This lovely building is part of a fourteen-unit apartment-turned-condominium in Portland, Oregon, designed by my architect first cousin twice removed, Ewald Theodore Pape (1894-1976), in 1931.
The first mention I could find of the structure was an article entitled "Apartments to Rise" in the Sunday, February 15, 1931, Portland Oregonian. It lists E. T. Pape as the designer and indicates the east side structure will cost $85,000. It will have fourteen five- and six-room suites, and was to be constructed for Albert E. Bartell "at East Forty-fifth North [now NE 45th Avenue] and [NE] Halsey streets." Frank E. Knapp was the builder.
Here's the plumbing permit, dated March 6, 1931. The original address was 1263 Halsey, after Portland's street renumbering/renaming in 1932-34, it became 4353 NE Halsey:
The Oregonian article goes on to describe the units as "having living rooms and kitchens on the first floor and bedrooms and baths upstairs. Each apartment will have its individual entrance." The building itself "will be 50x180 in dimensions, two stories in height, with two wings 34x78. Exterior will be of brick."
A July 26, 1931 Oregonian article on page 2 titled "New Apartments Ready" notes the tiled roof and that it "has the advantage of a complete home in that the individual apartments...have both front and rear entrances." Entrances fronting on Halsey street can be seen in the photograph below.
Interestingly, there's a separate building (visible at left in the photo above with the entrance gate) that is apparently part of the condominium complex, but that wasn't described in the February 15 article. You can see from the photo below that it is not quite as ornate:
This building has the address 4341, and I'm not completely sure if Ewald designed it or not. Its plumbing permit is not available online, and it isn't referenced in the July 26, 1931 Oregonian article, which only mentions the fourteen units. However, a February 17, 1931 Oregonian article on page 18 called "Projects In Portland To Involve $188,500" describes the apartment building as "U-shaped, 187 feet long and 87 feet wide on the ends. It will have 22 apartments." The U-shaped building is 4353 and has 14 units, 1 through 15 (13 is skipped). This rectangular building, 4341, has six units, numbers 16 through 21.
The July 26, 1931 article has a photograph of the U-shaped building, and notes that it has no name. However, by January 24, 1932, ads are appearing in the Oregonian calling it The Beacon Arms. That name disappears from the Oregonian after the building was sold in July 1942. In 1999, the buildings were converted to condominiums and named "The Rosegate."
I was recently contacted by a current resident of the complex, who offered to take some additional photographs for me (since it's a gated community). Come back on Sunday to see her stunning photos of the Rosegate's gorgeous courtyard.
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