Frank Silas Doernbecher House

The Frank Silas Doernbecher House is a Tudor-Revival mansion and historic place located in northeast Portland, Oregon, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Frank Silas Doernbecher House
Portland Historic Landmark[1]
The house's exterior in 2009
Location2323 NE Tillamook Street
Portland, Oregon
Coordinates45°32′16″N 122°38′30″W
Area0.6 acres (0.24 ha)
Builtc. 1903[2]
Architectural styleTudor Revival[2]
NRHP reference No.78002311[3]
Added to NRHPMarch 14, 1978[2][3]

The house was built c. 1903 for Portland businessman Frank S. Doernbecher (1861–1921), who founded the Doernbecher Furniture Company in Tacoma, Washington, and upon moving to Portland in 1900 established the Doernbecher Manufacturing Company. Doernbecher also made a $200,000 donation to build the Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland.[4]

Article Body

Frank Silas Doernbecher

Born in Kewaksum, Wisconsin in 1861, Frank Silas Doernbecher, born to Silas Doernbecher a German political exile, spent his first 27 years learning about the furniture industry from his father. After moving to Tacoma, Washington, Doernbecher established the Doernbecher Furniture Company. In 1900, Doernbecher set his sights on a rapid growing city along the Willamette River named Portland where he would take his business and become a leader in his industry.[5][6]

Frank Doernbecher died in 1921 at the age of 59 in Portland, Oregon. As a final act of goodwill, he portioned off a quarter of his estate to be donated to the city of Portland to continue his work in growing the city after his death. His two children, Edward and Ada Doernbecher, decided to give the money to the University of Oregon Medical School on Marquam Hill (now Oregon Health and Science University) to create the first dedicated children's hospital in Oregon. The Doernbecher Memorial Hospital for Children opened in 1926, and has been serving the children of Portland, Oregon, and the nation ever since.[5][6]

Architecture

The Frank Silas Doernbecher House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 14, 1978. The Tudor Revival mansion resides in the Irvington district in Portland, where it is lined with maple trees and the neighborhood has a park-like setting that was custom during the 20th century in that area. The home is rectangular, and was built with a front porch, porte-cochre and several bays and projections. The walls are made of cedar shingles, and the gable ends are made with stucco. Accompanied with brick chimney stacks, leaded window panes and a pointed window arch, the Doernbecher house is known for its wood paneling and hand carved decoration throughout. The house was registered in 1978 due to the significance of the entrepreneur who built it. It was occupied by the children and grandchildren of Frank Doernbecher until it was sold in 1976 and now acts as a private residence. It has since had its utilities updated but maintains its architectural significance.[7]

Walter, Poida J. “NPGallery Asset Detail.” National Park Service. U.S. Department of the Interior.

OHSU. “Frank Doernbecher & the Gift That Started It All.” OHSU Foundation.

See also

References
  1. Portland Historic Landmarks Commission (July 2010), Historic Landmarks -- Portland, Oregon (XLS), retrieved October 3, 2013.
  2. Poida, Walter J. (1977). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination Form: Frank Silas Doernbecher House" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved May 13, 2012.
  3. "Oregon National Register List" (PDF). Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. June 5, 2011. p. 32. Retrieved May 13, 2012.
  4. Booker, Margaret Moore (2011-02-23), "National Register of Historic Places in America", Oxford Art Online, Oxford University Press, retrieved 2021-05-27
  5. OHSU. “Frank Doernbecher & the Gift That Started It All.” OHSU Foundation. Oregon Health & Science University Foundation, 2016.
  6. Lockley, Fred. Essay. In History of the Columbia River Valley: from The Dalles to the Sea III, III:354–55. Chicago, IL: S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1928.
  7. Walter, Poida J. "NPGallery Asset Detail". National Park Service. U.S. Department of the Interior, 1978.
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