Barber Block
532-538 SE Grand Avenue, Portland
Entered in the NRHP: 15 Feb 1977
Classified as High Victorian Italianate, it was built in 1891
Originally used as a mortuary with apartments above, it is now used in the commercial capacity.
For more images, go HERE
Comments in the NHRP application, found HERE
The three story Barber Block, built in 1890, occupies a 50' x 100* site at the corner of S. E. Washington Street and Grand Avenue, once the commercial center of East Portland.
The area has deteriorated since its heyday, but it still retains considerable "turn of the century" ambiance. Directly across Grand Avenue are two structures of the 1890s, the Logus Building, designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque manner, and the mansarded Shleifer Furniture Store which has recently undergone extensive renovation. South on Grand between Alder and Morrison, three 19th century structures fill out the west street front. Other early buildings are still standing in the area, including the cast-iron fronted structure at Oak and Union which has also been rehabilitated. The architect of the Barber Block is unknown, but it was built by Edward Holman, pioneer mortician, for his father-in-law, Henry Barber, also in the mortuary business. The ground floor was divided into four business spaces, two on Grand Avenue and two on Washington Street. The mortuary firm of Barber & Hill occupied the corner space until 1919 when the business was sold.
The other Grand Avenue store front was originally occupied by a drug store. Ground floor tenants have changed many times through the years and have included a banking house, a "nickel theater", restaurant, laundry, furniture store, and a hardware store among others. The only tenant presently in the building is a junk .store, which.occupies.the corner .space. ^ The upper two floors were designed as1 sleeping and housekeeping rooms and remain today essentially as originally built. The second floor consists ,of fifteen rooms arranged along a central east/west corridor. The third floor corridor is situated north of center allowing for five two-room apartments along the south, and eleven one-room units along the north and west. Most rooms
have interconnecting doors which enabled multiple room units. Each of the rooms north of the corridor has a skylight.
At the east end of each apartment floor is a common bathroom with two water closets and two sinks. The china water closets are original and share a common elevated wood tank. Other plumbing fixtures are of a later date. Access to the upper floors is from a central stairway off Grand Avenue which terminates at the second floor, and a stairway near the middle of the building on Washington. The latter stair serves the basement and the third floor, and has recently been sealed off at the second floor landing and midway between the second and third floor. Upper floors are presently unoccupied.
STRUCTURE
The Barber Block structure is typical of the period - masonry bearing walls, wood floor and roof structure, and cast-iron columns in the store fronts. Foundation walls around the perimeter and near the center running east/west are stone rubble, 24" thick, with a top course of brick and a 1/4" thick iron bearing plate. At mid span between masonry walls is a row of concrete footings and wood posts which support a wood beam and 2 x 10 wood floor joists @ 16" on center running north/south. Floor sheathing is 3/4" tongue and groove fir. Upper floor framing is similar with joists supported by wood stud corridor walls.
The truncated metal covered, hip roof is supported by wood trusses, also running north/south. Exterior walls above grade are brick with stucco facing on
the exterior. The basement has a dirt floor and measures only six feet to the bottom of the first floor joists. Ceiling heights of the upper floors are much grander, 1st floor - 16'; 2nd floor - 13'-3"; and 3rd floor - 12'-7".
EXTERIOR
The exuberant facade of the Barber Block is a pastiche of late Victorian elements: The principal facade on ryand Avenue is symetrically organized into three bays defined by continuous stucco covered brick pilasters. Within each story, the smooth sided pilasters have a molded base, an intermediate molding and a capital molding at the floor and roof lines. At the roof line, console like capitals continue into chimneys decorated with horizontal moldings and medallions. Ground floor pilasters are finished with simulated rock-face rustication. Floor and roof lines are further defined by cornices which butt to the pilasters. Below the deep roof cornice, bracketed at the projecting bays, is a paneled frieze with plaited fan decoration in the bays and nail-head pattern elsewhere. The narrower center bay contains the entry to the stair lobby. The round arch opening, done in simulated stone, is supported by quarter round engaged columns with cast-iron acanthus leaves in the capitals.Above the central arch is a cross window with a turned wood mullion and stucco jambs featuring acanthus leaf capitals at the transom line, similar to the ground floor. Wood windows which are typical throughout the upper floors consist of single light double hung sash with a fixed transom of clear glass surrounded by a border of stained glass.
Centered at the third level is a "Venetian Window" with a drop arch panel and paired round arch windows. Mullion and jambs are identical with the second floor windows below. The wood tympanum features a central medallion and flanking panels in a fan pattern. The stucco arch spandrel is detailed in simulated stone as at the first story. A shouldered Queen Anne pediment crowns the central bay. The tympanum, divided horizontally, is decorated with fan ornament at the apex and a festoon^ below. At the shoulder line is a sign panel where the name, "BARBER BLOCK" is still evident. Finish material between the sign panel and the roof cornice is missing.
Store fronts occupy the ground floor space in the two side bays. The south bay is a rarity - all store front material is original and intact. Centered in the bay is an elegant pair of wood and glass paneled doors flanked by cast-iron columns. Large single pane clear glass windows extend to the pilasters. The transom is bordered with stained glass like the upper windows. Perforated cast-iron panels below the main windows provide ventilation to the basement.
The north store front was altered at an early date. The only remaining original materials are the cast-iron sill and the wood jamb and head trim. Centered in the side bays above the store fronts are slant sided projecting bays in the Eastlake style. Detailed in wood, the bays extend to the roof and are similar at both stories. Each bay face has a typical window (described above) and a variety of turned and carved trim - nail-head and pellet moldings, brackets, medallions, shoulder arch panels, and interesting Corinthian inspired colonettes flanking the first floor transoms. Above the hipped roof the bays are topped with pediments, similar in design but smaller than the center bay pediment.The south facade (Washington Street) while assymetrical is organized and detailed in a manner similar to the west facade. The entry bay, slightly east of center, is nearly identical with its counter part on the west. The only difference being in the crowning pediment where the festoon is replaced with a sign panel showing the building date, "1890". East of the entry bay is an original service entry with a pair of typical glass and wood paneled doors in a segmental arch opening. At the east end of the building is another store front similar in design to the corner store, and with all original material intact. West of the entry arch is a service entry to the corner store, again with typical doors in a segmental arch opening. The rectangular window further west is not original. The four projecting bays in the upper floors are identical to those on the west facade. Flanking the projecting bays, except at the entry bay are single rectangular openings with typical sash and transom. Above the transoms are wood panels with pellet molding and shouldered -arch panel at the second floor, and nail-head molding at the third floor, matching the detail fn the projecting bays. The east and north walls are of undecorated common brick. Windows are double hung in segmental arch openings.
The exterior is in good to poor condition. The roof is badly in need of repair as are some stuccoed areas. A substantial amount of wood trim is missing or deteriorated.
INTERIOR FINISH
Except for the dirt floor in the basement and cement floors in restrooms, finish flooring is 3/4" tongue and groove fir. All original flooring is intact, but much is covered by carpet, linoleum and other composition materials. The central stairway off the Grand Avenue entry is a straight run with a mid point landing where the original wood and glass paneled entry doors are located. A partition and entry door has been added at the small ground level stair lobby. Paneled wood wainscoting extends from the entry arch to the stairs. From the stair upward and throughout the corridors the wainscoting consists of a molded
baseboard and vertical vee-groove paneling with molded cap. Stair treads and risers are plain fir. The round oak handrail is carried on simple metal wall brackets, and terminates in a carved oak newel post. A balustrade with shaped oak rail and
turned balusters surrounds the stair opening. Walls and ceilings in the stairway
and throughout the building are wood lath and undecorated plaster.The dog-leg stair off Washington Street continues to the third floor, and is identical in detail to the Grand Avenue stair. Doors to adjacent stores have been added in the entry lobby. The stair/corridor opening at the second and third stories is framed with a pair of depressed three-centered arches which are supported by impost blocks at the side walls, and by a column, extending from the newel post, at the center. Arches and supporting members are of wood. The turned column has a "Romanesque" capital of carved acanthus leaves. Impost blocks consist of a half capital and turned pendant. The arch spandral is decorated in a fan pattern. Second floor doorways have a transom, and single light doors with obscure wire glass. (The glass may not be original.) Below the glass is a horizontal panel and paired panels with bolectionmoldings. Door casings are detailed in the Eastlake manner. Third floor doorways are similar except that doors are four-panel.
Most rooms along the north side have double hung relights in the corridor wall. Though the detailing is of the period, the relights may have been added in ca. 1915 when the hotel to the north was built, obscuring the north windows of the Barber
Block. Rooms and apartments are simply finished - wood baseboard identical with that in the corridor and plaster walls and ceilings, some painted and some with wallpaper. None of the exposed paper appears to be original. Projecting bays are paneled above and below the sash. Bay openings are framed with shouldered arches of plaster with cast plaster impost blocks.
Except as otherwise indicated, woodwork throughout the building is cedar. Woodwork in most rooms and in the west entry area is painted. In the stairways, corridors and in a few rooms, the woodwork has a natural varnish finish. The original heating system consisted of a steam boiler and cast iron radiators with cast-in scroll and tendril decoration. The heating system is not operative - many radiators have been removed.
There is no remaining evidence of the original lighting system. At present each room is lit by a single bare bulb with pull chain suspended from the ceiling. The interior is generally in good condition. Some plaster on the third floor has suffered water damage from roof leaks. Wood and plaster surfaces are in need of refinishing.
PROPOSED RESTORATION AND REMODELING
The prospective purchasers of the Barber Block plan to restore and remodel the building during early 1977. Proposed work includes: full restoration of the exterior; and remodeling for stores on the ground floor and apartments on the upper floors (original interior fabric will be retained to the extent possible under current housing and fire codes.)
The Barber Block is an excellent and unique Oregon example of late Victorian architecture, and a significant landmark in the development of East Portland. Though the design is somewhat late for the period (several commercial structures in the Richarsonian Romanesque style were built in Portland in 1889 and 1890), the Barber Block exhibits a rich and unusual assemblage of late Vistorian styles - Italianate, Eastlake, Queen Anne, "Romanesque", and even "Gothic" elements. The various styles are skillfully organized into a dynamic yet unified composition. The Barber Block is unique in that it is the largest structure of its type and style extant in the State.
It has been suggested that the architect for the Barber Block was Justus Krumbein, designer of the Oregon State Capitol and other prominent structures of the period. There is no evidence to support this contention. The Barber Block was one of the primary commercial structures in East Portland, and is today one of a few still Standing albiig Grand Alveriu'e that comprise the remaining evidence of a once thriving and independent.town. East Portland's history goes back to the 1820s when sites were cleared from tHe virgin forest land and / cabins built by the French-Canadian fur trappers of the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1845, Dr. John McLoughlin, acting as administrator for one of the Frenchmen's wills, sold the land that would become East Portland to James B. Stevens for $200. In 1861, Stevens, who saw great potential for the east bank offlhe Willamette River, founded East Portland. Because the rail and water transportazron facilities developed along the west bank, East Portland did not achieve the success of the City of Portland, but it did prosper for 30 years as an independent community.
A year after completion of the Barber Block (June, 1891) the citizens of Portland, East Portland, and Albina voted to consolidate the three separate towns. Unified Portland became a city of 80, 000, the second largest in the Pacific States. Henry Barber was born in Albany, New York in 1832. As a young man Barber enlisted in the Army and served at various posts across the country, ending up in the Oregon Indian Wars of 1855. After discharge he settled on the Columbia River near Astoria and in 1860 moved to Multnomah County. In 1879 Barber entered the mortuary business in East Portland at Fourth and I Streets. He continued the business under his own name until 1891 when he formed the partnership of Barber and Hill. That same year the firm moved into their elegant new quarters which was described in H. K. Hines' History of Oregon as, "... the nicest business block in East Portland. " Hines further states .that, "Here he (Henry Barber) has without exception the finest undertaking rooms in the Northwest, if not all the Coast. "
Classified as High Victorian Italianate, it was built in 1891
Originally used as a mortuary with apartments above, it is now used in the commercial capacity.
For more images, go HERE
Comments in the NHRP application, found HERE
The three story Barber Block, built in 1890, occupies a 50' x 100* site at the corner of S. E. Washington Street and Grand Avenue, once the commercial center of East Portland.
The area has deteriorated since its heyday, but it still retains considerable "turn of the century" ambiance. Directly across Grand Avenue are two structures of the 1890s, the Logus Building, designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque manner, and the mansarded Shleifer Furniture Store which has recently undergone extensive renovation. South on Grand between Alder and Morrison, three 19th century structures fill out the west street front. Other early buildings are still standing in the area, including the cast-iron fronted structure at Oak and Union which has also been rehabilitated. The architect of the Barber Block is unknown, but it was built by Edward Holman, pioneer mortician, for his father-in-law, Henry Barber, also in the mortuary business. The ground floor was divided into four business spaces, two on Grand Avenue and two on Washington Street. The mortuary firm of Barber & Hill occupied the corner space until 1919 when the business was sold.
The other Grand Avenue store front was originally occupied by a drug store. Ground floor tenants have changed many times through the years and have included a banking house, a "nickel theater", restaurant, laundry, furniture store, and a hardware store among others. The only tenant presently in the building is a junk .store, which.occupies.the corner .space. ^ The upper two floors were designed as1 sleeping and housekeeping rooms and remain today essentially as originally built. The second floor consists ,of fifteen rooms arranged along a central east/west corridor. The third floor corridor is situated north of center allowing for five two-room apartments along the south, and eleven one-room units along the north and west. Most rooms
have interconnecting doors which enabled multiple room units. Each of the rooms north of the corridor has a skylight.
At the east end of each apartment floor is a common bathroom with two water closets and two sinks. The china water closets are original and share a common elevated wood tank. Other plumbing fixtures are of a later date. Access to the upper floors is from a central stairway off Grand Avenue which terminates at the second floor, and a stairway near the middle of the building on Washington. The latter stair serves the basement and the third floor, and has recently been sealed off at the second floor landing and midway between the second and third floor. Upper floors are presently unoccupied.
STRUCTURE
The Barber Block structure is typical of the period - masonry bearing walls, wood floor and roof structure, and cast-iron columns in the store fronts. Foundation walls around the perimeter and near the center running east/west are stone rubble, 24" thick, with a top course of brick and a 1/4" thick iron bearing plate. At mid span between masonry walls is a row of concrete footings and wood posts which support a wood beam and 2 x 10 wood floor joists @ 16" on center running north/south. Floor sheathing is 3/4" tongue and groove fir. Upper floor framing is similar with joists supported by wood stud corridor walls.
The truncated metal covered, hip roof is supported by wood trusses, also running north/south. Exterior walls above grade are brick with stucco facing on
the exterior. The basement has a dirt floor and measures only six feet to the bottom of the first floor joists. Ceiling heights of the upper floors are much grander, 1st floor - 16'; 2nd floor - 13'-3"; and 3rd floor - 12'-7".
EXTERIOR
The exuberant facade of the Barber Block is a pastiche of late Victorian elements: The principal facade on ryand Avenue is symetrically organized into three bays defined by continuous stucco covered brick pilasters. Within each story, the smooth sided pilasters have a molded base, an intermediate molding and a capital molding at the floor and roof lines. At the roof line, console like capitals continue into chimneys decorated with horizontal moldings and medallions. Ground floor pilasters are finished with simulated rock-face rustication. Floor and roof lines are further defined by cornices which butt to the pilasters. Below the deep roof cornice, bracketed at the projecting bays, is a paneled frieze with plaited fan decoration in the bays and nail-head pattern elsewhere. The narrower center bay contains the entry to the stair lobby. The round arch opening, done in simulated stone, is supported by quarter round engaged columns with cast-iron acanthus leaves in the capitals.Above the central arch is a cross window with a turned wood mullion and stucco jambs featuring acanthus leaf capitals at the transom line, similar to the ground floor. Wood windows which are typical throughout the upper floors consist of single light double hung sash with a fixed transom of clear glass surrounded by a border of stained glass.
Centered at the third level is a "Venetian Window" with a drop arch panel and paired round arch windows. Mullion and jambs are identical with the second floor windows below. The wood tympanum features a central medallion and flanking panels in a fan pattern. The stucco arch spandrel is detailed in simulated stone as at the first story. A shouldered Queen Anne pediment crowns the central bay. The tympanum, divided horizontally, is decorated with fan ornament at the apex and a festoon^ below. At the shoulder line is a sign panel where the name, "BARBER BLOCK" is still evident. Finish material between the sign panel and the roof cornice is missing.
Store fronts occupy the ground floor space in the two side bays. The south bay is a rarity - all store front material is original and intact. Centered in the bay is an elegant pair of wood and glass paneled doors flanked by cast-iron columns. Large single pane clear glass windows extend to the pilasters. The transom is bordered with stained glass like the upper windows. Perforated cast-iron panels below the main windows provide ventilation to the basement.
The north store front was altered at an early date. The only remaining original materials are the cast-iron sill and the wood jamb and head trim. Centered in the side bays above the store fronts are slant sided projecting bays in the Eastlake style. Detailed in wood, the bays extend to the roof and are similar at both stories. Each bay face has a typical window (described above) and a variety of turned and carved trim - nail-head and pellet moldings, brackets, medallions, shoulder arch panels, and interesting Corinthian inspired colonettes flanking the first floor transoms. Above the hipped roof the bays are topped with pediments, similar in design but smaller than the center bay pediment.The south facade (Washington Street) while assymetrical is organized and detailed in a manner similar to the west facade. The entry bay, slightly east of center, is nearly identical with its counter part on the west. The only difference being in the crowning pediment where the festoon is replaced with a sign panel showing the building date, "1890". East of the entry bay is an original service entry with a pair of typical glass and wood paneled doors in a segmental arch opening. At the east end of the building is another store front similar in design to the corner store, and with all original material intact. West of the entry arch is a service entry to the corner store, again with typical doors in a segmental arch opening. The rectangular window further west is not original. The four projecting bays in the upper floors are identical to those on the west facade. Flanking the projecting bays, except at the entry bay are single rectangular openings with typical sash and transom. Above the transoms are wood panels with pellet molding and shouldered -arch panel at the second floor, and nail-head molding at the third floor, matching the detail fn the projecting bays. The east and north walls are of undecorated common brick. Windows are double hung in segmental arch openings.
The exterior is in good to poor condition. The roof is badly in need of repair as are some stuccoed areas. A substantial amount of wood trim is missing or deteriorated.
INTERIOR FINISH
Except for the dirt floor in the basement and cement floors in restrooms, finish flooring is 3/4" tongue and groove fir. All original flooring is intact, but much is covered by carpet, linoleum and other composition materials. The central stairway off the Grand Avenue entry is a straight run with a mid point landing where the original wood and glass paneled entry doors are located. A partition and entry door has been added at the small ground level stair lobby. Paneled wood wainscoting extends from the entry arch to the stairs. From the stair upward and throughout the corridors the wainscoting consists of a molded
baseboard and vertical vee-groove paneling with molded cap. Stair treads and risers are plain fir. The round oak handrail is carried on simple metal wall brackets, and terminates in a carved oak newel post. A balustrade with shaped oak rail and
turned balusters surrounds the stair opening. Walls and ceilings in the stairway
and throughout the building are wood lath and undecorated plaster.The dog-leg stair off Washington Street continues to the third floor, and is identical in detail to the Grand Avenue stair. Doors to adjacent stores have been added in the entry lobby. The stair/corridor opening at the second and third stories is framed with a pair of depressed three-centered arches which are supported by impost blocks at the side walls, and by a column, extending from the newel post, at the center. Arches and supporting members are of wood. The turned column has a "Romanesque" capital of carved acanthus leaves. Impost blocks consist of a half capital and turned pendant. The arch spandral is decorated in a fan pattern. Second floor doorways have a transom, and single light doors with obscure wire glass. (The glass may not be original.) Below the glass is a horizontal panel and paired panels with bolectionmoldings. Door casings are detailed in the Eastlake manner. Third floor doorways are similar except that doors are four-panel.
Most rooms along the north side have double hung relights in the corridor wall. Though the detailing is of the period, the relights may have been added in ca. 1915 when the hotel to the north was built, obscuring the north windows of the Barber
Block. Rooms and apartments are simply finished - wood baseboard identical with that in the corridor and plaster walls and ceilings, some painted and some with wallpaper. None of the exposed paper appears to be original. Projecting bays are paneled above and below the sash. Bay openings are framed with shouldered arches of plaster with cast plaster impost blocks.
Except as otherwise indicated, woodwork throughout the building is cedar. Woodwork in most rooms and in the west entry area is painted. In the stairways, corridors and in a few rooms, the woodwork has a natural varnish finish. The original heating system consisted of a steam boiler and cast iron radiators with cast-in scroll and tendril decoration. The heating system is not operative - many radiators have been removed.
There is no remaining evidence of the original lighting system. At present each room is lit by a single bare bulb with pull chain suspended from the ceiling. The interior is generally in good condition. Some plaster on the third floor has suffered water damage from roof leaks. Wood and plaster surfaces are in need of refinishing.
PROPOSED RESTORATION AND REMODELING
The prospective purchasers of the Barber Block plan to restore and remodel the building during early 1977. Proposed work includes: full restoration of the exterior; and remodeling for stores on the ground floor and apartments on the upper floors (original interior fabric will be retained to the extent possible under current housing and fire codes.)
The Barber Block is an excellent and unique Oregon example of late Victorian architecture, and a significant landmark in the development of East Portland. Though the design is somewhat late for the period (several commercial structures in the Richarsonian Romanesque style were built in Portland in 1889 and 1890), the Barber Block exhibits a rich and unusual assemblage of late Vistorian styles - Italianate, Eastlake, Queen Anne, "Romanesque", and even "Gothic" elements. The various styles are skillfully organized into a dynamic yet unified composition. The Barber Block is unique in that it is the largest structure of its type and style extant in the State.
It has been suggested that the architect for the Barber Block was Justus Krumbein, designer of the Oregon State Capitol and other prominent structures of the period. There is no evidence to support this contention. The Barber Block was one of the primary commercial structures in East Portland, and is today one of a few still Standing albiig Grand Alveriu'e that comprise the remaining evidence of a once thriving and independent.town. East Portland's history goes back to the 1820s when sites were cleared from tHe virgin forest land and / cabins built by the French-Canadian fur trappers of the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1845, Dr. John McLoughlin, acting as administrator for one of the Frenchmen's wills, sold the land that would become East Portland to James B. Stevens for $200. In 1861, Stevens, who saw great potential for the east bank offlhe Willamette River, founded East Portland. Because the rail and water transportazron facilities developed along the west bank, East Portland did not achieve the success of the City of Portland, but it did prosper for 30 years as an independent community.
A year after completion of the Barber Block (June, 1891) the citizens of Portland, East Portland, and Albina voted to consolidate the three separate towns. Unified Portland became a city of 80, 000, the second largest in the Pacific States. Henry Barber was born in Albany, New York in 1832. As a young man Barber enlisted in the Army and served at various posts across the country, ending up in the Oregon Indian Wars of 1855. After discharge he settled on the Columbia River near Astoria and in 1860 moved to Multnomah County. In 1879 Barber entered the mortuary business in East Portland at Fourth and I Streets. He continued the business under his own name until 1891 when he formed the partnership of Barber and Hill. That same year the firm moved into their elegant new quarters which was described in H. K. Hines' History of Oregon as, "... the nicest business block in East Portland. " Hines further states .that, "Here he (Henry Barber) has without exception the finest undertaking rooms in the Northwest, if not all the Coast. "