials store named Frost and Adams Company. Ellis would later write that his father opened the door to 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 to the end of the car line trying secretly to sketch it."2 "Architecture became to me something more than sticks and stone because of my love of faces. It never seemed as important as the people who were to live, work, or worship in the buildings I designed."l The Lawrence family was sufficiently affluent to send Ellis to Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and to continue his education at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.l.T.), even after Ellis's father was killed in a train accident when Ellis was sixteen. In 1902 Ellis received his master's degree in architecture from M.I.T., the first school of architecture in the United States. He was president of his senior class (see student rendering, fig. 1, and senior class photo, fig. 2). At night in the drafting room, he was the "champion drafting stool racer"; later, when he was a teacher, he would write ofhis students, "I have always been afraid this present crop would sometime discover the possibilities in that rare but noisy sport."4 One of his classmates described him as genial, high principled, cultured, and sane, adding that "only his friends knew the breadth of his striving." ' Constant Desire Despradelle, his French Beaux-Arts studio instructor at M.I. T., was one of three men who most influenced Lawrence during his years of education and apprenticeship in New England. 6 Lawrence worked for his firm, Cadman and 2. Ellis Lawrence as a senior at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.). Lawrence Collection, courtesy of Special Collections, Knight Library, University of Oregon. 9 3. Travel drawing by Ellis Lawrence during European travels, unidentified. Pencil on paper, 24 em. x 26 em. Courtesy of Architecture and A llied Arts Library, University of Oregon. 10 Despradelle , for three years after M.I.T., and he said that Despradelle taught him about functionalism and "how to drink deeply of the joy of work." 7 Lawrence kept a picture of him over his desk throughout his life. Lawrence also worked briefly in New England for architects Andrews, Jacques & Rantoul; Peabody & Stearns; and John C alvin Stevens. Stevens was the second of the three men who influenced Lawrence's early years. His romantic interpretations of colonial buildings influenced Lawrence's des igns, and his office became Lawrence's standard for a spirit of cooperation in work. "S tevens made me desire ... the same devotion and loyalty and co-operation from my men as he received from his .. . . H e taught me to detes t the architect who buys the bra ins of a draughtsman to create what he himself as architect should create and then parade it before the eyes of the world saying . .. ' I did it."'8 ., ' r " 1 -- ---.:.. .. -."'- L >, The third of the three men who influenced Lawrence was Charles F. Kimball, a Maine landscape painter from whom Lawrence learned an economy of manner and means and the value of art that is uncontaminated by commercialism. In 1905 Lawrence trave led in England, France, and Italy for eight months, during which he was married at St.John's Chapel in Chester, England, to Alice Millett of Portland, Maine (see travel sketch, fig. 3). He affiliated for five months with the Paris Atelier of Eugene A. Duquesne, a private studio not part of the Ecole de Beaux-Arts. Architects Raymond Hood and George Ford shared his Rue de Seine qLiarters. 9 Years later, Lawrence advised student travelers that "France and England arc splendid, but when it comes to real meat Italy beats them both." 10 "Don't spend too much time at the centers-but get out into the country." 11 Oregon Lawrence arrived in Portland, Oregon, in March 1906 on his way to open an arch itectural office in San Francisco for Stephen Cadman. 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-M.I.T. classmate E. B. MacNaughton-and engineer Henry Raymond in the partnership ofMacNaughton, Raymond, and Lawrence. Lawrence was their chief designer. In 1910 Lawrence wrote that "the West is the place for me," but he cautioned that young architects "should not come West too soon, and should fully appreciate what a real architect is. It is an easy thing here with the lure of easy speculation to forget anything but the making of money. This I think is the only reason why from my point of view the combination we had [at MacNaughton, Raymond, and Lawrence] . . . was not really successfu l." 12 Lawrence left that partnership in February 1910 and practiced independent! y for three years before associating with another classmate from M.I.T., his friend Wil- liam Holford . Their lengthy partnership was joined in 1928 by long-time employees Ormond Bean and Fred S. Allyn. Bean left the partnership in 1933 after being elected c ity commissioner and began a distinguished career in public service. Still later, during World War II, Lawrence practiced independently before beginning a partnership with his son and long-time associate, H . Abbott Lawrence. Individual roles within these partnerships are not entirely clear today; it appears that Lawrence was usually the chief designer, conceiving the basic scheme, then working with others to develop it, and often designing the ornamental embellishment himself. In His Spare Time Soon afte r deciding to stay in Portland, Lawrence designed the northeast Portland house in which he lived for the rest of his life. It may be the earliest Arts and Crafts style house in Oregon (the house is described in chapter 2). It is a double house; Lawrence and his wife and three children lived on one side, and his mother and sister lived on the other. In 1907 he purchased a forty-acre apple ranch in Odell, near Hood River, where he built a second house in which his family spent week- ends and summers until he sold the ranch in 1924. Lawrence painted there, sketched his three small boys, and worked in his apple orchards. He reported proudly that his apples had won the "Sweepstakes" at the 1910 Oregon State Horticultural Show. The O regon coast became Lawrence's other le isure-t ime destination. In the early years he went to Neahkahnie, where he had built the Neah-kah-nie Tavern and Inn, and where a summer arts colony was forming. In later years, he preferred Purdy's Inn and Cottages, just south of Yachats, where he sketched, read, dressed "in very disreputable cl0thes ... much like a tramp,"13 and hunted for agates on the beach (fig. 4 ). He said that the finding of the agates must not become more important than the st imulat ion of the hunt. 14 He never got the cottage by the sea that he always wanted. 4. Ellis Lawrence on the beach, agate hunting near Purdy's Inn and Cottages, c. 1920. Photograph courtesy of Judy Hunter. 11 12 His other spare- time ac tivities included an occasional tennis match or fishing, and listening to class ical music. He disliked jazz and boogie-woogie. He 'd performed in the banj o club at Andover but later returned to play ing the violin, which he described as "fiddling . .. awfully." 1' He enj oyed good cigars and good food and was not very fond of phys ical exerc ise ; not surprisingly, he was somewhat overweight. In his early years in Oregon, he laid the organizational and educational foun- dations for O regon's architectural profess ion and building industry. The Portland Architectural Club The Portland Architectural C lub (PAC ) was founded in May 1906, two months after Lawrence's arriva l in Portland , with E. B. MacNaugh ton as its first pres ident. Lawrence was soon acti ve in its educational efforts, and he was chairman of the Janu- ary 1908 First Exhibit that was O regon's first major display of architectural drawings and allied arts. For two years he taught a night class for carpenters at the YMCA, and in 1909 the PAC elected him to begin a Portland design studio affiliated with the Society of Beaux-Arts A rchi tects. This atelier, with Lawrence as its patron , offered O regon 's first formal classes fo r would-be archi tects. His early students incl uded his future part- ner , Fred S. Allyn, and Louis Rosenberg, whom Lawrence later hired as the first instruc- tor of architecture at the U niversity of O regon and who still later became a famous artist. In 1910 Lawrence was e lected pres ident of the Portland Architectural C lub. The Architectural League of the Pacific Coast In 1909 Lawrence organized and chaired the first convention ever held of West Coast architects. This convention approved his proposal to create an association of architectural clubs and chapters of the American Institute of Architects (A lA) in the western states, to be called the Architectural League of the Pac ifi c Coast. Lawrence was its acknowledged founder and first vice-pres ident. Architect Willis Polk, the league's first pres ident, described Lawrence as "a 'steam ro ller' for work. I never saw a man who works so industriously, so enthusiastically, so continuously." 16 Member organizations quickly grew to a dozen , and Lawrence became their third pres ident in 191 2. The league held exhibits, promoted student training, and held conventions in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle , and Portland. Lawrence be lieved that the league was better able than the AlA to meet the unique educational needs of the profess ion and its cliente le in the W est; but when the AlA's influence grew in the W est, the league was abandoned in 1915. Lawrence regretted this, noting especially that students were included in the league but not in the AlA. 17 Oregon Chapter of the American Institute of Architects Lawrence did see a role for the AlA in raising profess ional standards in the W est, and in 1910 he attempted to organize a local chapter, noting that this was difficult "because the oldes t practitioners in town .. . care little or nothing for its principles." 18 He was chairman of the founding group that established the O regon C hapter of the AlA in November 1911 and was elected the chapter's first president. Reform of unfair practices in design competi t ions was high among his priorit ies; in 1911 he became profess ional adviser to the Portland Auditorium Competition, the first O regon com- petit ion to use the AlA's rules. In 19 13 he became the second O regon archi tec t to be named a Fellow in the national A lA. In 1919 he was influen tia l in the adoption of the O regon Architect's Registration Law, one of the first in the West. In later years, he was a national director and vice-pres ident of the AlA. The Builders Exchange Having organized the architects, Lawrence next turned his attention to the entire building industry, founding the Builders Exchange of Portland in 1911 and the O regon Building Congress in 192 1. While pres ident of the Portland Architectural C lub, he and architectJ osephJacobberger invited responsible contractors and builders to jo in with the architects in founding The Builders Exchange to promote cooperation and to encourage and protect the building interes ts of Portland . They mainta ined a large downtown office with meeting rooms, plan-check rooms, a library, and social spaces. In the ir office today is a bronze bas- relief of Lawrence, "Founder, Builders Exchange Cooperative." The Oregon Building Congress In N ovember 1921, Lawrence presided at the organization of the Association ofBu ilding and Construction, later renamed the Oregon Building Congress. This "round table" of architects, contractors , craftsmen, material suppliers, realtors, builders, plus representat ives of the public appo inted by the governor, followed similar chapters in Boston and New York as part of a growing national congress movement. During the G reat Depress ion, local chapters were founded in many Oregon cities, and the organi - za tion was active into W orld W ar II. Lawrence described some of the problems it was initially intended to address : "Skilled manpower in the building trades had come from Eu rope for the most part . When the war and later restrictive immigration laws stopped this flow, incompetent and unskilled labor resulted. Few sons of the mechanic class were entering the trades .... No successful apprenticeship system existed .... Strikes were frequent .. .. The general contractor had become a broker. . . . The architects and engineers were ... not strongly enough entrenched to adjust alone the evi Is of competi- tive bidding exploitation, high costs and low standards of execution ." 19 Lawrence was pres ident during the first three years of the building congress, during which it approved a Code of Ethics for the Building Industry, drafted legislation for an Oregon arbitration court, and established an apprenticeship school and the Guild of C raftsmen. Lawrence was espec ially proud of the guild , a concept of architect C harles James, which honored se lected craftsmen by naming them Master G uildsmen for exceptional ability in a craft. Lawrence believed that the guild helped to promote the craftsmanship needed to prov ide modern buildings with "something of the spirit of man in their finished structure." 20 The guild was praised by Pres idents 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 proud of the success that his "round table" discussions had had in se ttling labor disputes without strikes. He considered his work wi th the O regon Building Congress to be the greates t undertaking of his life. 2 1 The City Planner Lawrence has been ca lled "the Father of C ity Planning in O regon ."22 He spoke out aga inst unbridled real estate development and corrupt government, and for a hea lthier and more attractive c ity: "The C ity is an organism, and it must be hea lthy, else it breeds vice and disease . Above all, its breathing spaces, its parks, must be ample 13 14 else its lungs will be stif1ed."23 Lawrence was a member of the 1909 C ivic Improvement League of Portland and the mayor's 1911 Greater Portland Plan Association that commissioned Edward H . Bennett of C hicago to prepare a Portland Plan. Lawrence later described himself as Bennett's "right-hand man" in development of the plan, 24 said to be the first in the country to be approved by voters. The elaborate plan accomplished little, but Lawrence continued to serve on various planning commiss ions and was instrumental in development of plans for the Portland park blocks and waterfront. Later, his planning efforts became more regional, and he promoted the "New N orthwest Passage" to canalize the Columbia and Snake Rivers. When he was asked to form a school of architecture at the University of O re- gon , he placed the teaching of city planning near the top of his priorities. The University of Oregon Lawrence 's association with the University of Oregon. began in 1914, first as campus planner, then as founder and head of the school of architecture, and then in. 1915 as the university architect for all of its buildings. He held these ro les until his death in 1946, routinely traveling by train from his practice in. Portland to Eugene on T ues- day, spending two nights at the Hotel Osburn-at the Collier House after 1942-and returning by train to Portland on Thursday. He never learned to drive an automobile . His exclusive commiss ion to design all of the campus buildings as long as he headed the architecture program was intended to compensate for an inadequate teach- ing salary; Lawrence justified this arrangement as necessary to pro tect the school of architecture from a seeming lack of confidence if the university were to ask other architects to design its own buildings. Some architects challenged this exclusive contract, especially when Lawrence interpreted the agreement to include the univer- sity's medical campus in Portland . The legality of Lawrence's combined academic and profess ional roles for the university was upheld in a 1938 Oregon attorney general's opin- ion .25 The School of Architecture and Allied Arts Lawrence was the founder of the School of Architecture and Fine Arts (soon after, the School of Architecture and Allied Arts) in 1914 and its dean for nearly thirty- twoyears. Under Lawrence, the school rose to a national prominence it still enj oys today. Allen Eaton, a Eugene artist and craftsman who sa id that he had never seen a school of architecture, first suggested the idea of the school to President Prince Lucien Campbell. Eaton also suggested Lawrence, whose exhibit for the Portland Architec- tural C lub he had admired, to head the school. Lawrence we lcomed this opportunity to bring art education to Oregoni ans, whom he described as "typical western Ameri- cans, knowing and caring little about aesthetics at this stage of their community life."26 Some architecture course work had previously been offered at wes tern colleges, including classes in rural architecture at the O regon Agricultural College (now O re- gon State U niversity), but Lawrence's architecture program was only the second complete academic program in architec ture to be established west of the Miss iss ippi. In 1919 it became the thirteenth program accepted to membership in the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture. Among the early faculty members hired by Lawrence was A lfred Sch roff, a painter and stained-glass artist, to whom Lawrence wrote that "the little refinements oflife ... are somewhat lacking ... [but] I think you would be contented in the very fight which the work involves."27 Roswell Dosch, a sculptor who had studied under Rod in, was hired to teach the first sculpture classes offered in the Northwest. Lawrence adapted his architecture program from M.l.T.'s, but he attempted from the beginning to make it a "genuine experiment in art education." 28 He originated three historically significant features. First was his academic program's integrat ion with building construct ion at the univers ity. Second was his inclusion of allied arts along with arch itecture. Third was his adopt ion, after a few years, of noncompetitive design policies and a break from the Beaux-Arts method. Historian Arthur Weatherhead wrote that these second and third features made Oregon "the first school in the United States to adopt, completely and successfully, these two basic elements of the modern move- ment in archi tectural educat ion. "29 Integration with the University's Building Program Lawrence integrated his academic program with the university's building program to a degree that he reported as unique among architecture schools. 30 This relationship was especially evident during a period of active building from 1919 to 1923, during which the university acted as its own general contractor; the university's chief 5. Courtyard of the School of Architecture and Allied Arts, University of Oregon, c. 1940. Courtesy of University of Oregon Archives. 15 18 Idealism versus the Real World Lawrence's idea listic nature found a more comfortable home in the university than it had in the Portland architectural profession. He had angered some Portland architects by his cr iticism of them, such as his public 1908 warning that "shoddy and selfish des igners will dominate unless ... [architectural education] becomes a vita l force in the cmmnunity,"10 and h is 1913 plea to his profession to escape "the mire and stench of commercialism." 11 Pred ictably, his school met with opposition very early, and in 1917 Lawrence responded that "whether the architects like it or not, the school is here to stay."12 In 1925 architect William Knigh ton drafted a legislat ive bill to abolish the school. 51 Lawrence also critic ized the wealthy businessmen who were the principa l clients of his profession, wr iting in 1918, for example, that "2% of the populat ion of Multnomah County controls 75% of the wealth .... We have allowed a favored and too often unscrupulous few to exploit what God gave all."54 Lawrence's ex-partner, E. B. MacNaughton, who moved on to become president of the First National Bank, later said that "while so many of us were making money, Lawrence was making men. "55 Lawrence wrote that his critics considered him merely a dreamer, "a too out- spoken customer who won't play the game,"16 or assumed incorrectly that he was driven by personal ambition. But it is clear from his writings that he did sec himse lf as possess- ing a specia l power of 'being right': "At such times work became noble, solving prob- lems carried sp iritual thril ls . ... There was might in design and ... right planning. There was a place for the strong ego, ... the selflessness of the big moments and yes even the sclfishncss."57 Increasingly, Lawrence believed that he cou ld best accomplish his goals 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 anythi ng in the future in up-lifting the profes- sion, it will be more through [the univers ity] connect ion than anything else."18 Hard Times Lawrence's comfortable financial means dissolved during his early years in Oregon. He was generous in his financial support for the Portland Architectural C lub and his other causes. His fees were often unrea list ically low for the time that he and his office lav ished on design and construction supervision. He invested in an unproduc- tive gold mine and other unprofitable ventures. In 1914 he had hesitated to take charge of the founding of the school of architecture because he hadn't "got out of debt yet." 1 ~ By 1918 he added, "What a foo l I have been to let my affa irs get so snarled up."60 Even after better years in the early 1920s, he wrote in 1926 that financial problems prevented him from sending his boys to Dartmouth and Andovcr. 61 The Great Depression hit him 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 French draftsman-wanting $2 to get his coat out of pawn, then threcformer students-no job-noway to get back- then a call from [an acquain- tance] ... trying to find a loan."62 Lawrence contemplated moving full time to Eugene "to cut corners,"61 and complained that an extra trip to Eugene on university business "cost me $25.00 which I can't spare just now."64 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, but he died still troubled about his debts. Financial troubles, bouts of sickness, and the lack of prod uctive work contrib- uted to recurring periods of depression during his last two decades. He was often happiest when he was the busiest, as indicated by this 1920 comment: "I have never been so gloriously busy nor challenged to the limit as in the past few months."65 But he had limits, too: "The school is taking every ounce of my spare time and is pretty nearly breaking me mentally."66 Bedridden with painful neuritis for several weeks in early 1925, he traveled to sunshine and relaxation in San Diego and returned 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 loafing-and dreaming-and com- muning-and fishing-and rowing-and tramping-and sketching."67 A year later and exhausted again he wrote, "I've got to do something it seems for the mental activity is nil ... don't want to think- don't want to play-don't want to work!"68 Lawrence wrote about a significant event in late 1929 when, having just turned fifty years of age, he confronted the photographs above his work desk of the people who had by their examples helped him mold his outlook on life. The earlier three who had influenced him had been jo ined by Willcox, President Campbell, sculptor Roswell Dosch, C harles Lawrence, President Stephen Penrose of Whitman College, and oth- ers. Lawrence wrote, using the third person: "There they were, twelve 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. H ow futile was the battle anyway-the rewards going to the mighty and the cunning! But was it so?-the real rewards? ... The twelve good men and true gave the lie to this thought .. .. C rystal 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 ifthe jury had found him guilty. But in the process he had been washed cleaner somehow, and the twelve good men and true were saying-'Carry on' , 'Play and work and give'."69 In September 1932, during university administrat ive upheavals, Lawrence sent this brief telegram to Willcox: "NERVES SHOT, ABOUT TO ASK FOR LEAVE OF ABSENCE AS ONLY SOLUTION ."7° Citing "the condition of my health, together with other compelling reasons," 71 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 wrote that he was sleep ing better "and really believe I'll keep my sanity."72 But later his wife described him as tired, nervous, and worried about finances, nand he wrote to his friend \X1illcox that there was "no fight left in me. Tired and heart sick over our futile efforts."74 Willcox responded: "You try to do too much; . . . nobody can survive the pace you seem possessed to sustain. When are you go ing to accept perfectly natural human limitations? ... If you will tackle big things, you will h ave to recognize that they are not accom- plished in a minute."75 Though ambivalent, Lawrence became a finalist in the search for a new dean for the architecture school at Columbia University: "I can't warm up about going elsewhere."76 "Imagine me in that picture-where winning is of paramount importance." 77 He returned to the university after his year away, but conditions had not changed much. Lawrence's proposal in December 1933 to replace Portland 's historic Pioneer Post Office prompted what was probably his most difficu lt persona l attack. The year 1933 was the bottom of the Depress ion, with 83 percent of construction workers unemployed. Lawrence designed a nine-s tory c ivic building to be financed with cred it 19 6. E. F. Lawrence, proposed 1933 Civic Building for the site of Portland's Pioneer Courthouse. This proposal resulted in Lawrence's suspension from the Local chapter of the AlA. From the Oregonian, 3 December 1933. 20 from the Public Works Administration, which would have created more than a mil- lion hours of construction work and provided a home for museums of art, natural history, and history as well as a library and civic theater (fig. 6). Lawrence said that the site of the often-threatened post office was the only practical site, and he argued that efforts to save it would be fruitless in any case. The Oregon chapter of the AlA, however, had passed a resolution urging preservation of the post office. They considered Lawrence's conduct "injurious to the interest of the Chapter"78 and quietly suspended for six months his membership in the chapter he had founded. Lawrence wrote two drafts of a letter to the national AlA objecting to this ac tion by the local chapter, but he served his sentence quietly and never sent the lette r. His building was not built, and the post office building st ill stands. In general, Lawrence was not insensitive to historic buildings. His willingness to sacrifice the post office to create jobs in the depths of the Depression seems related to his fundamental belief that people were more important than buildings. Though suspended from the AlA, he was honored three months later by the Oregon Building Congress for his efforts in promoting work and for his high professional ideals and fairness. In spite of this episode, Willcox believed that "Ellis [was] much less distraught ... than he was a year or so ago." 79 Lawrence aga in considered moving to Eugene, this time including giving up his practice, but his partners persuaded him to stay on.ln 1941 , aga in considering res igning as dean, he worried that there would be "no telling if the School ideals would survive .. .. I crave peace-contemplation-I want to write more."~ 0 He took a leave of absence from the university in the spring of 1942 and devoted much of the following months to writing. Writing Lawrence had been writing articles and short stories for several years, mostly about education, personal reminiscences, and sketches of people. Many convey his warm personal sensitivity to people, including tales of his sa il-maker grandfather, his grand - children and other children, a Scottish stonemason, a cowboy wood-carver, the school's jani tor of many years, a prospector friend, and people whom he had met on trains and trolleys.s1 The City of Goodwill, ~" one of his two novels, is about a utopian community founded on the O regon coast by "The O ld Foggies" (Lawrence and several of his friends, thinly disguised) after Lawrence's gold mine unexpected ly made him a millionaire. The other nove l is a murder mystery titled The Red Tide, 81 which stars a "Miss Marple" -like character patterned after Camilla Leach, the elder! y first secretary- librarian of the School of Architecture and Allied Arts. Lawrence described this novel as "three murders, a su ic ide, three dead dogs, one canary, one cat,"84 and "pretty awful,"85 exp laining it as "just exercise,"86 and noting that his writing kept him "a bit more sane."87 Some of his nonfictional writing was published in professional journals, but the Atlantic Monthly, Saturday Evening Pos t, Harper's Magazine, and others rejected his manuscripts. He corresponded with two literary agents who suggested the introduction of more "con- fli ct" in his writing, which Lawrence res isted. In 1944, st ill writing, he commented, "I'd drop my writing quick if I could ge t a real job at designing a worthwhile building."88 The photographs around Lawrence's desk grew in number to two dozen. Lawrence took on the major problems of the world. He wrote the W orld Federation to propose an alternative to the League of Nations that would be a "Union of People" in which "art, the only universal language," would play a vital role. 89 His article, "Wanted: a W orkable Mechanism for Effective Democracy," was published in Spanish and English in the bulletin of the Pan-American Commiss ion on Inter-municipal Cooperation. 90 Looking Back O nly three days before his death, he wrote in his diary: "rain-very low in spirits. worry-on verge of surrender ... I can't measure up. at home. in office-or at school. so depressed."9 1 But there was enj oyment and sat isfaction, too, in his final days. Writ- ing a few months before his death, he reflected upon "the making of a School, the keeping of the fam ily loyalties of the staff, the interferences, retardants, the starting of forward looking ventures and resulting steam roller tactics of our critics .... lt hasn't all been joy and rapture these last 30 years. But gosh we did have a good time trying didn't we?"92 Lawrence's professional pract ice spanned the difficult years of two world wars and the Great Depression. His goals were monumental. He held extremely demanding standards for himself. It is not surprising that personal depress ion sometimes intervened. The wonder is that he accomplished so much . It seems significant that many who knew him remember best his good sense of 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, resentments and grouches? 21 22 Will I rad iate serenity, or spread venom as I plunge into the sixties? . .. I will try to woo back my old loves-music, color, poetry, the creative life, faces , birds, flowers and gar- dens."93 There is much in his final years to indicate that these old loves were success- fully wooed. N ear the end of his life he speculated that perhaps he was a trag ic opt imist; looking back, he wondered if he had played enough :94 "Here and there have been real highlights-but for the most part h alf tones have dominated that 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 believer that the ills of civilization don't come from inherent evil in the human nature-a seeker after the defects in the mecha- nisms on which human relations in politics, religion, education depends, so that if I can gain wisdom enough I may contribute even in a small way to their eradication." 95 Lawrence died suddenly of heart failure at his room in the Collier H ouse on the university campus in Eugene on February 27, 1946. He was sixty-s ix years old . Allen Eaton said in memory of him: "I have never known any man to reach out as far and yet preserve all those intimate personal relations that were so precious to him . . . . To all situations he brought in fine proportion a mixture of three precious elements- a sense of beauty, a sense ofhumor, and a sense of right. They were not only his philoso- phy, but the stuff of his life."96 Notes 1. Ellis Lawrence, "Modern Collaborati ve Tendencies in A merican Archi tecture," manuscript (c. 1930), Lawrence Collection, Spec ial Collect ions, University of O regon Library (hereafter, Law- rence Collect ion). 2. Law rence, speech to Pac ific College, 28 April1 944 (text in AAA Scrapbook, Vol. 44- 45 , p. 77), Uni versity of O regon A rchi ves (h ereafter, UO A rchives) . 3. Lawrence, 'The People of My C ity of Good W ill ," manuscript , c. 1943, Lawrence Collection. 4. Lawrence to Hubert G. Ripley, 16 April 1937, W. R. B. W illcox Collection, Spec ial Collections, U ni versity of O regon Library (hereafter, Willcox Collection). 5. T ed Davis, "Memorial Verses," no date (c. 1946), Lawrence Coll ection. 6. Lawrence to C harles Lawrence, 29 Jul y 1913, Lawrence Collection. 7. Lawrence, speech to the Portland A rchitectural C lub, 9 June 19 13, text in Lawrence Collecti on . 8 . Ibid. 9. Lmvrence, "A Letter from th e O regon Country," American Society Legion of Honor Magazine, 6 July 1941 ,9. I 0. Lawrence to Louis Rosenberg, 4 May 19 14, Lawrence Collect ion. 11. Lawrence to "Bunch," 24 December 19 18, Lawrence Collection, UO A rchi ves. 12. Lawrence to Prof. Ga rdner, 25 February 1910, Lawrence Collect ion. 13. Lawrence to Serge Chermayeff, 6 August 1940, Lawrence Collect ion, UO A rchi ves. 14. Lawrence, "The Very Gentle Pas time of Agating," man uscri pt in Lawrence Collect ion. 15. Lawrence toW. R. B. W illcox, 27 Jul y 1928, Lawrence Collec ti on. 16. Proceedings of the Second A nnual Convention of the Architecwral League (Los A ngeles, April 1912), 42. 17. Lawrence toW. R. B. Willcox , 20 September 19 15, Lawrence Coll ection. 18. Lawre nce to A. F. Rowenheim, 2 November 19 10, Lawrence Collect ion . 19. Lawrence, "The Congress Movement in the Construction Industry" ( 1930), Lawrence Collection. 20. "Lawrence Seeks Old G uild Spirit ," Oregon }oumal (no date on clipping in AAA Scrapbook for 1922-23 ), UO Archi ves. 2 1. Lester Chaffee, "U nclerrheGargoyles,"OldOregon (Aprill 92 4): 12. 22. A rt Kirkh am, "Northwest Ne ighbors," Radi o Program =432 , 13 June 1945 (text in AAA Scrap- book, Vol. 44- 45, p. 77), UO A rchi ves. 2 3. "A rchi tect Lawrence on 'City Planning,"' The Pacific Coast Architect (November 19 12) : 62. 24. Lawrence interview with A n Kirkham, "Northwest Ne ighbors," Rad io Program =4 32, 13 June 1945 (text in AAA Scrapbook, Vol. 44- 45, p. 77), UO A rchives. 2 5. 1. H. Va n W in kle, to State Board of Higher Educat ion, 22 June 1938, 10 ,172 =666, UO Arch ives. 26. Lawrence to C. C. Zantzinger, 3 1 Dece mber 19 14, Lawrence Collec tion, UO A rchi ves. 27 . Lawrence to Hermann !A lfred] Schroff, 25 Febrm1ry 19 16, Lawrence Collection , UO Archi ves. 28. Lawrence to Joseph Schafe r, 28 June 1926, Lawrence Coll ect ion , UO A rchi ves. 29. A rthu r Weatherhead, Th e History ofColleg;iate Education in Architecture in the United States (Los An- geles: Weatherhead, 194 1 ), 127. 30. Lawrence to P. L. Campbell , "Report of the School of A rchitecture," 13 December 1920, Lawrence Collec tion , UO A rchi ves. 3 1. Lawrence to Gle nn Stanton, 29 November 1920, Lawrence Collect ion , UO A rchi ves. 32 . Lawrence to C. C. Zantzinger, 3 1 December 19 14, Lawrence Collec tion, UO Archi ves. 3 3. Weatherhead, History of Collegiate Education, 194. 34. Lawrence to A. R. Sweetser, 12 January 19 15 , Lawrence Collection. 35. W illiam G ray Purce ll , "The Bozart War," manuscript, Wi llcox Collect ion. 36. Lawrence to Stephen Penrose, 12 August 1914, Lawrence Collect ion. 3 7. "A rchitec tural League of the Pac ific Coast ," Pacific Builder and Engineer ( 23 A ugust 1913 ): 10 1. 38. Lawre nce to Emi l Lorch , 9 July 19 18, Lawrence Collect io n, UO Archi ves. 39. Lawrence to Fred Hirons, 2 May 19 16, Lawrence Collect ion, UO Archi ves. 40. Lawrence toP. L. Campbe ll, 24 May 19 18, Lawrence Collect ion, UO A rchi ves. 41. Lawrence to Em il Lorch, 9 Jul y 19 18, Lawrence Coll ec tion , UO Archives. 42. Lawrence, "Experiment in A rchitectu ral Education," The Stxctawr (Portland , 10 A pril1920) : 3. 43. W illi am G ray Purce ll , "The Bozart War," manuscript, W illcox Collect ion. 44. Lawrence, interv iew with Karl Onthank, no date (c. 1940), mmscript ion in Onrhank Coll ect ion, UO A rchives. 45. Lawrence toM. H. Douglass, 28 February 1922, Lawrence Co ll ect ion , UO A rchi ves. 46. Lawrence toW. R. B. W il lcox, 20 September 19 15, Lawrence Coll ect ion. 4 7. Lawrence toW. R. B. W illcox, 7 March 19 16, Lawrence Coll ection. 48. Lawrence to Emil Lorch , 9 July 19 18, Lawrence Collect ion, UO A rchi ves. 49. Lawrence toP. L. Campbe ll , 24 May 19 18, Lawrence Collect ion , UO A rchi ves. SO. Lawrence, "The Trave li ng Scholarship," Pacific Builder and Engineer ( 16 May 1908): 197-8. 5 1. Lawrence, "Archi tectural League of the Pacific Coast, Third Conference June 1913," Pacific Builder and Engineer ( I 9 July 19 1 3): 3 1 . 52. Lmvrence to Joseph J ,N l iVI NG R.OOM 2~-o x Jl·O DI NI NG R.OOM 15-o .( 1e -o ~ fl.TOUUl 7·01.10"' ~ ~ 0 10 KITCHEN 11· o, 6-o ~ C=r-- H - CH~I'Ie>EJ. J~·D•&·O r--------·-------41 GAUGE 10 · 0 r lo'-b J 0 quarters, and garage were always separated from the main house by a hallway. Usually there was a second door on the front facade that led to the kitchen and service areas. Lawrence would incorporate the landscape into the des ign by hav ing most rooms open onto small terraces and patios. A n example of this plan type is the Mediterranean style Sherman Hall House ofl 916 (fig. 7, plan) . The main rooms are oriented toward the rear of the house, which faces east, to capitalize on the view of Mount Hood. The living room opens onto a large terrace th rough three arched dom· openings. Even when he did not have a view to work 8. E. F. Lawrence, Paul C. Murphy House, Portland, built 1916, first and second floor plans. From Architectural R ecord 44 (November 1918): 454-455 . 27 9. E. F. Lawrence,]. E. Wheeler House, McCormick, Washington, built 1912, front facade, photograph c. 1913. Lawrence Collection, courtesy of Special Collections, Knight Library, University of Oregon. 28 with, the plan was similar, as seen in the Arts and C rafts style Paul C. Murphy House of 1916 (fig. 8, plan) . Although located on an urban thoroughfare with no mountain view potential, the house is situated on a slope so that the rooms look out at the houses and park beyond . Again, the main rooms are placed in the rear with the kitchen and a small den facing the stree t on the front. The second floor plan is similar, and two of the three bedrooms are placed in the rear. Colonial Revival Style Lawrence, influenced by the eclectic philosophy prevalent in the eastern schools of the time, res isted the constraints of a particular style, sacrific ing historica l accuracy to function. This is apparent in Lawrence 's early Colonial Reviva l style house des igns. C haracte ristic features of the style are a gable or gambrel roof, bilateral symmetry, multipaned windows, dormer windows , class ical detailing, and brick or horizon ta l beveled wood siding. T yp ica l interior features include a central hall plan, wood trim with class ical deta iling usually painted white, and a class ically detailed fireplace mante l. The Colonial Rev ival style was used by Lawrence in several des igns; however, most of his des igns did not adhere strictly to the symmetrical organization of the Colonial box. Even Lawrence's small Colonial Revival houses, such as the gambrel-roofed Henry A. Conner House (fig. 4 7), tend to break out of the confines of the box for the sake of function. The Conner House, des igned in 1910 , was exhibited in the Pacific Coast Archi- tect, 1911, and in the Portland Architectural Club Yearbook, 1913 . ln 1919, it was selected by the O regon C hapter of the AlA as one of fi ve most notable small houses in Portland, and it was subsequently fea tured in House Beautiful magaz ine. The criteria for selection were described by the jury as having its "attractiveness in good proportions, a careful spacing of openings, a sparing use of good detail and good color effects."4 Although the Conner House has a central hall plan on the first floor, it is replaced on the second floor by a more functional open-landing plan . The rectangle of the main building volume is accompanied by a sleeping porch patio wing to the eas t end that is not copied on the west end, thus making the plan unsymmetrica l. In keep- ing with the Colonial style, the interior woodwork is pa inted white with simple clas- sica! detailing in the fireplace mantel and the dining room cabinetry. The siting of the house, although rather unusual, was used more than once by Lawrence; it is turned so that the front faces the side of the lot rather than the street. Lawrence's reasons for this placement may have been twofold. First, the two most visible elevations are also the most symmetrical, thus presenting a "traditional-appearing" building to the public. Second, the approach, a winding brick walk, softens the overall effect of the Colonial and creates an environment that could be more closely associ- ated with the English Arts and Crafts style. The house is set back from the street farther than its neighbors, and this and the side-facing front give the house more privacy than it would have otherwise. Lawrence's free interpretation of the Colonial box is even more apparent in his larger houses, such as the J. E. Wheeler House of 1912 and the John L. Bowman House of 1916. In these larger homes, the facades appear as Colonial while the rears are quite different and frequently asymmetrical. For example, while the Wheeler House displays a Colonial Revival front with a recessed first floor, the rear consists of various projecting elements that break out from the Colonial box (figs. 9, 10). The Bowman House is perhaps Lawrence's grandest in terms of materials and scale. The stucco-covered house has large rooms and high cei lings. Again, the facade displays a Colonial view with classical porch columns and a Palladian style central dormer window (fig. 11). The rear breaks out of the rectangle with a bay window on the south end and a recessed porch in the center. The floor plan is a traditional central hall plan on the first floor, but, as in the Conner House, this is not carried through to the 10. E. F. Lawrence,]. E. Wheeler House, McCormick, Washington, built 1912, rear facade, photograph c. 1913. Lawrence Collection, courtesy of Special ColLections, Knight Library, University of Oregon. 29 11. E. F. Lawrence, John L. Bowman House, Portland, built 1916, photograph c. 1916. Lawrence Collection, courtesy of Special Collections, Knight Library, University of Oregon. 30 second floor. Instead, there is a central landing area with rooms on all sides. The rooms are divided into suites of smaller rooms, such as a main bedroom, a dressing room, a sitting room, and a bath. The mate rials used in the Bowman House are illustrative of Lawrence's love of fine craftsmanship and design. Although the woodwork is varnished rather than painted, much of the detailing contains class ical references. The entrance hall, living room, and stairwell are Honduran mahogany with carved moldings, coffered paneling, and elaborate newel-posts. The mahogany risers and oak treads of the main stairs recall the fine woodworking of the Greene brothers, Charles and Henry . The dining room h as a high oak wainscot topped with a mural on fabric illustrating a pastoral scene. Arts and Crafts Style Through his travels in Europe in 1905, Lawrence was able to view, first hand, the designs of Arts and C rafts architects C. F. A. Voysey and Edwin Lutyens. A con- temporary of Lawrence's, Wade Hampton Pipes, returning from England in 1910, derived his designs from those of Lutyens and Voysey. Pipes and Lawrence were the first architects in Portland to design in the English Arts and C rafts style. 5 To a lesser extent, Lawrence was also influenced by the work of American architects C harles and Henry Greene and Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright's influence is evident primarily in his interior use of wood details and art glass . Characteristic elements of the Arts and Crafts style are the integration of structure and landscape; steeply pitched gable roofs; asymmetrical composition; multipane windows; and combinations of shingle, stucco, and half-t imbering for exterior surface materials. T ypical interior features include open floor plans and superior craftsmanship in such detailing as the wood trim and fireplace decoration. Lawrence's Arts and C rafts style houses can be divided into two types: those that use shingles primarily and those that use a combination of brick and half-timber. His own house is in the first category. Other examples of this type are theW. B. Dennis House of 1911, the C harles T. Ladd H ouse of 1913, and the Mrs. C urtis Strong House of 1912. The Strong House was also selected as one of the ten most notable small houses in the House Beautiful article. In the same magaz ine, an article entitled "A Cottage in the C ity" gave a detailed description of the house both inside and out. Lawrence was praised for his ab ility to combine "practical ingenuity" with a "sense of beauty."6 Although the mass ing and materials make this an Arts and C rafts style house, the front port ico consists of class ical pilasters and a curved pedimented hood more in keeping with the Colonial style, thus illustrating Lawrence's tendency not to adhere to any particular style but rather to use elements from many styles in order to achieve the desired effect (fig. 12) . Examples of the second type of Arts and C rafts style houses are the Blaine Smith H ouse of 1909, the Alex D. and Natt McDougall Houses of 1911, and the Henry B. Miller House. Built in 1911, the Miller House exterior is a combination of half-timber and brick (fig. 13). The Tudor arches on the front porch are carried through to the inter ior, where they are used as a means of distinguishing spat ial arrangements and for decoration in the tiled fireplace opening. The varnished oak woodwork in the entrance foyer and the living room is simple and massive, reminiscent of early English interiors and in keeping with the Arts and Crafts tradition. In striking contrast is the dining room, trimmed in dark walnut with an elegant dentilated fireplace mantel, which gives this room a formal quality not found in the rest of the house. 12. E. F. Lawrence , Mrs. Curtis Strong House, Portland, built 1912, photograph c. 1912. Lawrence Collection, courtesy of Special Collections, Knight Library, University of Oregon. 31 13. E. F. Lawrence, Henry Miller House , Portland, built 1911, photograph c. 1911. Lawrence Collection, courtesy of Special Collections , Knight Library, University of Oregon. 14. E. F. Lawrence House, Portland, built 1906, front facade, photograph c. 1906. Lawrence Collection, courtesy of Special Collections, Knight Library, University of Oregon. 32 Lawrence's first Oregon residential des ign, done in 1906, was his own house. lt exhibits many sim ilarities to John Calvin Stevens's designs, such as the 1885 C. A. Brown House in Delano Park . 7 Similar features include the wide shingle surfac ing, double gable roof, multipaned windows, and sweeping roof form (fig. 14 ).lt is interest- ing that Lawrence has reversed the symmetrica l ve rsus asymmetrical front and back on his own house so that the front is now asymmetrical and the rear is symmetrica l. T ypical of the Arts and C rafts style , the front exhibits a sweeping front-facing gable at the south end, with the rest of the facade distinguished by the horizontal line of a hip roof. The multipaned fenestration is irregular. The only symmetry is in the two side porches- although even here the south porch functions as a true side porch, whereas the north porch is actually the front porch to the northern house . The rear of the Lawrence House maintains the Arts and C rafts style of the facade but is made symmetrica l (fig. 15) . The fenes tration is regular. The gable ends are duplica ted in the gabled sleeping porches, which proj ec t from the main volume of the house. A touch of the Colonial is added to this facade by the fluted columns of the pergola. The Lawrence res idence was built as a double house; Lawrence 's mother and sister lived on the south side and he and his family on the north side . A buzzer system connected the two houses; no interio r doors jo ined the two sides, although the atti c was access ible from both sides. The two sides of the house are quite different in bo th plan and deta iling. His mother's side is a traditional Colonial central hall plan with rooms on e ither side of a main stair hall. Built- in china cabinets, bookcases , and fire- place mantel are detailed with class ical motifs and painted white. Beautiful art glass cabinet doors in the living room are done in a geometric pattern similar to those in Lawrence 's own portion of the house (fig. 16) . This is the only deta il that is similar on both sides, and the doors tend to look slightly out of place in these otherwise austere class ical surroundings. The light fi xtures with their round globes and curves arc also more traditional. The plan of Lawrence's own quarters is open fro m the fron t door into the living room, separated only by a small open foye r with steps up into the living room. The sta irs are loca ted on the north wall, separating the kitchen from the living room. The dining room faces the back yard , with French doors opening onto a terrace. Both the plan and the architec tural details are des igned in the Arts and C rafts manner. A built-in bench by the front entrance is screened from the stairs by wood carved in a small geometric pattern reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright's des igns (fig. 17). The glass front door and sidelights contain a combinat ion geometric-organic pattern. The light fixtures are square metal and glass, typical of the Arts and Crafts style . Lawrence wrote about his home some thirty yea rs after it was built, and his 15. E. F. Lawrence House, Portland, built 1906, rear facade, photograph c. 1906. Lawrence Collection, courtesy of Special Collections, Knight Library, University of Oregon. 33 16. E. F. Lawrence House, Portland, built 1906, mother's side, photograph c. 1906. Lawrence Collection, courtesy of Special Collections, Knight Library, University of Oregon. 34 eloquent description sheds some light on the man himself, with his artist ic and roman- tic vision of the world: My sanctum! What do I see as I write here by the fire? Through the windows, a glimpse of daphne with a russe t hummingbird darting about ; flowering Japanese cherry and wild currant just bursting into bloom. Buds swelling on wisteria and rhododendrons. The birds are chattering round the bird bath. Inside the room it is coppery, burnt orange and deep rose with here and there a flash of green blue from a littl e Ming vase or pottery from our school kiln. O n the floors, a rug o r two from the Orient. There are candlest icks from Ita ly, so perfect in des ign that they constantly please, and a small black totem pole, ca rved by the las t craftsman of his tribe. Etchings by Rosenberg and by Cel- listino are on the walls. Other things by friends and fo rmer students are about. A spray of daphne scents the whole room and daffodils, a blaze of ye llow, say to me, 'and my hea rt with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils.' The room is nea rly thirty years old, so it has traditions. The beams and woodwork have taken on some of the pat ina of the copper hood over the hearth. Brick to the ceiling is the fireplace, and in it is bedded an ea rly Renaissance Ma- donna. This sounds like anything but a room in the modern manner, but it is ours, with things in it we love. If I do say it, it is a pretty good place in which to grow old. O nce the wife of an eminent Viennese artist turned to her husband and sa id of this room, 'Eugene, it is style moderne, is it not ?'8 As Lawrence himse lf acknowledged, by 1939 the house was no longer consid- ered modern; in Portland in 1906, however, the building would have been considered qui te unusual. Even today it stands out as strikingly differen t from the houses that surround it . Lawrence designed only a few Arts and C rafts style houses after 1920. Examples of later des igns are the Phil Metschan House of 192 2, the Maurice Se itz House of 1925, and the M. B. H enderson H ouse of 1929. Both the Henderson and Metschan houses are consistent wi th Lawrence's earlier Arts and C rafts style houses through the use of materials, vo lume, and mass ing. The Seitz House reta ins the A rts and C rafts volume and mass ing but has a stucco-covered exterior. Historic Period Styles Lawrence had begun to des ign in the increas ingly popular Histori c Period styles as early as 19 13 . This architectural movement is charac terized by the use of a variety of historic styles, such as English Tudor, Medi te rranean , and Egyptian . Lawrence's res ident ial des igns were primarily executed in the Colonial, English Tudor, and Med iterranean styles. Only a few of his des igns were in the French Renaissance style. Historic Period Colonial Style When the Colonial Rev iva l style dropped out of fa vor around 19 15, it was replaced by the Historic Period Colonial style, which remained popular until1 93 5. The 17. E . F . Lawrence House, Portland, built 1906, ELLis Law rence side, photograph c. 1906. Law rence Co LLection , courtesy of Special Collections, Knight Library, University of Oregon . 35 18. E. F. Lawrence, Willard] . Hatvtey House , PortLand, buiLt 1926, photograph c. 1926. Lawrence Collection, courtesy of SpeciaL Collections , Knight Library, University of Oregon. 36 difference between the two styles is an academic one. The less "correct" Colonial Revival style often incorporated Queen A nne clements into the des ign . The Period Colonial style that followed tended to use more accurate Colonial deta iling. 9 Lawrence continued to work in the Colonial style as it evolved into the later Period Colonial. For example, the John V. G . Posey House is a stripped-down version of the Colonial style, with the rectangular volume and simple gable roof be ing the primary references to style. A rear gabled wing interrupts the Colonial symmetry on the exte- rior. The interim· does not adhere to the central hall plan on eitherthe first orthe second floor. The front en trance opens on to a foyer with rooms on three sides, and the second floor has a similar arrangement. A prominent northwest timber baron, Posey had the interior decorated in various woods. The living room is paneled with pine, giving it an informal quality in keeping with the suburban "country" location of the house. 10 The Willard] . H awley House of1926, with its class ical porchcolumnsand carved pediment, is one of Lawrence's more elaborate examples of the Period Colonial style (fig. 18). English Tudor Style Features typical of the English Tudor style , such as half-timbering, steeply pitched gable roofs, and Tudor arches, are similar to those of the Arts and C rafts style bu t more pronounced. Examples of English Tudor style in Lawrence's work are the elaborate Cameron Squires House of 1920 and the Max S. Hirsch House of 1922. The Squires House, loca ted in an exclusive suburb of Portland , is quintessential English Tudor, with its many prominent fluted chimneys, intricate brick patterning, ex tensive half-t imbering, Tudor arches, and rambling floor plan (fig. 19 ). The urban Hirsch House is similar in exterior detailing although more compact in plan. Mediterranean Style Lawrence designed several houses in the Mediterranean style. Some charac- teristic elements of the style arc low-pi tched gable or hipped roofs, round-arched window and door openings, and stucco exterior surfac ing. The Sherman Hall House of 1916, Lawrence's first Mediterranean style house, was fea tured in the 1919 edition of the Architectural Record (fig. 20) . This large estate can be compared to those estates in the eastern United States designed by C harles Platt and by McKim, Mead & White. It is an Italian villa version of the Medi te rranean style, with numerous arched door and window openings and a smooth stucco exterior. The round arches are carried th rough to all the interior door openings on the first floor. The woodwork is class ically detailed and painted white. Fireplace mantels th roughout the house are styled with various class ical details, such as fluted pilasters, dentils, and scrolls. The only dev iation from this class ical theme is in the oak-paneled library, which is done in the English Arts and C rafts style. 19. E. F. Lawrence , Cameron Squires House, Portland, built 1920, photograph c. 1920. Lawrence Collection, courtesy of Special Collections, Knight Library, University of Oregon. 20. E. F. Lawrence , Sherman Hall House , Portland, built 1916, photograph c. 1916. Lawrence Collection, courtesy of Special Collections, Knight Library, University of Oregon. 37 21. E. F. Lawrence, Dr. Harry M. Hendershott House, Portland, built 192 7, photograph c. 1927. Lawrence CoLLection, courtesy of SpeciaL CoLLections, Knight Library, University of Oregon. 38 Later examples ofLawrence's Mediterranean style houses are the Dr. Harry M. H endershott House of 192 7 and the Ore L. Price House of 1929, both situated on extremely steep slopes with narrow front lots. In each case, the front is designed in the traditional Mediterranean style while the rear is a stripped-down expression of func- tion. From the rear elevation, both houses have dramatic views of the city and the distant Mount Hood. All the primary rooms are located on the rear elevation. Kitchens, ser- vants' quarters, stairs, and garages are located on the front facade. Although this floor plan in general is used in other residential designs by Lawrence, the sit ing of these two Mediterranean style houses is quite spectacu lar. The Hendershott House, with its textured stucco exterior, tiled roof, and iron balcony, is a Spanish version of the Mediterranean style (fig. 21). The textured interior stucco walls, massive cast-stone fireplace, original wrought-iron light fixtures, stair railing, and fire screen contribute to this Spanish theme. A lthough the exterior details resemble those of the Hendershott House, the Price House has subtle differences, such as the round-arched front-door opening topped with a keystone and flanked by scrolled cast-stone elements. These classical details are a preview to the elaborate details to be found on the interior. The entrance hall and landings are varnished mahogany woodwork with classical details such as a frieze of carved urns and a scrolled broken pediment over the front door. The white painted woodwork in the dining room disp lays fretwork, fluted pilasters, and round-arched niches. French Renaissance Style Lawrence used the French Renaissance style in only a few instances. Typical features of this style are a steep hipped or mansard roof, turrets, classical detailing, and round-arched dormers. The Rudolph F. Prael House of 1922 and the Burt Brown Barker \ t - -· . . . ----:-----..::.::-:: . ..:.:_ - -- ,.------- - -- - ---- -- --- ·I' House of 1928 are examples of this type. With its steeply pitched hipped roof, stucco surfac ing, and two-story turret, the Barker House is an example of Lawrence's French Renaissance style houses (fig. 22). The Pacific Builder and Engineer of 1928 described the house as hav ing a circular stairway with an ornamental iron railing, a walnut fini sh in the living and dining rooms, and a marble fireplace. 11 Lawrence designed some houses in a combination of styles, thus being truly eclectic. The Stanley C. E. Smith House, built in 1923, is a combination of Arts and C rafts, English Tudor, and a little Spanish Renaissance influence, as seen in the use of wrought iron on the exte rior and the finely carved woodwork on the interior (fig. 23 ). The client in this case was the owner of an iron foundry, which explains the extensive use of wrought iron.12 Occasiona lly, the client's wishes dominated a project to the extent that Lawrence became merely the person hired to carry out the preplanned design. The Lewis T. Gilli land H ouse of 1910 is patterned direc tly after a G ustav Stickley house from the Craftsman magazine. The interi01· and exterior are identical to the published plan, except for the plan of the second floor, which was somewhat altered. 1 3 An interesting and unique example of a client's significant involvement in the design process is the Peter Kerr House , built in 1910 (fig. 24). In this case, Kerr, a wealthy gra in merchant originally from Scotland, wanted a house that would resemble a Scot- tish mansion. In an essay titled "General Conception of House," he stated, "The kind of house we have in mind would be very plain with severe and good lines, depending somewhat as regards its exterior on creepers, ... A house faced with rough-cast cement on wire lath would, I think, suit very well. .. . W e do not want a Colonial house, in fact •, 22. E. F. Lawrence, Burt Brown Barker House, Portland, built 1928, rendering c. 1928. Lawrence CoLLection, courtesy of SpeciaL CoLLections, Knight Library, University of Oregon. 39 42 exterior, Lawrence's designs were always comfortable and functional on the interior. In writing about his mentor John Calvin Stevens, Lawrence aptly described himself: It is as a functionalist in the domain of res idential architecture that lies, per- haps, his greatest contr ibution to the profess ion. Functionalists are always modernists of their time .... [It was] modernists of that day [who] dreamed, as did Goodhue in his later years, of architecture simplified and restrained, expressing functions beautifully and eliminating non-essentials. It was in their case a renaissance recognizing the external verities; a method of work and an approach that ca lled for logical plan and good mass , as well as the right use of materials. 18 Many of Lawrence's residential designs are extant and in nearly original con- dition. Often, only the kitchens have been altered, with a lmost no structural alterations. Occas ionally a room h as been added, but these additions have been carefully integrated into the overall design, indicat ing the high level of apprec iation of the owners for their ho uses and the continuous livab ility ofLawrence's designs, even with the changing life- sty les of present-day inhabitants. Notes I. Lawrence Collection, Special Collec tions, University of O regon Library (hereafter, Lawrence Collection). 2. Ellis Lawrence, "John Calvin Stevens," Architecture I (July 1932) : 2. 3. Helen Eastham , "Best Exa mples of Architecture in Portland , O regon," House Beautiful, vol. 46, November 1919,309.4, Lawrence Collect ion. 4. Lawrence Collection. 5. George McMath, "Emerging Regional Style," in SfJace, Style and Structure, 341-351, ed. Thomas Vaughan (Portland: O regon Historical Society, 1974 ). 6. Helen Eastham, "A Cottage in the City," House Beautiful, vol. 39, January 1916, 40. 7. Vincent Scu lly, Jr., The Shingle Style and the Stick Style (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1955 , rev. 1978). 8. Lawrence, "The Old Gentleman Nears Sixty," unpublished manuscript, pp. 5-6, Lawrence Collec- tion. 9 . Rosalind C lark, Architecture, Oregon Style (Portland, Oregon), 114, 158. 10. Polk' s City Directory (Portland, Oregon), s.v., Posey. 11. Pacific Builder and Engineer( May 19, 1928): I. 12. Fred Lockley , History of the Columbia River Valley (Chicago: F. J. C la rk e, 1928), 111:217- 218. 13. Gustav Stickley, The Best of Craftsman Homes (Santa Barbara: Peregrine Smith, 1979). 14. Peter Kerr , "General Conception of House," unpublished manuscript , pp. 1- 3, Lawrence Coll ect ion. I 5. Ibid. 16. E. Kimbark MacColl , The Growth of a City (Portland, O regon: Georgian Press, 1979). 17. "A Suburban Development: Laurelhurst, Portland , Oregon," American Architect 114 (July 17, 19 18): 763-764. IS. Lawrence, "John Ca lvin Stevens," Architecture I (Jul y 1932): 2. Additional References Lawrence Collection. Special Collections, Knight Library, U ni versity of Ot·egon , Eugene. She llenbarger, Michael, and Kimberly K. Lakin , 1989. "Ellis Lawrence Bui lding Survey." Copies ava ilable in the Architecture and A llied Arts Library, University of O regon , Eugene, and the State Historic Preservation Office, Sa lem, O regon. Chapter 3 ELLI S F. LAWRENCE: NONRESIDENTIAL DESIGN S by Michael Shellenbarger Department of Architecture Historic Preservation Program School of Architecture and Allied Arts University of Oregon ELLIS LAWRE NCE DESIGN ED more than 500 buildings and unbuilt proj ects, in- cluding about 200 houses. There are approximately 260 surviving buildings in Wash- ington and Oregon, including about 120 surviving houses. His nonresidential designs included schools, hospitals, hotels, restaurants, apartment buildings, stores, and other building types. Many were published in national periodicals and rece ived recognition for their design quality and innovation . Until the recent survey of his buildings , 1 however, much of hi s work was unidentified and forgotten. This neglect has been largely due to three factors. First, unlike architect A. E. Doyle, he received few commiss ions for highly visible commercial buildings in down- town Portland. 2 Lawrence built many houses for Portland's leading businessmen, but he was not their choice for major commercial work . Lawrence implied that it was because he did no t "play the game" by their rules. 3 He envied Doyle's influence but sa id that "I wouldn't pay the price for it all that he [Doyle] pays according to my standards." 4 Lawrence's large commissions were more typ ically public and institutional. Another major factor in the neglect of his work has been the unfortunate de- struction of most of his drawings and many of his other records. The most important factor, however, may be the nature of the work itse lf. It is no t eas ily recognized. Unlike the buildingsofmanyotherarchitects, Lawrence's buildings do not have an easily recognized "signature" quality. He des igned in a variety of sizes, shapes, and materials. The styles he used range from formal to picturesque, plus the emerging modern styles, and some that are imposs ible to label. Of the thirty-one general style categories used by Oregon's State Historic Preservation Office for buildings built in the years during which Lawrence practiced, he designed in all but two, Chicago School and Prairie School. 5 Diversity was definitely a quality of Lawrence's work, but not a recognizable signature. Another quality of his work, somewhat closer to a signature, was his unerring good eye for composition and proportion-the "harmony" in his diversity . This qual- ity is apparent in the complex three-dimensional development of his buildings, in the comfortab le fit of windows to walls, and in the detailed development of moldings and trim. The relationships of these parts inevitably seem right, even when the relation- ships are not trad itional or familiar. A third quality, which became a kind of signature in many of his buildings, was unexpected juxtapos ition. He mixed different styles and shapes, traditional details with modern, and Beaux-Arts formality with American informality. Most apparent in his houses, this quality also occurred in his nonres idential work, such as the Museum of Art and the library at the University of Oregon (figs. 59, 62). When asked to identify 43 26. E. F . Lawrence, McCormick Lumber Company office building, McCormick, Was hington (near Pe Ell), photograph c. 1913. Lawrence Collection, courtesy of Special Collections, Knight Library, University of Oregon. 44 the style of the university's C hapman H all , Lawrence replied that "it just ain't pure enough to be branded."6 Lawrence prac ticed during a period characterized by eclectic designs, as de- scribed by G eorge McMath: "The ingeniousness of the architect was measured by his ability to stuff a 20th century function into a first or 15th or 17th cen tury package." 7 Unlike many of his contemporaries practicing academic eclectic ism, however, Law- rence was not merely attaching historical details or stuffing trad itional packages; he was experimenting boldly with attempts to bridge the gap between trad it ional and modern des ign . He was deeply committed to modern notions regard ing informali ty and openness in plan, day lighting, functionalism, spatially complex responses to complex sites, and the archi tect's responsibili ty to society, but he pursued these notions without abandoning the t ies to tradit ion. Lawrence was an enthusiast for the arts. He tried to bring an appreciation of fine art and architecture to the Northwest, a region he saw as only recently emerged from pioneer days and largely uncu ltured. None of his buildings illustrates this enthu- siasm quite so vividly as his McCormick Lumber Company office building of 1912 in McCormick, Washington (fig. 26). 1n historic photos of this drab, utilitarian lumber mi ll town, h is office bui lding is consp icuously white and ornate (fig. 54). It seems a bit overdressed for the occasion, but there is also something very appealing about the idealism and brash skill with which he assembled this colonial confection and planted it in this remote place. If Lawrence based th is design on the terrace wings of Thomas Jefferson's Monticel lo, as appears possible, that would have been a fitting choice, for Jefferson, too, was an enthusiast for the arts and used architecture to improve the taste of his coun- trymen.~ Lawrence's McCormick office bu ilding, nearby Presbyterian Church (fig. 55), and J. E. Wheeler House (figs. 9, 10) formed one of Lawrence's most memorable en- sembles. The office building is today the only survivor of the mill town's collapse in the 1920s; it is now a country store, much altered and stripped of its ornament. Competitions Lawrence entered several architectural competitions but apparently won only one, the 1916 competition for a new high school in Baker, Oregon. Before moving to Oregon, he submitted designs in competitions for the Cumberland County Courthouse in Maine and the Daughters of the American Revolution Memorial Continental Hall in Washington, D.C. Among his other competition entries were Portland High School, 1908 (third place); Alameda County Infirmary in Cal ifornia, 1913 (second place);James Scott Fountain in Detroit, Michigan, 1914 (one of ten architects selected nationally to compete); Qasr El 'Aini Hospital and School in Cairo, Egypt, 1921; and Christo- pher Columbus Memorial Lighthouse in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 1929. His 1936 art deco competition entry for the new Oregon State Capitol building had an unusual asymmetrical plan and massing, with a tower not centered on the mall. ... .. - - f . . • .-. ..... · - t _ J 27. E. F. Lawrence, Conservatory of Music, Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington, photograph c. 1912. Lawrence Collection, courtesy of Special Collections, Knight Library, University of Oregon. 45 28. E. F. Lawrence, Washington High School Qymnasium, Portland, Oregon, photograph c. 1913. Angelus Collection, courtesy of SpeciaL Collections, Knight Library, University of Oregon. 46 Early Work Lawrence's work as chief des igner for his first Portland partnership of MacNaughton, Raymond, and Lawrence included major urban buildings, such as the downtown Portland YMC A and YWCA buildings (both now demolished) and his ambitious 1908 campus plan for Whitman College in W alla W alla, Washington (fig. 56). His Whitman College Conservatory of Music (1910) has an elegantly simple plan that wraps practice rooms and offices around a central skylit atrium, with a small au- ditorium attached to the rear (fig. 27). Lawrence also built the Whitman College boiler house (1923) and two dormitories, Lyman House (1923) and Prentiss Hall (1926). Lawrence's early years in independent practice produced several buildings that were published in architectural journals, including the W ashington High School Gymnasium in Portland in 1912 (razed in 1960; fig. 28). It combined renaissance and contemporary details, and its projecting entry bay with gabled roof skillfully imparted a sense of verticality, despite the building's overall horizontality. This compositional device was one of Lawrence's favorites, and he reused it on several of his buildings. The six-story brick and terra cotta 1912 Masonic Temple building in Salem, Oregon, housed the lodge quarters on the two upper floors, with offices and stores in the remainder (fig. 29). The Mediterranean mix of styles on the exterior was joined with exotic Moorish-like details in the interior. Lawrence wrote that he had "given it a great deal more study than usual, realizing the splendid opportunity for a good thing." 9 The 1912 W estminster Presbyterian Church in Portland is the most elaborate of sixteen churches built by Lawrence's office. His partner William Holford was appar- ently the chief designer of several Episcopal churches, of which Saint Peter's Episcopal C hurch in LaGrande is the finest. The Mediterranean-style stucco and terra cotta 1912 Albina Branch Library in Portland displays Lawrence's deft touch with composition, proportion, and details (fig. 53 ). In 1919 it was selected by a jury of the American Institute of Architects as one of Portland's ten best buildings. It has a simple "T" plan with three reading rooms on the main floor and an auditorium below. The 1913 Hope Abbey Mausoleum was Lawrence's first building in Eugene and his only building in Egyptian style (fig. 30) . It and his Mount Crest Abbey in Salem were the first community mausoleums in Oregon . He built four others in Oregon: in Astoria, Baker, Pendleton, and Portland. The elaborate bronze, marble, and art-glass interiors of the six mausoleums are similar, although the exteriors are in various styles. Peninsula Park, in north Portland, was designed by landscape architect Eman- 29. E. F. Lawrence, Masonic T emple, Salem, Oregon, photograph c. 1914. Angelus Collection, courtesy of Special Collections, Knight Library, University of Oregon. 47 30. E. F. Lawrence, Hope Abbey Mausoleum, Eugene, Oregon, photograph c. 1915. Lawrence Collection, courtesy of Special Collections, Knight Library, University of Oregon. 31. E. F. Lawrence, Recreation Building, Peninsula Park, Portland, Oregon, photograph c. 1913. Lawrence Collection, courtesy of Special Collections, Knight Library, University of Oregon. 48 uel T. Mesche. Lawrence des igned the architectural e lements for its sunken rose gar- den as well as the bandstand, the comfort stations, and the Recreation Building of 1912-13 with its ornamenta l brickwork and ballustraded terraces (fig. 31). He built other park facilities and comfort stations throughout Portland: in Sellwood Park, Kenilworth Park, Overlook Park, Columbia Park, Mount T abor, and Linnton Park. His 1913 downtown Portland public comfort station, located be low the sidewalk at S ixth and Yamhill , was the first such fac ility in Portland and only the second in the North- wes t. Collectively, this work is an indication of his interest in city planning and the in- frastructure of a healthy c ity, and it brought national atten t ion to Portland. University of Oregon Campus Plans Lawrence's 1914 Campus Plan for the U niversity of O regon clearly expressed his Beaux-Arts training (fig. 32 ). The major element of the plan was a new quadrangle located to facilitate an axial, "proper and dignified" entrance to the campus. 10 The campus ga tes were located where rail, trolley, and even water transportation met. A proposed diagonal boulevard connected the gates to a proposed c ivic center and es tab- lished the approach ax is. At the gates the axis pivoted to the center line of the pro- posed railway station and new quadrangle, ending at a proposed "terminus motif" (the auditorium) at the head of the quadrangle. The major graduate schools would be grouped around this quadrangle in a class ical architectural style. Four adj oining minor groups for the liberal arts, phys ical education and dormitories, music, and education would be in renaissance or colonial styles. (He soon se ttled on colonial.) Although many deta ils changed over the following years, the basic organization of this plan provided a firm foundation from which, over thirty-two years, Lawrence would build a campus of unusual charm and serviceability. Campus plans such as Lawrence's are criticized today as tota litarian and rigid, incapable of adapting to the natural and unpredictable changes that inev itab ly ar ise. But Lawrence did not see his plan as rigid, and he never expected itto be built as drawn. Even his own earliest buildings that were built on the campus, except for Condon Hall, deviated substantially from the plan without violating its basic structure. He built the Education Building and Commerce Hall (now the two wings of Gi lbert Hall) close together to become the "entry pylons" of the new quadrangle. Over Lawrence's objec- tions, the women's dormitory quadrangle was started where the liberal arts group had been planned. Lawrence said that his plan permitted radical changes in the grouping offuture buildings without materially changing the basic order of the scheme. The cam- pus now, seventy-five years later, is evidence that his assessment was correct, for most of the plan's major features arc still clearly visible: the location of the main quadrangle and minor groups in the styles he selected, the patternofbuildings oriented onto central open space, the preserved historic o ld campus and the axia l organization of buildings south. of it, the locations of athletic fields and the education school, the location of science bui ldings extending east from the old campus, and Franklin Boulevard with its views onto the campus. Lawrence's 1923 revision to the campus plan (fig. 58) was mostly an update of the 1914 plan, to add what he had already built, in addition to a completion of the women's quadrangle and a redesign of the auditorium and its flanking buildings. His 1932 revision, however, substantially expanded the scope of the earlier plans (fig. 33 ). 32. E. F. Lawrence, University of Oregon 1914 Campus Plan. Ink and ink washes on paper, 99 em. x 61.4 em. Courtesy of University of Oregon Archives. 49 33. E. F. Lawrence, University of Oregon 1932 Campus Plan. Blue-line print, 45 em. x 60 em. Courtesy of University of Oregon Archives. 50 ,~------- ~J ·, PROPOS€D D\l V€UOP€M€~'I' OP TnG @lV€1lSITU or ORraries (Toronto, 1972) , p. 2 39. 15. Stevens had designed a group of houses for employees of the S.D. Warren Company, Cumberland Mi lls (now Westbrook), Maine, about 1888. For the work of Boston archi tects Peabody & Stearns at Hopedale, Massachusetts, see John S. Garner, The Model ComJ>any Town (Amherst, Massach u- setts, 1984 ). Fora general account of arch itects designing in company tmvnsat the turn of the century, sec Leland M. Roth, A Concise Hi.ltory of AmeTican Archirectllre (New York, 1979), 220-227. 16. Lawrence had designed an earlier res idence for W heeler in Portland in 19 l 0. 17. Thiscmnplete covcringofsh ingles issimilarto that used in Mount Desert, Maine, by Wil liam Ralph Emerson in hi s C hurch of St. Sy lvia ( 1880- 81 ), with which Lawrence may well have been f