Louis J. Bader House & Garden
3604 SE Oak Street, Portland
Entered into the NRHP: 30 Oct 1989
Classified Tudor Revival, this home was designed by James DeYoung and Knud Roald, and built in 1923.Zillow site:http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3604-SE-Oak-St-Portland-OR-97214/53900160_zpid/
Further images can be found HERE
Comments from the NRHP application (found HERE)
BUILDING AND SITE DESCRIPTION
In 1922 an elegant Tudor hou.se was built for Mr. and Mrs. Louis Bader. Designed by the Portland firm of DeYoung and Roald, Architects, the house is located at 3604 S.E. Oak Street in Portland, Oregon. The Bader Houge is a superb example of a finely Grafted Tudor home. The front lawn sweeps upward from the street to the decorative half-timber and stucco clad building. The house faces north across Oak Street to the trees of Laurelhurst Park, and is flanked by fine homes representing diverse styles. The interior of the house is luxurious in its extensive use of rich oak and mahogany, Italian tile and marble, its massive fireplaces, and its ornate fixtures. The house also has one of the region's earliest built-in vacuum systems. There have been no exterior and very minor interior alterations to the single family home.
The high-style Tudor house is centered on a 75 by 170 foot lot. The front lawn slopes down to street level, while a formal
garden with paths of Italian marble is located at the back of the house. The present landscaping follows the original pattern
designed by George Otten of Portland, Oregon. The building plan is layed out in an L pattern. The main wing, 43 feet 6 inches by 31 feet, with an 11 foot extension to the west, parallels the street. A smaller wing, 16 feet by 16 feet 6 inches across,
extends from the rear of the building on the southeast corner. The house has two and a half stories, and a finished basement. The main hipped roof is steeply sloped. A gable joins the roof at the front, northwest corner, just west of the main entrance. Two small intersecting hipped roof gables cover a sun room extension to the west and the small wing at the rear of the house. The roof is currently covered with composition shingles. A matching stuccoed garage, with decorative half-timbers, sits in the southeast corner of the rear garden.The Bader House and the other luxurious homes lining the
south side of Oak Street between 33rd. and 37th. face Laurelhurst Park, and mark the southern boundary of the Laurelhurst
district. The Park extends for six blocks east to west and three blocks from north to south, and includes 26 acres. The Park
is filled with Fir, Oak and other trees, and with many large laurel bushes. The land of the park slopes sharply down to the
north to a small lake that is the home for ducks and geese. Laurelhurst Park provides an island of peaceful green amidst the
city's traffic. Documentation to place the Park on the National Register has been submitted to the State of Oregon, but is on
hold pending further action by the City of Portland. The Bader House is of wood frame construction, with decorative half-timbers. The walls are clad with stucco, applied as plaster on a metal lath or, in some sections, as plaster on hollow tiles, according to the architect's plans. The decorative half-timbers are a typical, and distinguishing, feature of Tudor houses, and are used with striking beauty in this example. The contractor for the Bader House was Otto Salzman of Portland, Oregon, who built many of the houses in the Laurelhurst district. (1)
BUILDING EXTERIOR
Front Facade (NortM: The front of the Bader House is highlighted by a finely Grafted entry porch, centered on the main wing, and by a small rectangular salient set above the porch. A handsome walkway made from imported English bricks set in a herringbone pattern parallels the driveway, then runs along the front of the house to the entrance; a narrow walk continues to the side of the house. A striking gabled salient rises to the west of the entry. The upper floors of the gable are elaborately half-timbered, in the distinctive Tudor style. The main roof is hipped and centered above the entrance porch. A massive, brick-faced, chimney rises from the west side of the main wing to an elevation slightly above the ridge line of the main roof. The large chimney marks another classic element of the Tudor style.The entry porch projects dramatically from the front of the house. Its flat, parapeted, roof is supported by three clustered square columns at each outside corner, placed so that when viewed from front or side, they appear as pairs of columns. They are decorated at their capitals with elaborate scroll-like braces. The pairs of columns are connected by slightly curved Tudor arches serving as decorative lintels. The porch's parapet is decorated with quatrefoil cutouts, similar in style to designs used during the Tudor period. Directly over the porch is a small, rectangular bay holding a double window with leaded, diamond-shaped panes. Beneath the window is a masonry window box, supported by heavy wooden brackets. The door is heavy quarter-sawn oak, with an elegant tripartate window in its upper portion. The window has leaded, diamond-shaped panes, with beveled edges. The door is flanked by narrow windows matching those of the door itself in style and placement. A screen door for this entrance, made of quarter-sawn oak with copper screening, has been found in the basement and will be restored. The entry is flanked on the first floor by tripartate leaded windows. Those to the east are 4 over 12, with a brick sill. The use of brick to highlight features of the house is characteristic of Tudor styling. All of the windows in the house have wooden sashs and white metal leaded glass, unless otherwise noted. The first floor windows west of the porch have a central section 7 over 21, while its side sections are 3 over 9. The sill beneath this casement is also brick. The end windows of both tripartate units are casement windows.
On the second floor above the east windows, are a pair of double-hung windows, 8 over 8. Rising above the west windows is a dramatic architectural feature, containing a false salient and a steep gable with curvilinear cut bargeboards. Overhanging second stories are characteristic of the Tudor style, and examples of these can be found in the Bader House. In fact, however, the front salient and its gable project only a short distance from the main wall, and the architect's skillful design uses a boxed lower edge with supporting brackets, and the upward sweep of decorative half-timbers, to give the illusion of a structurally significant overhang. The second floor of this unit holds a tripartate window; each section has 16 panes. The side windows open as casements, and the center is fixed. Above thesewindows, just below the peak of the gable, is a small 6 paned attic window.
The westward extension of the house is on two levels. The front half of the extension is a one floor columned porch with a
flat roof. The columns, lintels, and parapet of this porch match in style and design those of the front porch. End porches of
this style are characteristic of Tudor houses. A first floor sun room, and its French doors, is visible through the open colonade of the porch. Above the sun room is a second floor sewing room with three large 16 paned windows: the end windows open as casements. A small hipped roof gable rises above the sewing room and joins the main roof to the east.
West Facade
the central section of the west facade is formed by the sun room and sewing room. North of this feature, toward the front of
the house, is the columned porch with the wall of the main building rising behind it. The west wall of the sun room has three high, multi-paned windows; the center window is 22 over 44, while the flanking windows are 10 over 20. Only an awning window at the top, north end of the room opens. The wall under the windows is clad in wood. The sewing room has four leaded, 20-paned, windows; the two windows at the center open as casements, while those at the end are fixed. The windows of both the sun room and the sewing room are shaded by striped awnings that match those originally on the house. The side of the porch has three pairs of columns, similar to the front porch. The porch floor is made of small Italian tiles, layed in a herringbone pattern. French doors exit the living room to the porch. Above the flat roofed porch is the half-timbered second floor of the main wing, with two double-hung windows, 8 over 8. The brick faced chimney rises against the main wall, centered between the porch and the sun room. The covered porch and the sun room wing with its high windows are elegantly Tudor in style. Visable to the rear of the main unit is the stuccoed west wall of the small southeast wing, set back 38 feet from the end of the west extension. On its first floor are a wooden doublehung window near the inside wall, and a larger 9 paned woodenwindow near the outer corner. The second floor has a single double-hung wooden window with a striped awning. A small brick faced chimney rises through the hipped roof gable.
Rear Facade
(South'^: The rear of the Bader house appears to the eye on twolevels: the larger main section of the house to the west; and the small, projecting, southeast wing. The first floor entrance in this facade is at the center of the building. A small,
uncovered, porch leads up to a French door with 16 leaded windows over a single panel. The door is flanked by matching 12 paned windows, also over a single panel. The French door is protected by a screen door. Above this entrance is a half-timbered, rectangular bay that is attached to both the main wall and to the wall of the east wing. The lower edge of the bay is boxed and supported by wooden brackets. The bay holds three tall Tudor windows. The center window has 20 large panes and a border of half-panes, while the flanking windows have a single row of 4 panes with a half-pane border. The side windows open as casements. Above the bay on the attic level is a distinctive dormer, with an unusual roof line. The main section of the dormer's roof resembles a shed dormer. Unlike a shed dormer, however, the roof curves down at the ends to join the main roof. The dormer's single large aluminum framed window is an alteration by a previous owner. The window is shaded by an awning, and there is an asphalt deck below the sill. The entry is flanked on the main wall to the west by a
large tripartate window on the first floor - its central section is 7 over 21, with side units that open as casements of 3 over 9. The bay is flanked on the second floor to the west by a pair of double-hung windows, 8 over 8. Both sets of windows are
protected by awnings. Further to the west is the extension forming the sun room and sewing room with their large windows.
The sun room has three high windows, 8 over 16, with wood cladding under the windows. Only the upper-east awning window opens. The sewing room has three large 16 paned windows, with the end windows opening as casements and the center windows fixed. Both sets of windows are protected by striped awnings similar to the originals.The two-story southeast wing appears visually as a distinct element of the south facade, and is covered by a hipped gable. On the first floor, the wing's stuccoed wall is marked by four large, wooden windows that appear from the distance as a single large horizontal window. Stairs leading to a basement door are guarded by a wrought iron railing. On the second floor are two
wooden double-hung windows, protected by an awning.
East Facade
The east facade of the Bader House is dominated at its center by a two-story bay having a semi-hexagonal bay window on
the ground floor and a rectangular salient on the second. The smaller side windows of the first floor bay are 3 over 9, with
lower sections that swing open as casement windows. The large, fixed, central window is 7 over 21. This bay, and the salient above it, are typical features of classic Tudor houses. The bay is flanked to the south by a pair of wooden double-hung windows, and a rear door recessed into a small arch. North of the bay are large casement enclosed tripartate windows; all are fixed and have 12 panes. The sill under the casement is brick. The second floor salient has a pair of wooden double-hung windows. It is flanked on the wall to the south by a similar unit, and to the north by a pair of double-hung windows, 8 over 8. A small dormer with a design similar to the dormer at the back of the house, is set in the main roof, just to the north of the twostory bay. The chimneys, and the front gable, rise above the roof lines.
Garden
The formal garden at the rear of the house was designed by George Otten, and sweeps south from the rear of the house. Its
symetrical lines are bisected by converging flower beds and marble steps that lead to the garden's rear terrace. The entire garden is bordered by flower beds with perrenials, and by various decorative bushes and trees. Two thirds of the way between the house and the steps is an elegant stone fountain set in a square pool, that is original to the house. Two marble steps risebehind the fountain to the terrace of the upper lawn. Flanking the steps are large stone urns, and narrow flower beds. The present urns replace the original pair removed by a previous owner, but closely match the originals visible in historic photographs. A wide path of pink Italian marble runs south some eight feet, splits into a circle that encloses a large flower bed, then joins again to lead to a small marble platform at the back of the property. The platform holds a teak bench protected by a columned roof. The garden gains privacy from a western border of arborvitae; a southern border marked by a hedge of holly, placed behind the marble platform; and an eastern border marked by the garage, a long pergola with hexagonal concrete corner posts crossed by heavy timbers, a variety of bushes, and a tall coniferous bush. A small patio west of the fountain is shaded by a tall cedar. A second pergola links the house and garden, sitting with its southern corner posts close to the end of the house's small wing, and extending into the garden. The corner posts are similar to those of the first pergola. Wood timbers atop the posts form a heavy trellis supporting a decorative grape vine. The paving under the pergola is of Italian marble, and the vines of a decorative grape twists over the frame. The grape is an original planting, and in the summer its leaves are brilliant red. The garden brings a sense of ordered peace, and provides a refuge from the city.
BUILDING INTERIOR
Three levels of the Bader House - basement, first floor and second floor - share the same general plan. All are divided at
the center by long halls set on axes from the main entrance to the back door. On all levels, this hall contains a staircase.
West of the main hall, all floors contain one large room running the full depth of the house, approximately 30 by 17 feet; and a
small room in the sun room extension, measuring some 15 by 11 feet. The sections east of the main halls contain a series of
smaller rooms that extend into the southeast wing. The east sections of the house measure roughly 46 by 15 feet on all levels
Basement
The large west room of the basement is a ballroom. The basement's sun room extension is connected as an integral part of
the main room, and was used for billiards. This spectacular room was used by the original owners for dances, parties and social gatherings. Two marble steps lead down into the room, as if descending into the great room of an English mansion. A massive fireplace of Indiana limestone dominates the room. It is believed that the fireplace was imported to Oregon from an Elks lodge in Indiana that was being torn down at the time the Bader House was under construction. (2) The bas-relief portraits of three presidents, Garfield, Lincoln and Jackson, decorate the mantel. The walls are detailed with decorative half-timbers that run up to a narrow shelf set at about the 6 foot level, and the ceiling is checkered by large false beams. The walls are white plaster. The floor is a checkerboard pattern of 9"x9" Italian marble tiles. Tiles of rich red brown marbled with white alternate with tiles of white marbled with grey. High on the front wall are two 6 paned windows, hinged at the top. The back wall of the main room has three similar windows, and that of the billiard extension two. All are wood. Original wrought iron ceiling fixtures and sconces light the rooms. A small wine cellar, placed under the side porch, is entered from the
billiards extension. The finished central hall holds the stairs. Behind the stairs is the vaccum equipment built into the house. The pump is marked "Spencer Turbine Company / Hartford Conn. USA / Vaccum Cleaning Equipment". The main vaccum units are in working order, and the entire system is being reactivated. The system marked an important technological development for this region. The western section of the basement is divided into a series of unfinished work and utility rooms. This part of the basement houses the original oil-fired boiler from the United States Radiator Corporation that still provides heat to the individual hot water room radiators. Gas has been restored for cooking and to fuel the domestic water heater.
First Floor
The front vestibule of the Bader House is fully paneled in quarter-sawn oak, and has a tiled floor. Coat closets flank the
door. The axial hall, its mood warmed by golden oak paneling on the walls, sweeps through to French doors leading to a rear
vestibule and the single rear exterior door. On the east side of the hall, a carved oak balustrade and paneled wall of the main
staircase dominate the space. The square newel-posts have collars inset with retangular panels, while the main shafts have
three deep flutes. The newel caps are in the form of tiered entablatures. An original fixture hangs from the hall ceiling;
sconces provide additional light. These fixtures, and the other original bronze fixtures throughout the house, were purchased
from the Baker & English Company of Portland (later called Baker Company, Specialties). Except for the basement, kitchen and bathrooms, all floors of the first, second and third levels are 1 1/2" oak. The oak paneling, window and door frames, and other detailing throughout the house is quarter-sawn oak. The tile and stone floors in the building are of Italian tile or marble.
Right of the main entrance, a 12 foot arch opens into the living room. Light enters through the tall Tudor windows at the
front and back of the room, and through the French doors leading to the covered porch. Two ornate bronze light fixtures hang from the ceiling, each with six graceful, swan-necked brackets. Sconces are set around the room. A high, dark, moulding protects the base of the walls, and picture moulding circles the room several inches from the coved ceiling. Quarter-sawn oak frames the windows and doors. A large fireplace with a shellpattern frieze, carved of sandstone from the Hillsboro area and made by the Blaesing Granite Company of Portland, Oregon, dominates the west wall. The carved granite mantel and scroll brackets of the fireplace have the elegance of a traditional Tudor fireplace. The fireplace is flanked by French doors leading to the covered porch to the north and the sun room to the south. The north and south window casements are spanned by heavy wood curtain rods, carved in a spiral pattern, that are orignial to the house. The original living room curtains, from Liberty of London Fabrics, are available, and will be restored to the room.The sun room has a small Italian tile fireplace set against the north inside corner of the room. Leaded windows fill most of the west and south walls, while French doors open to the side porch. The oak window frames blend with a golden covering on the coved ceiling and the walls. The wallcovering is gold leaf applied over burlap. (3) Dark Italian tiles cover the floor, and a bronze light fixture hangs from the ceiling. The warmth of wood and wallcovering reflect luxury and the finest craftsmanship. The adjoining side porch has a floor of small Italian tile set in a herringbone pattern alternating dark brown and medium brown tiles, and having a decorated border. An original, hexagonal, light fixture is mounted on the ceiling, while a long swing hangs from original ceiling hooks. East of the main entrance is the dining room, with window and door frames, and half paneling, of rich mahogany. The room is entered through wide accordion-style French doors. A small, decorative, tile fireplace occupies the outside-rear corner of the room. (This is the only non-working fireplace in the house.)The top of the mahogany mantle holds a hidden storage compartment. The room measures some seventeen by fifteen feet. An original, ornate, bronze chandelier hangs from the center of the coved ceiling. A call button on the floor under the table was used to summon an attendant. A small hallway, with a pantry and breakfast room, separate the dining room from the kitchen. The original cabinets of the pantry have glass doors and white painted frames. The breakfast room occupies the semi-hexagonal bay window, and is separated from the hall by a glass and wood framed arch. The multi-paned windows of the bay flood the small chamber with light.
The kitchen has been modernized, with new cabinets, lights, and counter and floor tiles. The kitchen cabinets match the
original cabinets, still existing in the pantry, while the counter tiles also match the original white color scheme. The floors in the pantry, breakfast room and kitchen have all been redone with large Mexican terra cotta colored tiled pavers that complement the oak floors of the dining room and the small Italian tiles of the rear vestibule. Behind the kitchen is a small service porch that has also been retiled. A door exits to the side of the house from the service room. A small half-bathsits west of the kitchen, and is entered from the rear vestibule. The room's white and blue tile, and all fixtures except the
toilet, are original. A laundry chute leads to the basement. An original ceiling fixture and sconce light the rear vestibule.
Second Floor
The second floor is reached by the staircase leading up from the entrance hall. The stairs, wainscotting, and all wood in the
upper hall were damaged by a fire in 1987, but have been skillfully replaced using the original plans. Tall tripartate windows, with leaded panes, flood the upstairs hall with light. Inside wood-framed screens close over the side windows of the
unit. In a feature unique to these windows in the house, the cross joints of the leading are embossed with fleurs-de-lis.
These decorations were taken from the original windows after the fire.
The master bedroom is directly above the livingroom, and can be entered either through a door at the north end of the halftimbered upstairs hall, or from the main bathroom. Leaded, multi-paned, Tudor windows overlook the north (front) of the
house while pairs of double-hung windows open over the covered porch to the west and over the back garden. A fireplace of Italian tile, with a wooden mantle, is centered on the west wall of the room. The tile of the hearth has been replaced, but with a style that matches the original. An alcove overlooking the formal garden has picture molding window seats that hide storage cabinets. The original bedroom light fixtures were removed by a previous owner. The sewing room is attached to the rear of the west wall. The high windows of the small room take up much of its wall space.
The main bathroom, overlooking the front porch, has a small leaded window with diamond-pattern panes and inside screens. The bathroom tile was severely damaged by smoke from the fire that destroyed the staircase, but has been replaced with tile chosen to match the style of the period. The bath, toilet and pedestal sink are original, as are the light fixtures beside the sink,
which were found in the basement and restored. The ceiling fixture is a replacement.The east side of the second floor has bedrooms at the north and south, with a small study between them. The most distinctive of the three rooms is the study. It is entered from the back bedroom or by an arched hall leading from the main hall. The original light fixture in the study is silver plated, and matched a silver-leaf wallcovering (applied with the same technique as the gold leaf in the sun room) that once covered the room. The silver covering was replaced by a previous owner. The study has built-in bookcases and a window seat, in addition to painted wainscotting. There is a laundry chute in the hall.
Attic
The attic is reached by stairs set beside the main staircase. The attic is partially finished, with a small bathroom and maid's room. The unfinished sections of the attic provide storage space. The attic bathroom is original, with the exception of a new toilet; the floor tile is hexagonal, whitewith a blue border around the edge of the room. The window of the small bedroom opens through a large dormer over the back of the house. The original windows were replaced by a previous owner
with an aluminum framed sliding unit. It is the only nonoriginal window in the house. An asphalt deck sits outside of
the window.
.ALTERATIONS
The Bader House is remarkably intact. The main alterations to the house were made after the fire that damaged the stairway,
upper hall and the main bathroom in June, 1987. The treads and risers of the stairs and the wooden paneling of the stairway were accurately restored to the original. The stair-rail, while refinished, is original. The balustrade on the second floor was
replaced following the original pattern. The second floor landing and all woodwork in the hallway were restored to match
the original, using northern quarter-sawn white oak. The original doors were scorched, and had to be sanded and
refinished. The bathroom was severely damaged in the fire, and its tile had to be replaced. The wall tiles are designed in a
pattern similar to the originals. The original bathroom tile was white; the replacement is light green. In addition, a small sitz
bath was removed, and replaced with a corner cabinet and shelf. (4) The kitchen was remodeled after the fire described above. Other minor alterations include the replacement by a previous owner of the rear dormer windows with a sliding aluminum window. The current owners intend to restore this window to its original appearance. In addition, the wooden shingles of the roof were replaced with composition shingles. Finally, baseboard electric heaters have been added to the unheated ballroom. The only alterations to the garden, besides the growth of shrubs and rotation of flowers, are the replacement of the original urns, removed by a previous owner; and the extension of the arborvitae, on the west side of the property, from the rear of the house to the southern boundary of the garden.
The Louis J. Bader House on SE Oak Street at 37th Avenue in Portland, Oregon faces north onto Laurelhurst Park, a central feature of the Laurelhurst district, one of the city's earliest and most fashionable planned residential park developments. Laurelhurst was laid out in 1909 by the Ladd Estate Company on the historic Hazelfern Farm property held by William M. Ladd. The subdivision was a pace-setter, locally, in the park, parkway and residential community movement so heavily influenced by the work of Frederick Law Olmsted. In fact, Laurelhurst Park, the focal point of the development, was designed by Olmsted's successors under contract to the City of Portland. The Bader House was among the later houses to complete development of the subdivision. It was built in 1923 from plans in the English Cottage style by the firm of DeYoung and Roald. Louis Bader, a lumberman from Illinois, arrived in Portland in 1910. By the time he commissioned his house fronting Laurelhurst Park, he had ventured successfully into real estate marketing. He financed a number of the houses in the development. He resided in the house on SE Oak Street until 1936.
In a pattern typical of Ladd Estate Company developments, houses in the subdivision were to cost not less than $3,500 and were to follow certain other standards, such as the common generous set back from the public right of way. While all the houses were traditional in style, the particular architectural idiom could be chosen by the property owner. Bader's house meets National Register Criterion C in the areas of architecture and community planning as one of the best-designed and most substantial houses defining the southerly edge of the public park space which is the focal point of the planned development. The Tudor vein of the Arts and Crafts style is expressed on exterior elevations in such features as cross gables with decorated verge boards, simulated half timbering, Tudor-arched porticos with upper deck balustrades ornamented with
quatrefoil cut-out motifs, heavily-mullioned casement windows with patterned leaded glazing, and oriel windows on corbels. The two and a half story rectangular hip-roofed main volume has a west wing paralleling the long east-west axis and a massive chiinney faced with patterned brick. Walls are finished with stucco. In these aspects, the house is modeled after the country estates in the English Arts and Crafts tradition, especially, it seems, those of Sir Edwin Lutyens. The interior has the medieval character typical of Arts and Crafts design, including an entry stairhall with an arcaded stair railing, dark wood
paneling and trim, including ceiling beams contrasting with plaster walls, and stone fireplaces, all projecting an ambience aptly described herein as one of "comfortable luxury."The detached garage, which stands at the rear, or southeast corner of the lot, is a modest, two-bay, one-story building of frame construction which has a stuccoed exterior with decorative "half tiiribering" applied to the upper walls and front corners. The garage has a flat, built-up roof, and its doors are typical folding
doors of the 1920s, being composed of hinged vertical tongue and groove panels in stiles and rails with diagonal bracing and multipane glazing. That it was designed in concert with the house and garden is evident from its finish details and the secondary pergola which makes a gateway or transition feature at its front. Because it is an aspect of the property's historical architectural theme, it is counted as a separately contributing feature. The garden, on the other hand, will not count as a separately contributing feature until it can be more fully evaluated in the context of early 20th Century landscape gardening locally. Even at present, however, it is clear that the garden is well preserved in its original plan and in the general outline of its planting key. It is an integral part of the "garden suburb" which Laurelhurst developers cultivated. The rear garden was laid out by George Otten in the formal Italian tradition with two distinct terraced compartments linked by a strong central axis created by alignment of a sundial, flagstone concourse and steps, and a circular bed. A classical pergola terminates the garden view from the house and gives the garden an illusion of depth on a lot no more than 75 x 170 feet in area. George Otten was the long-time landscape engineer for the Oregon State Highway Commission and participated in landscaping the mall in the course of the State Capitol Reconstruction Project, 1936-1939.
The Bader House was highly ranked in the City of Portland Historic Resources Inventory of 1983-1984. Comparative analysis of houses in the Laurelhurst district indicates there is only one other in the subdivision which represents high style Arts and Crafts, or English Cottage architecture in the Tudor vein as well. It is the house of John Dodson at 3641 ME Couch Street, designed by De Young and Roald and built four years later than the nominated property (1927). The Bader House has superior status in its stylistic category on the basis of its developed landscape, its craftsmanship and quality of materials.
The New Heathman Hotel in Portland, a National Register property, is among the best known works by the firm of James DeYoung and Knud Roald.
.HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Summary and Contents
The Louis J. Bader House and Garden, 3604 S.E. Oak Street, Portland, Oregon, is an elegant Tudor style home; it is one of
the finest examples of the Tudor style in the prestigious Laurelhurst neighborhood. The Bader home was designed by the
notable architectural firm of James DeYoung and Knud Roald. The basic structure of the building cost $10,000. (5) The total
cost of'house and garden, with their elegant marble, tile, wood and bronze finishings exceeded $50,000, and may have reached $75,000. (6) DeYoung and Roald shared a professional partnership from 1919 to 1929. During their ten year
partnership, they created over ten Portland buildings now listed on the City of Portland Historic Resource Inventory. The Bader house was one of their earliest residential commissions. The Tudor styled Bader home quickly became a distinctive landmark in the Laurelhurst neighborhood.
Laurelhurst was an elegant neighborhood when Louis Bader chose it as the site for his new home: it remains so today.
The residential district evolved from the Ladd Family Hazelfern Farm, platted by the Ladd family in 1909. The Ladds created a
well planned residential community whose homeowners were required to meet community planning criteria. Each home had to cost at least $3,500, and the developers paid attention to the creation of a harmonious park like setting for these homes.
Common setback distances were required from the paved, curving,streets that wound between a variety of planted trees. Sandstone gate pylons guarded major intersections to set off the distinctive subdivision. (7) Homebuilders could hire their own architects, or use plans provided by the Laurelhurst Company that featured a variety of architectural types. The Company used the proximity of three street car lines - Belmont, Montavilla and Rose City, as a selling point. (8) Also important was the splendor of Laurelhurst Park itself, where the annual Rose Festival Queen Coronation ceremony was held during the 1920s and 1930s. In 1923, an article in the Portland Qregonian noted that nearly 80% of the three-quarter square mile Laurelhurst district had been developed, and that the Park itself had recently been voted the most beautiful in the west by the West Coast Parks Convention. (9)
Louis J. Bader And Later Owners
Louis J. Bader was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1878. Louis Bader, his wife Lillie, and their children Edith, John and William, moved to Portland from Illinois in 1910 for reasons of health. They joined many other young families that moved here after the Lewis and Clark Exposition. Bader had been president of the John Bader Lumber Company in Chicago, and possessed
extensive knowledge of the lumber business. (10) The family's first Portland residence was rented at 31 East 61st, near the base of Mt. Tabor. The simple wood frame building was their home for only one year, when they moved to the Alameda Ridge area. Here, near the intersection of 47th. and Alameda, they lived from 1911 until 1922. The house was a large wood frame bungalow. During these years, the Polk City Directories identify Louis Bader as serving in various occupations, including salesman, lumberman, and as an employee of the American Map and Reproducing Company. In 1921-22 he began marketing real estate. He continued doing so during the years that he owned the Oak Street residence. (11) In 1914, Louis and Lillie Bader had visited Europe, escaping just before the outbreak of World War I. It is believed that the homes and gardens Louis Bader saw on this trip influenced the designs he later chose for his own home and garden. The Oak
Street residence was the first of Bader's Oregon homes to displayhis European tastes through imported materials and rich wood accenting. Bader also financed many of the fine homes built in the Laurelhurst district. (12)
The Baders were a private family, and enjoyed the refuge provided by their home and garden. Friends were, however,
invited to frequent parties held by both the children and the parents. The brothers were members of Kappa Alpha Pi, and with
their father, belonged to the Lumbermans' Association. Mrs. Bader was president of Pi Phi, and was a musician. The religious
family were members of the St. James Lutheran Church in downtown Portland. The family's parties were held in the garden and the large basement room. When Edith Bader married in 1931, she decended the main staircase to the ceremony held in the living room. Louis Bader died in 1950.
•
The Baders owned their new home from 1922 until 1936, when it was sold to Dr. Merl Margason, M.D. (13) The Margason family owned the property until 1980, and maintained the house as originally designed by DeYoung and Roald. Dr. Margason is noted for his principle leadership in the evolution of the Portland Clinic, which is still in existence. Dr. Margason practiced
medicine in Portland for fifty years, serving as the President of the Multnomah County Medical Society in 1950. His speciality was neurology. (14)
In 1980, the Bader House was sold to William and Kristin Bishop. They kept the home until it was purchased by the current
owners, Roberta Siegel and Nathan Sanders, in 1987.
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
House
The Bader House, designed by the architectural firm of DeYoung and Roald, is a particularly elegant example of a high
style Tudor house. Many exterior elements of the house are characteristic of the style, including decorative half-timbers,
extensive heavy detailing, cross gables, bays, and front and side porches. The craftsmanship throughout is of high quality, as illustrated by the sun room's exterior paneling; the porches withtheir heavy brackets and Italian tile floors; and the massive
window casements framing leaded windows, some with brick sills. DeYoung and Roald used decorative, non-structural, halftimbers, a feature typical of Tudor houses, and of stucco cladding, in designing the home. They included extensive, heavy, detailing in their design. The tall, multi-paned leaded windows, set in heavy wooden frames, are common in Tudor homes, as are brick sills and heavy brackets supporting overhanging bays. All are present on the Bader House. Also important in Tudor architecture are massive chimneys, usually of brick or stone, and the large main chimney of the Bader House gives focus and balance to the home. It is further typical of Tudor chimneys as it serves several fireplaces.
Placement of the chimney calls attention to another characteristic of Tudor buildings present in the Bader House, the use of intersecting gables, for the chimney rises from the valley formed by the front and west gables of the roof. The southeast
wing is capped by a third intersecting gable. Small entry porches similar to those of the Bader House are found on many
Tudor homes. The elegance of the porch is increased by the second floor bay window that carries the porch's lines upward.
To the west, the lines of the front facade sweep upward to the gable, and the overhanging second floor of the gable's salient. The front gable, and the overhanging half-timbered salient, are typical of Tudor buildings. Overhanging salients and bays are also present on the south (rear) and east facades. The two-story bay on the east side is particularly elegant, combining the first floor semi-hexagonal bay window with the second floor rectangular salient.
The use of stucco for nearly all cladding on the Bader House is unusual in Tudor homes, as most combine large surface areas of brick, stone or wood with stucco. However, in its use of multiple materials to add decorative highlights, as illustrated
by its brick window sills, wood panels on the sun room, and wood brackets on the porches and under the second floor bays, the Bader House is typical of Tudor homes. Overall, the simplicityof the Bader House's half-timbered stucco adds to the elegance to this classic building. (15)The interior of the Bader House has an ambiance of comfortable luxury. The materials and craftsmanship throughout are exceptional. The use of Italian tile and marble in both building and garden add great beauty to the home. The marble is particularly striking in the ballroom, with its deep red-brown tiles alternating with white in a checkerboard pattern. Tile floors grace the front and rear vestibules, and the front and side porchs. The oak floors throughout the house are typical of the finest homes of the era. Golden oak and rich mahogany paneling is found throughout the building, and is most striking in the main entrance hall, the dining room, and the upstairs hall. Wide, heavy, window frames of oak or mahogany add great elegance to the windows. One of the most striking details of the house is the large tripartate window at the top of the main staircase. The heavily framed windows overlook the garden at the rear of the house, and are highlighted by small fleurs-de-lis at the cross joints of their white metal leading. The massive stone fireplaces in the basement and living room are reminiscent of the grandest of Tudor buildings, as is the overall luxury of the home. Nearly all of the original light fixtures are in place throughout the house, and represent a high quality of craftsmanship and materials. The large scale of the ballroom, living room and master bedroom increase the feeling of luxury characteristic of the great homes of England. The golden wallcovering, bronze light fixtures, and the rich oak paneling of the sun room add to the luxury of the house. The formal elegance of the house, however, does not distract from its comfort. It is a superbly designed and Grafted house in the Tudor style, and it is a home conducive to family living.
Garden
The wide windows at the rear of the Bader House frame panoramic views of the formal garden, and allow the garden's
sense of ordered peace to radiate into the home. The formality of the symetrical garden further complements the elegance of the house. The lower terrace of the garden sweeps south from the house to the classical fountain set in its shallow pool. Marble steps, flanked by concrete urns, rise to the upper terrace. Here, the wide marble path leads to a circular path and flowerbed, and then to the covered marble platform and its garden bench, centered at the southern end of the garden. From the bench, the view sweeps back across the garden to the house, and the rear porch and pergola that link garden and house. The classical and uncluttered arrangement of elements within the garden found its roots in the Italian garden. The Bader Garden follows this tradition in its simple interior layout and its perimeter of clustered plantings. The perimeter plantings
clearly define the space as separate and private from the surrounding yards, and reflect the Italian tradition of a garden as a refuge from the world. (16)
James DeYoung and Knud Roald. Architects
When Louis J. Bader decided to build the home that carries his name, he hired one of his Alameda Ridge neighbors, James
DeYoung, to design the luxurious house. James DeYoung was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1885 and came to Portland in 1907 at the age of 22. The 1908 City Directory identifies him as a draftsman for the architectural firm of Doyle and Patterson, where he stayed for two years. In 1910, he joined the firm of J.B. Pinkington, but soon changed jobs again to work for the firm of L.R. Bailey. During this period he met fellow architect Knud Roald, who became his partner in 1919. (17)
DeYoung and Roald are primarily known for their commercial designs completed in the 1920s, including: the Hamilton Arms
Apartments (1928); the Douglas Building, 3525-45 S.E. Hawthorne (1929); the Rex Manor Apartments (1929); and the Heathman Hotel (1927), for which they served as supervising architects. The Heathman Hotel and the Douglas Building are on the National Register of Historic Places. The first of DeYoung and Roald's buildings to be placed on the City of Portland Historic Resource Inventory was the Seventh Church of Christ, Scientist, completed in 1919. In addition to the Bader House, the partners designed a number of other Tudor style buildings. In 1921, they completed the St. Johns Methodist Church, a building having many stylistic similarities to the Bader House. All of the above buildings are on the City of Portland Historical Resource Inventory (1984). The architects also designed a Tudor house at 2620 N.E. Fremont (major alterations were made to the building in 1950), and the John Dodson House at 3641 N.E. Couch, both in 1927. The Dodson House is a smaller, more modest, example of the Tudor style. (18)
The firm was active until 1929, when the partnership dissolved and DeYoung and Roald joined other firms. DeYoung
worked with DeYoung, Moscovits and Rosenberg, the firm that handled the renovations to the Yeon Building and to the Meier and Frank Building in 1930. DeYoung left in 1931 and founded his own firm where he remained until retirement. (19) He died in 1967 at the age of 82. (20)
Knud A. Roald was born in Norway in 1878 and educated at the University of Dresden in Germany. He came to the United States in 1911 and soon after met James DeYoung. He also is accredited with designing "many schools, hospitals and residences" in the Pacific Northwest. He died in 1965 at the age of 88. (21) George Qtten. Landscape Architect
George Otten made a significant impact on landscaping and landscape architecture in Oregon during the many years that he
served as landscape architect for the Oregon State Highway Department. He is credited with designing the old Swan Island
airport, sections of Canyon Road in Portland, and with laying out the new Columbia River Highway in such a manner as to save the beaches and recreation facilities of Rooster Rock State Park in the Columbia Gorge. (22) He was also landscape architect during the rebuilding of the Oregon State Capitol after the fire of 1935. (23) The Bader Garden represents early work by by this important Oregon designer and civil engineer. (24)
FOOTNOTES
1: City of Portland, Oregon, Bureau of Buildings, Permit Number
108564, April 3, 1922; and
Interviews with Edith Pate, daughter of Louis J. Bader,
conducted by Karen Zisman January 18, 1989, and by James W.
Fiscus during March, 1989, and based upon records in the
pdsession of Edith Pate.
2: Pate: Information on the Bader family and their use of the
house, and on materials used throughout the building are based
upon the Pate interview and records.
3: Applied using a buttermilk technique.
4: Interview with the current owners, Roberta Siegel and Nathan
Sanders, by Karen Zisman, January, 1989.
5: Building Permit.
6: Pate.
7: Laurelhurst Company Advertising Brochure in the manuscript
collection of the Oregon Historical Society.
8: Laurelhurst Company.
9: "Laurelhurst Is Rated High As Home Section",
The Oregon Sunday Journal. October 27, 1923, Sec. I, 4:1
10: "Louis J. Bader Rites Set Tuesday," The Oregon Journal.
November, 13, 1950, page 5 *.
11: Folk's Portland Citv Directory. Portland, Oregon, R.L. Polk
and Company, 1911-1922.
12: Pate.
13: Ownership records for the Bader House all come from:
Abstract of Title, Ticor Title Company, 421 S.W. Stark,
Portland, Oregon, 97201.
14: Obituary, "Merl Margason", The Qregonian. July 22, 1980,
page B4:1; and
Polk Directories, 1936-1974.
15: HcAlester, Virginia & Lee, A Field Guide To American Homes.
New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1985, pages 355-58.
16: Brookes, John, Room Outside. New York, Penguin Books, 1979,
pages 11-12.
17: Polk Directories, 1910-1930.
18: City of Portland Historic Resources Inventory, 1984.
19: Polk Directories, 1929-1967.
20: Obituary, "James W. DeYoung", The Qregonian. April 19, 1968,
page 3.
21: Obituary, "Knud A. Roald", The Qregonian. April 26, 1965,
page 25.
22: "Landscape architect, road beautification pioneer
dies", The Oregon Journal. March 28, 1978, page 24:1.
Obituary of George Otten (junior).
23: Potter, Elizabeth, Oregon State Historic Preservation
Office, Salem, Oregon, phone interview with James W. Fiscus,
March, 1989.
24: Two George Ottens, father and son, worked in Oregon as
landscape architects. Edith Pate identifies the George Otten
who worked on her father's garden as being about her father's
age, and this information indicates the youger Otten. (24-A) In
addition, George Otten senior retired from the florist and design
business in Portland some years before the Bader house was built.
(24-B) He then moved to Seaside, Oregon, where he lived untill
his death in 1954. The evidence of Edith Pate as to the age of
the landscape architect, combined with the retirement to Seaside
of the elder Otten, indicate the younger George Otten as the
designer of the Bader Garden.
24-A: Otten Sr.: "Horticultural Expert Dies",
The Oregon Journal. February 19, 1954, page 4 *** .
Otten Jr.: "Landscape architect ,...", op. cit.
Bader: "Louis J. Bader Rites ...", op. cit.
24-B: Collins, Dean, "Among Our Neighbors",
The Oregon Journal. October 31, 1939, page 12.
25: Survey conducted by James W. Fiscus, March, 1989.
Classified Tudor Revival, this home was designed by James DeYoung and Knud Roald, and built in 1923.Zillow site:http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3604-SE-Oak-St-Portland-OR-97214/53900160_zpid/
Further images can be found HERE
Comments from the NRHP application (found HERE)
BUILDING AND SITE DESCRIPTION
In 1922 an elegant Tudor hou.se was built for Mr. and Mrs. Louis Bader. Designed by the Portland firm of DeYoung and Roald, Architects, the house is located at 3604 S.E. Oak Street in Portland, Oregon. The Bader Houge is a superb example of a finely Grafted Tudor home. The front lawn sweeps upward from the street to the decorative half-timber and stucco clad building. The house faces north across Oak Street to the trees of Laurelhurst Park, and is flanked by fine homes representing diverse styles. The interior of the house is luxurious in its extensive use of rich oak and mahogany, Italian tile and marble, its massive fireplaces, and its ornate fixtures. The house also has one of the region's earliest built-in vacuum systems. There have been no exterior and very minor interior alterations to the single family home.
The high-style Tudor house is centered on a 75 by 170 foot lot. The front lawn slopes down to street level, while a formal
garden with paths of Italian marble is located at the back of the house. The present landscaping follows the original pattern
designed by George Otten of Portland, Oregon. The building plan is layed out in an L pattern. The main wing, 43 feet 6 inches by 31 feet, with an 11 foot extension to the west, parallels the street. A smaller wing, 16 feet by 16 feet 6 inches across,
extends from the rear of the building on the southeast corner. The house has two and a half stories, and a finished basement. The main hipped roof is steeply sloped. A gable joins the roof at the front, northwest corner, just west of the main entrance. Two small intersecting hipped roof gables cover a sun room extension to the west and the small wing at the rear of the house. The roof is currently covered with composition shingles. A matching stuccoed garage, with decorative half-timbers, sits in the southeast corner of the rear garden.The Bader House and the other luxurious homes lining the
south side of Oak Street between 33rd. and 37th. face Laurelhurst Park, and mark the southern boundary of the Laurelhurst
district. The Park extends for six blocks east to west and three blocks from north to south, and includes 26 acres. The Park
is filled with Fir, Oak and other trees, and with many large laurel bushes. The land of the park slopes sharply down to the
north to a small lake that is the home for ducks and geese. Laurelhurst Park provides an island of peaceful green amidst the
city's traffic. Documentation to place the Park on the National Register has been submitted to the State of Oregon, but is on
hold pending further action by the City of Portland. The Bader House is of wood frame construction, with decorative half-timbers. The walls are clad with stucco, applied as plaster on a metal lath or, in some sections, as plaster on hollow tiles, according to the architect's plans. The decorative half-timbers are a typical, and distinguishing, feature of Tudor houses, and are used with striking beauty in this example. The contractor for the Bader House was Otto Salzman of Portland, Oregon, who built many of the houses in the Laurelhurst district. (1)
BUILDING EXTERIOR
Front Facade (NortM: The front of the Bader House is highlighted by a finely Grafted entry porch, centered on the main wing, and by a small rectangular salient set above the porch. A handsome walkway made from imported English bricks set in a herringbone pattern parallels the driveway, then runs along the front of the house to the entrance; a narrow walk continues to the side of the house. A striking gabled salient rises to the west of the entry. The upper floors of the gable are elaborately half-timbered, in the distinctive Tudor style. The main roof is hipped and centered above the entrance porch. A massive, brick-faced, chimney rises from the west side of the main wing to an elevation slightly above the ridge line of the main roof. The large chimney marks another classic element of the Tudor style.The entry porch projects dramatically from the front of the house. Its flat, parapeted, roof is supported by three clustered square columns at each outside corner, placed so that when viewed from front or side, they appear as pairs of columns. They are decorated at their capitals with elaborate scroll-like braces. The pairs of columns are connected by slightly curved Tudor arches serving as decorative lintels. The porch's parapet is decorated with quatrefoil cutouts, similar in style to designs used during the Tudor period. Directly over the porch is a small, rectangular bay holding a double window with leaded, diamond-shaped panes. Beneath the window is a masonry window box, supported by heavy wooden brackets. The door is heavy quarter-sawn oak, with an elegant tripartate window in its upper portion. The window has leaded, diamond-shaped panes, with beveled edges. The door is flanked by narrow windows matching those of the door itself in style and placement. A screen door for this entrance, made of quarter-sawn oak with copper screening, has been found in the basement and will be restored. The entry is flanked on the first floor by tripartate leaded windows. Those to the east are 4 over 12, with a brick sill. The use of brick to highlight features of the house is characteristic of Tudor styling. All of the windows in the house have wooden sashs and white metal leaded glass, unless otherwise noted. The first floor windows west of the porch have a central section 7 over 21, while its side sections are 3 over 9. The sill beneath this casement is also brick. The end windows of both tripartate units are casement windows.
On the second floor above the east windows, are a pair of double-hung windows, 8 over 8. Rising above the west windows is a dramatic architectural feature, containing a false salient and a steep gable with curvilinear cut bargeboards. Overhanging second stories are characteristic of the Tudor style, and examples of these can be found in the Bader House. In fact, however, the front salient and its gable project only a short distance from the main wall, and the architect's skillful design uses a boxed lower edge with supporting brackets, and the upward sweep of decorative half-timbers, to give the illusion of a structurally significant overhang. The second floor of this unit holds a tripartate window; each section has 16 panes. The side windows open as casements, and the center is fixed. Above thesewindows, just below the peak of the gable, is a small 6 paned attic window.
The westward extension of the house is on two levels. The front half of the extension is a one floor columned porch with a
flat roof. The columns, lintels, and parapet of this porch match in style and design those of the front porch. End porches of
this style are characteristic of Tudor houses. A first floor sun room, and its French doors, is visible through the open colonade of the porch. Above the sun room is a second floor sewing room with three large 16 paned windows: the end windows open as casements. A small hipped roof gable rises above the sewing room and joins the main roof to the east.
West Facade
the central section of the west facade is formed by the sun room and sewing room. North of this feature, toward the front of
the house, is the columned porch with the wall of the main building rising behind it. The west wall of the sun room has three high, multi-paned windows; the center window is 22 over 44, while the flanking windows are 10 over 20. Only an awning window at the top, north end of the room opens. The wall under the windows is clad in wood. The sewing room has four leaded, 20-paned, windows; the two windows at the center open as casements, while those at the end are fixed. The windows of both the sun room and the sewing room are shaded by striped awnings that match those originally on the house. The side of the porch has three pairs of columns, similar to the front porch. The porch floor is made of small Italian tiles, layed in a herringbone pattern. French doors exit the living room to the porch. Above the flat roofed porch is the half-timbered second floor of the main wing, with two double-hung windows, 8 over 8. The brick faced chimney rises against the main wall, centered between the porch and the sun room. The covered porch and the sun room wing with its high windows are elegantly Tudor in style. Visable to the rear of the main unit is the stuccoed west wall of the small southeast wing, set back 38 feet from the end of the west extension. On its first floor are a wooden doublehung window near the inside wall, and a larger 9 paned woodenwindow near the outer corner. The second floor has a single double-hung wooden window with a striped awning. A small brick faced chimney rises through the hipped roof gable.
Rear Facade
(South'^: The rear of the Bader house appears to the eye on twolevels: the larger main section of the house to the west; and the small, projecting, southeast wing. The first floor entrance in this facade is at the center of the building. A small,
uncovered, porch leads up to a French door with 16 leaded windows over a single panel. The door is flanked by matching 12 paned windows, also over a single panel. The French door is protected by a screen door. Above this entrance is a half-timbered, rectangular bay that is attached to both the main wall and to the wall of the east wing. The lower edge of the bay is boxed and supported by wooden brackets. The bay holds three tall Tudor windows. The center window has 20 large panes and a border of half-panes, while the flanking windows have a single row of 4 panes with a half-pane border. The side windows open as casements. Above the bay on the attic level is a distinctive dormer, with an unusual roof line. The main section of the dormer's roof resembles a shed dormer. Unlike a shed dormer, however, the roof curves down at the ends to join the main roof. The dormer's single large aluminum framed window is an alteration by a previous owner. The window is shaded by an awning, and there is an asphalt deck below the sill. The entry is flanked on the main wall to the west by a
large tripartate window on the first floor - its central section is 7 over 21, with side units that open as casements of 3 over 9. The bay is flanked on the second floor to the west by a pair of double-hung windows, 8 over 8. Both sets of windows are
protected by awnings. Further to the west is the extension forming the sun room and sewing room with their large windows.
The sun room has three high windows, 8 over 16, with wood cladding under the windows. Only the upper-east awning window opens. The sewing room has three large 16 paned windows, with the end windows opening as casements and the center windows fixed. Both sets of windows are protected by striped awnings similar to the originals.The two-story southeast wing appears visually as a distinct element of the south facade, and is covered by a hipped gable. On the first floor, the wing's stuccoed wall is marked by four large, wooden windows that appear from the distance as a single large horizontal window. Stairs leading to a basement door are guarded by a wrought iron railing. On the second floor are two
wooden double-hung windows, protected by an awning.
East Facade
The east facade of the Bader House is dominated at its center by a two-story bay having a semi-hexagonal bay window on
the ground floor and a rectangular salient on the second. The smaller side windows of the first floor bay are 3 over 9, with
lower sections that swing open as casement windows. The large, fixed, central window is 7 over 21. This bay, and the salient above it, are typical features of classic Tudor houses. The bay is flanked to the south by a pair of wooden double-hung windows, and a rear door recessed into a small arch. North of the bay are large casement enclosed tripartate windows; all are fixed and have 12 panes. The sill under the casement is brick. The second floor salient has a pair of wooden double-hung windows. It is flanked on the wall to the south by a similar unit, and to the north by a pair of double-hung windows, 8 over 8. A small dormer with a design similar to the dormer at the back of the house, is set in the main roof, just to the north of the twostory bay. The chimneys, and the front gable, rise above the roof lines.
Garden
The formal garden at the rear of the house was designed by George Otten, and sweeps south from the rear of the house. Its
symetrical lines are bisected by converging flower beds and marble steps that lead to the garden's rear terrace. The entire garden is bordered by flower beds with perrenials, and by various decorative bushes and trees. Two thirds of the way between the house and the steps is an elegant stone fountain set in a square pool, that is original to the house. Two marble steps risebehind the fountain to the terrace of the upper lawn. Flanking the steps are large stone urns, and narrow flower beds. The present urns replace the original pair removed by a previous owner, but closely match the originals visible in historic photographs. A wide path of pink Italian marble runs south some eight feet, splits into a circle that encloses a large flower bed, then joins again to lead to a small marble platform at the back of the property. The platform holds a teak bench protected by a columned roof. The garden gains privacy from a western border of arborvitae; a southern border marked by a hedge of holly, placed behind the marble platform; and an eastern border marked by the garage, a long pergola with hexagonal concrete corner posts crossed by heavy timbers, a variety of bushes, and a tall coniferous bush. A small patio west of the fountain is shaded by a tall cedar. A second pergola links the house and garden, sitting with its southern corner posts close to the end of the house's small wing, and extending into the garden. The corner posts are similar to those of the first pergola. Wood timbers atop the posts form a heavy trellis supporting a decorative grape vine. The paving under the pergola is of Italian marble, and the vines of a decorative grape twists over the frame. The grape is an original planting, and in the summer its leaves are brilliant red. The garden brings a sense of ordered peace, and provides a refuge from the city.
BUILDING INTERIOR
Three levels of the Bader House - basement, first floor and second floor - share the same general plan. All are divided at
the center by long halls set on axes from the main entrance to the back door. On all levels, this hall contains a staircase.
West of the main hall, all floors contain one large room running the full depth of the house, approximately 30 by 17 feet; and a
small room in the sun room extension, measuring some 15 by 11 feet. The sections east of the main halls contain a series of
smaller rooms that extend into the southeast wing. The east sections of the house measure roughly 46 by 15 feet on all levels
Basement
The large west room of the basement is a ballroom. The basement's sun room extension is connected as an integral part of
the main room, and was used for billiards. This spectacular room was used by the original owners for dances, parties and social gatherings. Two marble steps lead down into the room, as if descending into the great room of an English mansion. A massive fireplace of Indiana limestone dominates the room. It is believed that the fireplace was imported to Oregon from an Elks lodge in Indiana that was being torn down at the time the Bader House was under construction. (2) The bas-relief portraits of three presidents, Garfield, Lincoln and Jackson, decorate the mantel. The walls are detailed with decorative half-timbers that run up to a narrow shelf set at about the 6 foot level, and the ceiling is checkered by large false beams. The walls are white plaster. The floor is a checkerboard pattern of 9"x9" Italian marble tiles. Tiles of rich red brown marbled with white alternate with tiles of white marbled with grey. High on the front wall are two 6 paned windows, hinged at the top. The back wall of the main room has three similar windows, and that of the billiard extension two. All are wood. Original wrought iron ceiling fixtures and sconces light the rooms. A small wine cellar, placed under the side porch, is entered from the
billiards extension. The finished central hall holds the stairs. Behind the stairs is the vaccum equipment built into the house. The pump is marked "Spencer Turbine Company / Hartford Conn. USA / Vaccum Cleaning Equipment". The main vaccum units are in working order, and the entire system is being reactivated. The system marked an important technological development for this region. The western section of the basement is divided into a series of unfinished work and utility rooms. This part of the basement houses the original oil-fired boiler from the United States Radiator Corporation that still provides heat to the individual hot water room radiators. Gas has been restored for cooking and to fuel the domestic water heater.
First Floor
The front vestibule of the Bader House is fully paneled in quarter-sawn oak, and has a tiled floor. Coat closets flank the
door. The axial hall, its mood warmed by golden oak paneling on the walls, sweeps through to French doors leading to a rear
vestibule and the single rear exterior door. On the east side of the hall, a carved oak balustrade and paneled wall of the main
staircase dominate the space. The square newel-posts have collars inset with retangular panels, while the main shafts have
three deep flutes. The newel caps are in the form of tiered entablatures. An original fixture hangs from the hall ceiling;
sconces provide additional light. These fixtures, and the other original bronze fixtures throughout the house, were purchased
from the Baker & English Company of Portland (later called Baker Company, Specialties). Except for the basement, kitchen and bathrooms, all floors of the first, second and third levels are 1 1/2" oak. The oak paneling, window and door frames, and other detailing throughout the house is quarter-sawn oak. The tile and stone floors in the building are of Italian tile or marble.
Right of the main entrance, a 12 foot arch opens into the living room. Light enters through the tall Tudor windows at the
front and back of the room, and through the French doors leading to the covered porch. Two ornate bronze light fixtures hang from the ceiling, each with six graceful, swan-necked brackets. Sconces are set around the room. A high, dark, moulding protects the base of the walls, and picture moulding circles the room several inches from the coved ceiling. Quarter-sawn oak frames the windows and doors. A large fireplace with a shellpattern frieze, carved of sandstone from the Hillsboro area and made by the Blaesing Granite Company of Portland, Oregon, dominates the west wall. The carved granite mantel and scroll brackets of the fireplace have the elegance of a traditional Tudor fireplace. The fireplace is flanked by French doors leading to the covered porch to the north and the sun room to the south. The north and south window casements are spanned by heavy wood curtain rods, carved in a spiral pattern, that are orignial to the house. The original living room curtains, from Liberty of London Fabrics, are available, and will be restored to the room.The sun room has a small Italian tile fireplace set against the north inside corner of the room. Leaded windows fill most of the west and south walls, while French doors open to the side porch. The oak window frames blend with a golden covering on the coved ceiling and the walls. The wallcovering is gold leaf applied over burlap. (3) Dark Italian tiles cover the floor, and a bronze light fixture hangs from the ceiling. The warmth of wood and wallcovering reflect luxury and the finest craftsmanship. The adjoining side porch has a floor of small Italian tile set in a herringbone pattern alternating dark brown and medium brown tiles, and having a decorated border. An original, hexagonal, light fixture is mounted on the ceiling, while a long swing hangs from original ceiling hooks. East of the main entrance is the dining room, with window and door frames, and half paneling, of rich mahogany. The room is entered through wide accordion-style French doors. A small, decorative, tile fireplace occupies the outside-rear corner of the room. (This is the only non-working fireplace in the house.)The top of the mahogany mantle holds a hidden storage compartment. The room measures some seventeen by fifteen feet. An original, ornate, bronze chandelier hangs from the center of the coved ceiling. A call button on the floor under the table was used to summon an attendant. A small hallway, with a pantry and breakfast room, separate the dining room from the kitchen. The original cabinets of the pantry have glass doors and white painted frames. The breakfast room occupies the semi-hexagonal bay window, and is separated from the hall by a glass and wood framed arch. The multi-paned windows of the bay flood the small chamber with light.
The kitchen has been modernized, with new cabinets, lights, and counter and floor tiles. The kitchen cabinets match the
original cabinets, still existing in the pantry, while the counter tiles also match the original white color scheme. The floors in the pantry, breakfast room and kitchen have all been redone with large Mexican terra cotta colored tiled pavers that complement the oak floors of the dining room and the small Italian tiles of the rear vestibule. Behind the kitchen is a small service porch that has also been retiled. A door exits to the side of the house from the service room. A small half-bathsits west of the kitchen, and is entered from the rear vestibule. The room's white and blue tile, and all fixtures except the
toilet, are original. A laundry chute leads to the basement. An original ceiling fixture and sconce light the rear vestibule.
Second Floor
The second floor is reached by the staircase leading up from the entrance hall. The stairs, wainscotting, and all wood in the
upper hall were damaged by a fire in 1987, but have been skillfully replaced using the original plans. Tall tripartate windows, with leaded panes, flood the upstairs hall with light. Inside wood-framed screens close over the side windows of the
unit. In a feature unique to these windows in the house, the cross joints of the leading are embossed with fleurs-de-lis.
These decorations were taken from the original windows after the fire.
The master bedroom is directly above the livingroom, and can be entered either through a door at the north end of the halftimbered upstairs hall, or from the main bathroom. Leaded, multi-paned, Tudor windows overlook the north (front) of the
house while pairs of double-hung windows open over the covered porch to the west and over the back garden. A fireplace of Italian tile, with a wooden mantle, is centered on the west wall of the room. The tile of the hearth has been replaced, but with a style that matches the original. An alcove overlooking the formal garden has picture molding window seats that hide storage cabinets. The original bedroom light fixtures were removed by a previous owner. The sewing room is attached to the rear of the west wall. The high windows of the small room take up much of its wall space.
The main bathroom, overlooking the front porch, has a small leaded window with diamond-pattern panes and inside screens. The bathroom tile was severely damaged by smoke from the fire that destroyed the staircase, but has been replaced with tile chosen to match the style of the period. The bath, toilet and pedestal sink are original, as are the light fixtures beside the sink,
which were found in the basement and restored. The ceiling fixture is a replacement.The east side of the second floor has bedrooms at the north and south, with a small study between them. The most distinctive of the three rooms is the study. It is entered from the back bedroom or by an arched hall leading from the main hall. The original light fixture in the study is silver plated, and matched a silver-leaf wallcovering (applied with the same technique as the gold leaf in the sun room) that once covered the room. The silver covering was replaced by a previous owner. The study has built-in bookcases and a window seat, in addition to painted wainscotting. There is a laundry chute in the hall.
Attic
The attic is reached by stairs set beside the main staircase. The attic is partially finished, with a small bathroom and maid's room. The unfinished sections of the attic provide storage space. The attic bathroom is original, with the exception of a new toilet; the floor tile is hexagonal, whitewith a blue border around the edge of the room. The window of the small bedroom opens through a large dormer over the back of the house. The original windows were replaced by a previous owner
with an aluminum framed sliding unit. It is the only nonoriginal window in the house. An asphalt deck sits outside of
the window.
.ALTERATIONS
The Bader House is remarkably intact. The main alterations to the house were made after the fire that damaged the stairway,
upper hall and the main bathroom in June, 1987. The treads and risers of the stairs and the wooden paneling of the stairway were accurately restored to the original. The stair-rail, while refinished, is original. The balustrade on the second floor was
replaced following the original pattern. The second floor landing and all woodwork in the hallway were restored to match
the original, using northern quarter-sawn white oak. The original doors were scorched, and had to be sanded and
refinished. The bathroom was severely damaged in the fire, and its tile had to be replaced. The wall tiles are designed in a
pattern similar to the originals. The original bathroom tile was white; the replacement is light green. In addition, a small sitz
bath was removed, and replaced with a corner cabinet and shelf. (4) The kitchen was remodeled after the fire described above. Other minor alterations include the replacement by a previous owner of the rear dormer windows with a sliding aluminum window. The current owners intend to restore this window to its original appearance. In addition, the wooden shingles of the roof were replaced with composition shingles. Finally, baseboard electric heaters have been added to the unheated ballroom. The only alterations to the garden, besides the growth of shrubs and rotation of flowers, are the replacement of the original urns, removed by a previous owner; and the extension of the arborvitae, on the west side of the property, from the rear of the house to the southern boundary of the garden.
The Louis J. Bader House on SE Oak Street at 37th Avenue in Portland, Oregon faces north onto Laurelhurst Park, a central feature of the Laurelhurst district, one of the city's earliest and most fashionable planned residential park developments. Laurelhurst was laid out in 1909 by the Ladd Estate Company on the historic Hazelfern Farm property held by William M. Ladd. The subdivision was a pace-setter, locally, in the park, parkway and residential community movement so heavily influenced by the work of Frederick Law Olmsted. In fact, Laurelhurst Park, the focal point of the development, was designed by Olmsted's successors under contract to the City of Portland. The Bader House was among the later houses to complete development of the subdivision. It was built in 1923 from plans in the English Cottage style by the firm of DeYoung and Roald. Louis Bader, a lumberman from Illinois, arrived in Portland in 1910. By the time he commissioned his house fronting Laurelhurst Park, he had ventured successfully into real estate marketing. He financed a number of the houses in the development. He resided in the house on SE Oak Street until 1936.
In a pattern typical of Ladd Estate Company developments, houses in the subdivision were to cost not less than $3,500 and were to follow certain other standards, such as the common generous set back from the public right of way. While all the houses were traditional in style, the particular architectural idiom could be chosen by the property owner. Bader's house meets National Register Criterion C in the areas of architecture and community planning as one of the best-designed and most substantial houses defining the southerly edge of the public park space which is the focal point of the planned development. The Tudor vein of the Arts and Crafts style is expressed on exterior elevations in such features as cross gables with decorated verge boards, simulated half timbering, Tudor-arched porticos with upper deck balustrades ornamented with
quatrefoil cut-out motifs, heavily-mullioned casement windows with patterned leaded glazing, and oriel windows on corbels. The two and a half story rectangular hip-roofed main volume has a west wing paralleling the long east-west axis and a massive chiinney faced with patterned brick. Walls are finished with stucco. In these aspects, the house is modeled after the country estates in the English Arts and Crafts tradition, especially, it seems, those of Sir Edwin Lutyens. The interior has the medieval character typical of Arts and Crafts design, including an entry stairhall with an arcaded stair railing, dark wood
paneling and trim, including ceiling beams contrasting with plaster walls, and stone fireplaces, all projecting an ambience aptly described herein as one of "comfortable luxury."The detached garage, which stands at the rear, or southeast corner of the lot, is a modest, two-bay, one-story building of frame construction which has a stuccoed exterior with decorative "half tiiribering" applied to the upper walls and front corners. The garage has a flat, built-up roof, and its doors are typical folding
doors of the 1920s, being composed of hinged vertical tongue and groove panels in stiles and rails with diagonal bracing and multipane glazing. That it was designed in concert with the house and garden is evident from its finish details and the secondary pergola which makes a gateway or transition feature at its front. Because it is an aspect of the property's historical architectural theme, it is counted as a separately contributing feature. The garden, on the other hand, will not count as a separately contributing feature until it can be more fully evaluated in the context of early 20th Century landscape gardening locally. Even at present, however, it is clear that the garden is well preserved in its original plan and in the general outline of its planting key. It is an integral part of the "garden suburb" which Laurelhurst developers cultivated. The rear garden was laid out by George Otten in the formal Italian tradition with two distinct terraced compartments linked by a strong central axis created by alignment of a sundial, flagstone concourse and steps, and a circular bed. A classical pergola terminates the garden view from the house and gives the garden an illusion of depth on a lot no more than 75 x 170 feet in area. George Otten was the long-time landscape engineer for the Oregon State Highway Commission and participated in landscaping the mall in the course of the State Capitol Reconstruction Project, 1936-1939.
The Bader House was highly ranked in the City of Portland Historic Resources Inventory of 1983-1984. Comparative analysis of houses in the Laurelhurst district indicates there is only one other in the subdivision which represents high style Arts and Crafts, or English Cottage architecture in the Tudor vein as well. It is the house of John Dodson at 3641 ME Couch Street, designed by De Young and Roald and built four years later than the nominated property (1927). The Bader House has superior status in its stylistic category on the basis of its developed landscape, its craftsmanship and quality of materials.
The New Heathman Hotel in Portland, a National Register property, is among the best known works by the firm of James DeYoung and Knud Roald.
.HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Summary and Contents
The Louis J. Bader House and Garden, 3604 S.E. Oak Street, Portland, Oregon, is an elegant Tudor style home; it is one of
the finest examples of the Tudor style in the prestigious Laurelhurst neighborhood. The Bader home was designed by the
notable architectural firm of James DeYoung and Knud Roald. The basic structure of the building cost $10,000. (5) The total
cost of'house and garden, with their elegant marble, tile, wood and bronze finishings exceeded $50,000, and may have reached $75,000. (6) DeYoung and Roald shared a professional partnership from 1919 to 1929. During their ten year
partnership, they created over ten Portland buildings now listed on the City of Portland Historic Resource Inventory. The Bader house was one of their earliest residential commissions. The Tudor styled Bader home quickly became a distinctive landmark in the Laurelhurst neighborhood.
Laurelhurst was an elegant neighborhood when Louis Bader chose it as the site for his new home: it remains so today.
The residential district evolved from the Ladd Family Hazelfern Farm, platted by the Ladd family in 1909. The Ladds created a
well planned residential community whose homeowners were required to meet community planning criteria. Each home had to cost at least $3,500, and the developers paid attention to the creation of a harmonious park like setting for these homes.
Common setback distances were required from the paved, curving,streets that wound between a variety of planted trees. Sandstone gate pylons guarded major intersections to set off the distinctive subdivision. (7) Homebuilders could hire their own architects, or use plans provided by the Laurelhurst Company that featured a variety of architectural types. The Company used the proximity of three street car lines - Belmont, Montavilla and Rose City, as a selling point. (8) Also important was the splendor of Laurelhurst Park itself, where the annual Rose Festival Queen Coronation ceremony was held during the 1920s and 1930s. In 1923, an article in the Portland Qregonian noted that nearly 80% of the three-quarter square mile Laurelhurst district had been developed, and that the Park itself had recently been voted the most beautiful in the west by the West Coast Parks Convention. (9)
Louis J. Bader And Later Owners
Louis J. Bader was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1878. Louis Bader, his wife Lillie, and their children Edith, John and William, moved to Portland from Illinois in 1910 for reasons of health. They joined many other young families that moved here after the Lewis and Clark Exposition. Bader had been president of the John Bader Lumber Company in Chicago, and possessed
extensive knowledge of the lumber business. (10) The family's first Portland residence was rented at 31 East 61st, near the base of Mt. Tabor. The simple wood frame building was their home for only one year, when they moved to the Alameda Ridge area. Here, near the intersection of 47th. and Alameda, they lived from 1911 until 1922. The house was a large wood frame bungalow. During these years, the Polk City Directories identify Louis Bader as serving in various occupations, including salesman, lumberman, and as an employee of the American Map and Reproducing Company. In 1921-22 he began marketing real estate. He continued doing so during the years that he owned the Oak Street residence. (11) In 1914, Louis and Lillie Bader had visited Europe, escaping just before the outbreak of World War I. It is believed that the homes and gardens Louis Bader saw on this trip influenced the designs he later chose for his own home and garden. The Oak
Street residence was the first of Bader's Oregon homes to displayhis European tastes through imported materials and rich wood accenting. Bader also financed many of the fine homes built in the Laurelhurst district. (12)
The Baders were a private family, and enjoyed the refuge provided by their home and garden. Friends were, however,
invited to frequent parties held by both the children and the parents. The brothers were members of Kappa Alpha Pi, and with
their father, belonged to the Lumbermans' Association. Mrs. Bader was president of Pi Phi, and was a musician. The religious
family were members of the St. James Lutheran Church in downtown Portland. The family's parties were held in the garden and the large basement room. When Edith Bader married in 1931, she decended the main staircase to the ceremony held in the living room. Louis Bader died in 1950.
•
The Baders owned their new home from 1922 until 1936, when it was sold to Dr. Merl Margason, M.D. (13) The Margason family owned the property until 1980, and maintained the house as originally designed by DeYoung and Roald. Dr. Margason is noted for his principle leadership in the evolution of the Portland Clinic, which is still in existence. Dr. Margason practiced
medicine in Portland for fifty years, serving as the President of the Multnomah County Medical Society in 1950. His speciality was neurology. (14)
In 1980, the Bader House was sold to William and Kristin Bishop. They kept the home until it was purchased by the current
owners, Roberta Siegel and Nathan Sanders, in 1987.
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
House
The Bader House, designed by the architectural firm of DeYoung and Roald, is a particularly elegant example of a high
style Tudor house. Many exterior elements of the house are characteristic of the style, including decorative half-timbers,
extensive heavy detailing, cross gables, bays, and front and side porches. The craftsmanship throughout is of high quality, as illustrated by the sun room's exterior paneling; the porches withtheir heavy brackets and Italian tile floors; and the massive
window casements framing leaded windows, some with brick sills. DeYoung and Roald used decorative, non-structural, halftimbers, a feature typical of Tudor houses, and of stucco cladding, in designing the home. They included extensive, heavy, detailing in their design. The tall, multi-paned leaded windows, set in heavy wooden frames, are common in Tudor homes, as are brick sills and heavy brackets supporting overhanging bays. All are present on the Bader House. Also important in Tudor architecture are massive chimneys, usually of brick or stone, and the large main chimney of the Bader House gives focus and balance to the home. It is further typical of Tudor chimneys as it serves several fireplaces.
Placement of the chimney calls attention to another characteristic of Tudor buildings present in the Bader House, the use of intersecting gables, for the chimney rises from the valley formed by the front and west gables of the roof. The southeast
wing is capped by a third intersecting gable. Small entry porches similar to those of the Bader House are found on many
Tudor homes. The elegance of the porch is increased by the second floor bay window that carries the porch's lines upward.
To the west, the lines of the front facade sweep upward to the gable, and the overhanging second floor of the gable's salient. The front gable, and the overhanging half-timbered salient, are typical of Tudor buildings. Overhanging salients and bays are also present on the south (rear) and east facades. The two-story bay on the east side is particularly elegant, combining the first floor semi-hexagonal bay window with the second floor rectangular salient.
The use of stucco for nearly all cladding on the Bader House is unusual in Tudor homes, as most combine large surface areas of brick, stone or wood with stucco. However, in its use of multiple materials to add decorative highlights, as illustrated
by its brick window sills, wood panels on the sun room, and wood brackets on the porches and under the second floor bays, the Bader House is typical of Tudor homes. Overall, the simplicityof the Bader House's half-timbered stucco adds to the elegance to this classic building. (15)The interior of the Bader House has an ambiance of comfortable luxury. The materials and craftsmanship throughout are exceptional. The use of Italian tile and marble in both building and garden add great beauty to the home. The marble is particularly striking in the ballroom, with its deep red-brown tiles alternating with white in a checkerboard pattern. Tile floors grace the front and rear vestibules, and the front and side porchs. The oak floors throughout the house are typical of the finest homes of the era. Golden oak and rich mahogany paneling is found throughout the building, and is most striking in the main entrance hall, the dining room, and the upstairs hall. Wide, heavy, window frames of oak or mahogany add great elegance to the windows. One of the most striking details of the house is the large tripartate window at the top of the main staircase. The heavily framed windows overlook the garden at the rear of the house, and are highlighted by small fleurs-de-lis at the cross joints of their white metal leading. The massive stone fireplaces in the basement and living room are reminiscent of the grandest of Tudor buildings, as is the overall luxury of the home. Nearly all of the original light fixtures are in place throughout the house, and represent a high quality of craftsmanship and materials. The large scale of the ballroom, living room and master bedroom increase the feeling of luxury characteristic of the great homes of England. The golden wallcovering, bronze light fixtures, and the rich oak paneling of the sun room add to the luxury of the house. The formal elegance of the house, however, does not distract from its comfort. It is a superbly designed and Grafted house in the Tudor style, and it is a home conducive to family living.
Garden
The wide windows at the rear of the Bader House frame panoramic views of the formal garden, and allow the garden's
sense of ordered peace to radiate into the home. The formality of the symetrical garden further complements the elegance of the house. The lower terrace of the garden sweeps south from the house to the classical fountain set in its shallow pool. Marble steps, flanked by concrete urns, rise to the upper terrace. Here, the wide marble path leads to a circular path and flowerbed, and then to the covered marble platform and its garden bench, centered at the southern end of the garden. From the bench, the view sweeps back across the garden to the house, and the rear porch and pergola that link garden and house. The classical and uncluttered arrangement of elements within the garden found its roots in the Italian garden. The Bader Garden follows this tradition in its simple interior layout and its perimeter of clustered plantings. The perimeter plantings
clearly define the space as separate and private from the surrounding yards, and reflect the Italian tradition of a garden as a refuge from the world. (16)
James DeYoung and Knud Roald. Architects
When Louis J. Bader decided to build the home that carries his name, he hired one of his Alameda Ridge neighbors, James
DeYoung, to design the luxurious house. James DeYoung was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1885 and came to Portland in 1907 at the age of 22. The 1908 City Directory identifies him as a draftsman for the architectural firm of Doyle and Patterson, where he stayed for two years. In 1910, he joined the firm of J.B. Pinkington, but soon changed jobs again to work for the firm of L.R. Bailey. During this period he met fellow architect Knud Roald, who became his partner in 1919. (17)
DeYoung and Roald are primarily known for their commercial designs completed in the 1920s, including: the Hamilton Arms
Apartments (1928); the Douglas Building, 3525-45 S.E. Hawthorne (1929); the Rex Manor Apartments (1929); and the Heathman Hotel (1927), for which they served as supervising architects. The Heathman Hotel and the Douglas Building are on the National Register of Historic Places. The first of DeYoung and Roald's buildings to be placed on the City of Portland Historic Resource Inventory was the Seventh Church of Christ, Scientist, completed in 1919. In addition to the Bader House, the partners designed a number of other Tudor style buildings. In 1921, they completed the St. Johns Methodist Church, a building having many stylistic similarities to the Bader House. All of the above buildings are on the City of Portland Historical Resource Inventory (1984). The architects also designed a Tudor house at 2620 N.E. Fremont (major alterations were made to the building in 1950), and the John Dodson House at 3641 N.E. Couch, both in 1927. The Dodson House is a smaller, more modest, example of the Tudor style. (18)
The firm was active until 1929, when the partnership dissolved and DeYoung and Roald joined other firms. DeYoung
worked with DeYoung, Moscovits and Rosenberg, the firm that handled the renovations to the Yeon Building and to the Meier and Frank Building in 1930. DeYoung left in 1931 and founded his own firm where he remained until retirement. (19) He died in 1967 at the age of 82. (20)
Knud A. Roald was born in Norway in 1878 and educated at the University of Dresden in Germany. He came to the United States in 1911 and soon after met James DeYoung. He also is accredited with designing "many schools, hospitals and residences" in the Pacific Northwest. He died in 1965 at the age of 88. (21) George Qtten. Landscape Architect
George Otten made a significant impact on landscaping and landscape architecture in Oregon during the many years that he
served as landscape architect for the Oregon State Highway Department. He is credited with designing the old Swan Island
airport, sections of Canyon Road in Portland, and with laying out the new Columbia River Highway in such a manner as to save the beaches and recreation facilities of Rooster Rock State Park in the Columbia Gorge. (22) He was also landscape architect during the rebuilding of the Oregon State Capitol after the fire of 1935. (23) The Bader Garden represents early work by by this important Oregon designer and civil engineer. (24)
FOOTNOTES
1: City of Portland, Oregon, Bureau of Buildings, Permit Number
108564, April 3, 1922; and
Interviews with Edith Pate, daughter of Louis J. Bader,
conducted by Karen Zisman January 18, 1989, and by James W.
Fiscus during March, 1989, and based upon records in the
pdsession of Edith Pate.
2: Pate: Information on the Bader family and their use of the
house, and on materials used throughout the building are based
upon the Pate interview and records.
3: Applied using a buttermilk technique.
4: Interview with the current owners, Roberta Siegel and Nathan
Sanders, by Karen Zisman, January, 1989.
5: Building Permit.
6: Pate.
7: Laurelhurst Company Advertising Brochure in the manuscript
collection of the Oregon Historical Society.
8: Laurelhurst Company.
9: "Laurelhurst Is Rated High As Home Section",
The Oregon Sunday Journal. October 27, 1923, Sec. I, 4:1
10: "Louis J. Bader Rites Set Tuesday," The Oregon Journal.
November, 13, 1950, page 5 *.
11: Folk's Portland Citv Directory. Portland, Oregon, R.L. Polk
and Company, 1911-1922.
12: Pate.
13: Ownership records for the Bader House all come from:
Abstract of Title, Ticor Title Company, 421 S.W. Stark,
Portland, Oregon, 97201.
14: Obituary, "Merl Margason", The Qregonian. July 22, 1980,
page B4:1; and
Polk Directories, 1936-1974.
15: HcAlester, Virginia & Lee, A Field Guide To American Homes.
New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1985, pages 355-58.
16: Brookes, John, Room Outside. New York, Penguin Books, 1979,
pages 11-12.
17: Polk Directories, 1910-1930.
18: City of Portland Historic Resources Inventory, 1984.
19: Polk Directories, 1929-1967.
20: Obituary, "James W. DeYoung", The Qregonian. April 19, 1968,
page 3.
21: Obituary, "Knud A. Roald", The Qregonian. April 26, 1965,
page 25.
22: "Landscape architect, road beautification pioneer
dies", The Oregon Journal. March 28, 1978, page 24:1.
Obituary of George Otten (junior).
23: Potter, Elizabeth, Oregon State Historic Preservation
Office, Salem, Oregon, phone interview with James W. Fiscus,
March, 1989.
24: Two George Ottens, father and son, worked in Oregon as
landscape architects. Edith Pate identifies the George Otten
who worked on her father's garden as being about her father's
age, and this information indicates the youger Otten. (24-A) In
addition, George Otten senior retired from the florist and design
business in Portland some years before the Bader house was built.
(24-B) He then moved to Seaside, Oregon, where he lived untill
his death in 1954. The evidence of Edith Pate as to the age of
the landscape architect, combined with the retirement to Seaside
of the elder Otten, indicate the younger George Otten as the
designer of the Bader Garden.
24-A: Otten Sr.: "Horticultural Expert Dies",
The Oregon Journal. February 19, 1954, page 4 *** .
Otten Jr.: "Landscape architect ,...", op. cit.
Bader: "Louis J. Bader Rites ...", op. cit.
24-B: Collins, Dean, "Among Our Neighbors",
The Oregon Journal. October 31, 1939, page 12.
25: Survey conducted by James W. Fiscus, March, 1989.