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Thursday, September 13, 2018

Those Places Thursday: 2871 NE Alameda, Portland, Oregon - The Blaesing Mansion - An Ewald Pape Design

Another of the earlier designs of my architect first-cousin-twice-removed, Ewald Theodore Pape (1894-1976), is the "Blaesing Mansion" at 2871 NE Alameda.

About a third of the way down in an article called "New Homes Started on East Side Lots," in the left-side column of page 2 of the September 12, 1926, Portland Oregonian, is the following paragraph:

"A residence, to cost $30,000 [60,000? 80,000? it's hard to read the number], will be erected in Alameda park for H. J. Blaesing, by Koontz & Sumner after designs by E. T. Pape.  The building will be 86x32 feet [again, hard to read the exact dimensions], will contain 10 rooms, a ballroom in the basement, and will be constructed of frame with stucco interior.  An oil burning plant for heating purposes is provided for."

This is that house, at 2871 NE Alameda (871 Alameda before 1934):




Above: front of the "Blaesing Mansion" at 2871 NE Alameda in Portland, OR.
Below:  close-up of the front entry.



A sewer permit was issued eight days later.  On April 17, 1927, another Oregonian article entitled "English Residence Unique - Artist Decorates Interiors for H. J. Blaesing Home" had this to say about this house:

A notable addition to those residence sin Portland which have gained for the city a distinction of possessing beautiful homes is that of strictly English type of architecture built at 871 Alameda drive for Mr. and Mrs. H. J. Blaesing.  E. T. Pape, the architect, did not deviate in his design from the English. Interior and exterior, the English type was followed faithfully.
In the dining room and in the clubroom Richard Roberts, English artist, has painted murals depicting scenes in England.  In the clubroom, which is 43 feet by 18 feet, the murals are of that scenery found between London and Liverpool.
The grounds are being landscaped by the Knight Landscaping company to harmonize with the exterior finish.  Shrubs of many varieties, perennial flowers and spring flowers have been planted, and it is the aim of Mr. Blaesing to have the lawn worked until it gains the even texture for which lawns in England are famous.




Above and below:  View of the house from the corner of NE Alameda and NE Hamblet.



Herman Julius Blaesing Sr. (1870-1959) and his wife Katherine Elizabeth Koch (1879-1971) were the original owners of the home.  Their children, Lenore S. Blaesing LaRoche (1900-1991) and Herman Julius Blaesing Jr. (1904-1975), also lived in the home briefly.  Blaesing Sr. founded the Blaesing Granite Company in Portland in 1896.  

An article on pages 114-115 of History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, published in 1928 by the S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, says,

Ninety-five per cent of his work is in granite, though he does some in marble and limestone. He has done considerable exterior building work, but specializes in memorials, in which line he has no superiors. He has done many artistic pieces in limestone in fountain seats and garden statuary, as well as fireplaces. He made [the base for] the big memorial [bronze], "The Circuit Rider," which stands on the capitol grounds at Salem, as well as other memorials to many of Oregon's most prominent deceased citizens. He made the [bases for the] Roosevelt, Washington and Lincoln memorials, and the Jefferson high school memorial to those of its former students who lost their lives in the World war, as well as the war memorials at Salem, McMinnville and other places.

Blaesing was interested in gardening, and was an original member of the Royal Rosarians.  He served as president of the Portland Rose Society and headed up the Portland Rose Parade for many years.  He founded the Rose City Cemetery in Portland in 1906, and that is where he and his family are buried.

The Blaesings lived in the home through 1941, putting it up for sale in 1942.  A June 14 ad in the Oregonian described it as having four master bedrooms, three bathrooms, a recreation room, and a study opening on the patio.

Later ads (in 1951) listed five bedrooms (two having a study or separate dressing room), four bathrooms, a wide entrance hall with an open stairway, a 16'x32' living room, library, "exquisite dining room to serve 16," hardwood floors in the party room (also 16'x32'), oil hot water heat, and a full sprinkler system "for oversized grounds."


Above:  peek-a-boo view (above the wall) of the back (north) side of the house.
Below:  photo of the front (south) side of the house from the Portland Historic Resource Inventory, about May 1980.



The home is in the Oregon Historic Sites Database.  The City of Portland Historic Resource Inventory describes it as English Cottage style, with special features of "Hip roof with gable dormer and gabled pavillion.  Eyelid dormer with elliptical headed window.  Fanlight above front door with lattice sidelights.  Wrought-iron balcony and balconet.  Stucco and mock-half timber exterior."

The house has 4,299 square feet on a third-acre lot.  It includes leaded windows and stained glass, and last sold for $1,255,000 in March 2015.  A real estate listing from that time includes interior photos.


© Amanda Pape - 2018 - click here to e-mail me.

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