Surviving Italianate 1211 High

Though the porch and siding have been altered, this house on the northeast corner of 12th and High is basically intact. Interestingly, this circa 1880 Italianate appears to have been built as a large addition to a much earlier Greek Revival house which can be seen on the right, probably serving as the kitchen wing. This house served as offices for an attorney in the late 1980's and the parlor to the left was kept furnish with some beautiful Victorian furnishings.

West University Survivor

I have always made a point to glance at this little Italianate survivor each time I drive down High St. if anything to just make sure it is still there. With all the changes in the neighborhood who knows what its immediate fate could be. There is little information available on this circa 1885 house. It is probably original to this site at 1633 High and the exterior remains in fairly original condition. There have been some changes to the porch and polygonal Bay window and also the roof is covered in very inappropriate cedar shakes, but all this could be easily restored. After years as a rental I cringe to think what the interior looks like. When new this was a higher end home. The exterior trim and window casings were of a higher quality and design than that used in many of its contemporaries.

Clifton and Addie Cleaver House

This little doll house was the first home of Clifton and Adelaide (Addie) Medley Cleaver after their marriage. Clifton was part owner of Henderson-Cleaver Drugstore and also Cleaver's Shoe Store with his brother Elmer. When not engaged in business Clifton had time to serve as the Mayor of Eugene for one term. This house stood on the northeast corner of 7th and Olive street. Now the site of the parking garage for the Hult Center.

Hodes Saloon

Here is Clement Hodes Saloon, which stood on the west side of Willamette on the northwest corner of the alley between 8th and 9th Avenues. View shows Clement Hodes standing in the doorway. Signs painted on windows advertise fine wines, liquors, cigars and 5-cent beer. The interior was a little on the dismal side but did appear to have electric fans suspended from the ceilings. This would have been a big draw to those looking for a cold beer on a hot summer day in Eugene.

The Houses of Clement Hodes

The top photo shows the first home of Clement Hodes which stood at the southeast corner of 8th and Lawrence. The house was an early structure, built in the Greek revival style, resembling the Christian House on east 12th. Clement Hodes owned a Saloon and Billard Parlor on Willamette St. It must have been a successful business as circa 1890 the original house was moved (location unknown) and this fine two story Italianate took its place. It appears the house stood until about 1930 when it was replaced with the apartment house that still stand on the site.

Zumwalt House

This was the residence of Issac Zumwalt, who came from a large family that first settled in the Bethel-Danebo neighborhood after coming to Oregon in 1851. This Eastlake style cottage was built in the late 1880's on the southeast corner of 7th and Madison, the corner now occupied my Midas Muffler Shop.

Humphry House

When this photo was taken, the Humphry house stood at 674 Washington Street. It had originally been built on the northwest corner of 7th and Lincoln St., a site now occupied by an empty office space that was converted from an old gas station. The Humphry house was an other nice example of the Italianate style, the most prevalent style of architecture being built in Eugene during the 1880's. When this photo was taken the house had lost its original siding to cedar shingles, and perhaps its original square porch post to Colonial Revival replacements. Unfortunately the move to the 600 block of Washington St. insured its demolition in 1964 for the Washington-Jefferson Sreet. Bridge.

Snow in Eugene...........in 1875

Here is a photo of Elizabeth Stewart Lucky in the front of her home on the northeast corner of 10th and Pearl in about 1875. This house would later be moved and a larger house built for the Lucky family. Mr. Lucky was a jeweler in Eugene for many years. Elizabeth "Lizzie" Lucky, was a daughter of early Lane county settler Elias Stewart and sister to Martha Stewart Hendricks. In the distance can be seen the Peters-Listen-Wintermeyer house at its original location, on the southeast corner of 10th and Pearl. It was moved circa 1914 to 1611 Lincoln St., where it has been beautifully restored by its current owners.

Sammuel J. Bonnett Residence

This faded old photo is of the Samuel J. Bonnett residence, which stood on the north side of 7th Avenue just east of Charnelton Street, about where the Bankruptcy Court Building now stands. The house was a two story, square frame dwelling with a "hipped" style roof, ornamented eaves and porch trim. Family members pose on the porch in foreground. Bonnett was a farmer; he was born in 1814 and died in 1904.

Dr. Edwin McKenny House

Little is know about this Queen Anne/English Cottage style house built by Dr. Edwin McKenny on the southeast corner of 6th and Jefferson. It was built circa 1880 but I can find no information as to how long it occupied the site, which has been part of the park under the Washington-Jefferson Street since 1964. The style differs enough from the other houses being built in Eugene in the late 19th century that I suspect its design may have come from a plan book. More research.....

Adair-Wald House

This two story double bayed Italianate, was built circa 1880, on the northeast corner of 6th and Olive, by Southern Pacific Employee L. J. Adair. Adair later sold the house to Fred Wald who used the house as his residence and as a boarding house. By the 1950's the house was the "Flynn Apartments" and looking worse for wear, though basically intact. The house was raised in 1957 for the construction of the addition to the downtown Post Office.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Kern House

This little Italianate style house was the home of of Samuel and Elizabeth Kerns, who were the parents of Maude Kerns. The address was 469 West 6th Avenue, which is now the 6th street on-ramp to the Washington-Jefferson Street Bridge. When this photo was taken circa 1950 the house was "Mrs Hall's Antiques". Elizabeth Kerns, who was a widow for many years lived into her 90's in this little house. Mr. Kerns had been an early Lane County nursery stock grower. Their daughter was of course celebrated local artist Maude Kerns. An other daughter Edith, married Frank Chambers and was a society matron in Eugene for over 50 years, supporting many University fund raising events and the old "Trail to Rail" pioneer pagents from 1926-1950.

Sacred Heart Hospital 1924

I was downtown Wednesday and went by the old Hospital on Hilyard. I got to thinking about what changes are in store for the current structures. Here is a photo of the first building as it looked shortly after in was built, in 1924 as Pacific Christian Hospital. This wing is long gone as are several later wings. More demolition is scheduled before the new building is scheduled to be started.

J.J. Walton Jr. House Revisited

I found two interesting shots of the J.J. Walton house, the first was taken before the house was moved and shows the original porch across the front of the house before the addition of the large bay window. Shown standing in the photo are Judge Walton, his daughter Pauline, and family friend and Mrs. Walton. Barely visible in the background is the large water town that once supplied water to the estate. The second photo is of particular interest as it shows that the services wings on the back of the house, which had always been associated with the houses years as a restaurant were actually original to the house, at least from the time it was moved and enlarged. As shown in the photo, the windowless storage in the protruding area to the left was actually at one time an open porch, almost a gazebo like structure. Think what a pleasant place this would have been to dine outside in the summer. Thankfully the Walton house is now owned by the Gustina family and its survival is almost certain.

Krouch and Fraiser Houses on Broadway

These two homes stood at 393 and 395 East 9th (now Broadway) which is now the site of Pizza Hut. For many years this lot was home to a Motel. In fact the heavily remolded Fraiser house to the right may have been the Office/Lobby. Mr. Fraiser owned Lane County Land and Loan Company circa 1900. Little is known about the immense Krouch house but it was at one time one of early Eugene's largest and most attractive homes.

First Baptist Church 1927

If you compare this shot to the photos in yesterdays post about the Bailey-Booth house you will see that the street tree's were preserved when the First Baptist Church was built. Alas they are now long gone but the building looks exactly the same with the exception of the 1950's era addition to the west.

Bailey-Booth House

This fantastic wedding cake of a house was built by Mark Bailey, a professor of mathematics at the U of O, on the northwest corner of Broadway and High in about 1876. It was later owned by Senator Robert Booth who's family lived in the house until it was purchased by the First Baptist church in the mid 1920's as the site for a new sanctuary. That church building now houses the John G. Shedd Institute for the performing Arts.

511 Lawrence Street

Little is known of this Queen Anne style house which stands on the southeast corner of 5th and Lawrence. It was built circa 1895 and survives (a long with its neighbor to the south, shown on the right in this photo) to this day virtually intact. When this photo was taken, circa 1950 there was a ramp leading up to the front porch which has since been removed. This house would have completed the 5th and Lawrence intersection with the Geary house, Johnson house and the Mystery house mentioned in last Fridays post.

Littlefield House Near The End

The Littlefield house had definitely seen better days by the time this photo was taken. This was probably about the time it was torn down. Gone are the decorative brackets in the eves and the original front steps. The fantastic original Eastlake inspired fence around the property had been gone for many years . The Watkins house which had stood to the left in this photo was already gone too.

Littlefield House Revisited

In my Novemeber 9, 2011 post I featured a photo of the side bay and upstairs porch of the Charles F. Littlefield house, which once stood at 165 West 5th street. I recently found photos showing the house shortly after it was first completed and additional photos taken after the house was greatly altered about 1912 with the addition of a large craftsman style porch. While the massive porch gave the house a more impressive look it ruined the original pure Eastlake design .

Mystery Solved!

In my post earlier this week about the T.W. Harris house, I speculated that the heavily altered one story Victorian house that stands today on the northeast corner of 5th and Lawrence might be the old Harris house. Today I just happened to find a photo of that house simply labeled as standing on 5th, but with no other information other than at the time the photo was taken it housed 5th Avenue Electric. While greatly resembling the Harris house and being of the same time period and style it is mostly certainly not the home of Dr. Harris and his wife. While the brackets and bay window have been removed and the porch greatly altered, (not to mention the cinder block addition in the front yard that has for many years housed the Keystone Cafe) the house is easily recognizable as being the one in this photo.

George And Elizabeth Soverns House

George Soverns came to Oregon in 1852 and settled in the Riverview district south of Junction City. There he acquired a donation land claim and built a large two story farm house. After he sold his homestead in the 1880's he retired to this first period Gothic style cottage which stood on the northeast corner of 5th and Olive, which is now approximately where the parking lot for Central Blueprint is today.