| Summary Paragraph
The summary description of the district’s physical and architectural characteristics set forth in this section is based on the more detailed descriptions contained in the publications and documents referenced in the footnotes and bibliography throughout the nomination, which are incorporated here. The more detailed studies enhance Section 7’s discussion of the historic character, architectural features, materials, and integrity of the properties within the Irvington Historic District and are intended to inform local, state, and federal reviews evaluating the properties within this district.
The Irvington Historic District is a residential neighborhood composed primarily of single-family homes, located in northeast Portland, Oregon. The district is generally bounded on the north by NE Fremont Street, south by NE Broadway Street, west by NE 7th Avenue, and on the east by NE 27th Avenue. The district encompasses approximately 583 acres and consists of almost 200 long rectangular-shaped blocks. Newer multi-family residences (e.g. apartment buildings, duplexes, and triplexes) have been constructed along the southern end of the district close to the former north/south street car lines. While infill has occurred over time, Irvington maintaines its suburban setting exemplified by tree-lined streets, uniform setbacks, and the similarity of scale and design in the housing stock. The majority of homes were constructed between 1900 and 1930, but examples of early Queen Anne-style cottages still survive, and many mid-twentieth century residential buildings are located throughout the nominated area. The district is notable for its collection of Queen Anne, Period Revival (revival-style inspired cottages, English Cottage, Tudor Revival, Classical Revival, Mediterranean Revival, and Colonial Revival), Bungalow/Craftsman, and Prairie School residences. The most common alterations to buildings in the district are the application of vinyl siding, porch alterations, and the replacement of original windows.
District Boundary - Physical Description
The Irvington Historic District encompasses approximately 583 acres between NE Fremont Street, NE Broadway Street, NE 7th Avenue, and along the east side of NE 27th Avenue, including a small extension that includes some properties along NE 28th Avenue – see Figure 2, District Boundary and Photo Location Map and Figure 4, Irvington Historic District Map. While the district boundary is reflective of historic plat and land development patterns throughout the district, the boundary also reflects important physical differences between the nominated area and the surrounding neighborhoods in terms of geography, lot size, property use, and historical integrity. The north boundary along NE Fremont Street marks the physical division between two areas with distinct historical associations and separates the nominated district from an area of commercial intrusion. The area to the north of NE Fremont Street is related to the development of the Alameda and Albina neighborhoods. The Alameda Ridge, which lies just a couple of blocks north of NE Fremont Street, also represents an important topographic feature that precipitates changes to the orthogonal grid as streets traverse the ridge in a curvilinear fashion. Lot shapes and sizes are irregular as a result of the changes in topography and road alignments. Due to residents’ desire to take of views from ridgeline, buildings and lot sizes within the Alameda neighborhood in particular are much larger in contrast to Irvington’s lots. The west boundary along NE 7th Avenue marks the transition between the north – south orientation of the Irvington Historic District’s streets and the east – west orientation of the roads to the west. The residences to the west of NE 7th Avenue also exhibit a lesser degree of historical integrity. NE 7th Avenue and NE Fremont Street are also the north and west boundaries of the Irving Donation Land Claim and 1887 Irvington plat. The east boundary along NE 27th Avenue generally follows the eastern boundary of several plats that developed along with the original Irvington plat in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. The lots in these plats are similarly sized and the residences follow similar architectural trends as those found within the Irvington plat. East of NE 27th Avenue, outside the district, the lot sizes become noticeably larger and are irregularly shaped. Dwelling sizes also tend to increase, and the road network deviates from Irvington’s rectilinear grid. The southern boundary along NE Broadway Street is based on a notable decrease in historical integrity in the properties on the southern side of NE Broadway Street. This lack of integrity is largely the result of commercial development that occurred in response to the construction of the Lloyd Center mall in 1960.
Irvington’s Suburban Characteristics and Physical Development
The Streetcar Suburb is listed as a property subtype within the “Historic Residential Suburbs in the United States, 1830-1960” Multiple Property Documentation Form, and Irvington is an excellent local example of this type of development The nominated area grew as a direct result of the expansion of the electric streetcar lines that extended from downtown Portland in the late-nineteenth century, and which by the first decade of the 1900s extended along NE Broadway Street, NE 15th, NE 22nd, and NE 24th Avenues. As an example of a streetcar suburb derived from a “gridiron plat,” Irvington’s physical development and appearance was distinctively shaped in a manner similar to streetcar suburbs located throughout the United States.
The Irvington Historic District developed from south to north based upon the presence of the initial streetcar extension along NE Broadway Street evidenced by the location of many older homes (1890s) along or in close proximity to NE Tillamook Street, which is just three blocks north. Later residences (1900-1948) are distributed throughout the neighborhood and are indicative of more intensive development activity and infill that occurred during that period as the streetcar lines were expanded. Post-1948 residences, apartment buildings, and commercial buildings occur throughout the neighborhood, but not in concentrations that detract from the overall integrity of the district. The distribution of housing types and styles within the neighborhood echoes the broad time span over which construction occurred within the district. The majority of buildings within the district are single-family residences. A large number of multifamily residences and apartment buildings are located along the southern and western edges of the district—particularly along NE Hancock and NE Schuyler Streets, and NE 7th and NE 8th Avenues, as well as along the various north south streetcar lines along NE 15th, NE 22nd, and NE 24th. In addition, a number of large single-family homes were subdivided into duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes during World War II. The district also consists of forty commercial buildings, nine churches, two schools (one public and one Catholic), and one city-owned park.
The Irvington Historic District contains approximately 2,813 buildings (not including ancillary buildings), of which the majority (84 percent) were constructed between 1900 and 1930. Of the 2,809 total buildings, 85 percent (or 2,390 buildings) contribute to the historical character of the district. Architectural styles from the Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals and Late 19th/Early 20th Century American Movement categories predominate the district. Twenty-eight (28) buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places (see Figure 7, Historic Properties in Irvington Listed in The National Register of Historic Places). These buildings include single-family dwellings, multi-family residences, and apartment buildings that exhibit distinctive styles and illustrate the work of notable architects. Of the 419 buildings that do not contribute to the district, 245 (9 percent) are historical buildings that have been substantively altered and 174 buildings (6 percent) were constructed outside of the period of significance. Outbuildings, primarily carriage houses and single-car garages, are evident on most properties. Many of the outbuildings within the district retain their physical integrity and they contribute to the suburban character and visual unity of the district.
All of the streets within the district are paved with asphalt and include concrete curbs, gutters, and sidewalks. The street layout within the district is rectilinear, keeping with the dominant rectilinear grid of northeast Portland. While most of the roads within the district are sixty-feet wide, Knott Street, NE 15th and NE 21st Avenues are wider (approximately eighty-feet) because they were intended to carry more traffic.
Lots within the rectangular-shaped blocks were originally platted at fifty-five-feet wide by one-hundred-feet long. While most of the houses are oriented on an east-west axis, a number of larger parcels situated on east-west streets exhibit dwellings constructed on a north-south axis. These houses tend to be clustered along sections of NE Siskiyou, NE Stanton, NE Knott, NE Brazee, NE Thompson, and NE Tillamook Streets. Most properties adhere to the 25-foot set back required by the original restrictive.
Perhaps most notable about the district is its visual cohesion and regular development pattern. Late Victorian architecture is concentrated in the south, closest to the Broadway streetcar line, Period Revivals and Late 19th/Early 20th Century American Movement architecture concentrated in the center and north, and Modern period architecture scattered throughout the district as infill development. The architecture reflects the regional development of northeast Portland and the continuum of residential stylistic preferences. The historic feeling and association, which is expressed through the layout, architecture, and streetscape elements, distinguishes the Irvington Historic District from the surrounding neighborhoods. Historic infill that occurred in the 1930s and 1940s contributes, rather than detracts from the district, because the massing and scale are consistent with the earlier residences. These later buildings represent a key period in the subdivision’s history when most of the lots had been developed and only a few remained available for new construction. Some recent infill projects within Irvington have introduced large noncontributing multi-family apartments, the scale and massing of which is not in keeping with the rest of the district. Residential landscaping is present throughout the district and is characterized by large mature trees situated within the tree lawn between the sidewalk and road. Over forty Heritage Trees are located within the district, which include elm, walnut, poplar, beech, buckeye, oak, and cherry. Most of the streets are lined with Bigleaf Maples. Some properties exhibit masonry retaining walls in response to minimal changes in topography. Taller wood fences are located throughout the district and typically shield back yards. Shorter wood fences are also present along the front of properties throughout the district. One park, Irving Park, is located in the northwest corner of the neighborhood. The square-shaped 16.26 acre park is lined with trees and reinforces the residential character of Irvington. NE 8th, 9th and 10th Avenues dead-end at the Irving Park, while residences along NE 11th Avenue back up to the park.
Architectural Styles, Types, and Materials
In general, Irvington’s architectural styles and building types are composed of architectural details that are considered characteristic of their particular styles and period of construction. These details typically included the use and integration of natural building materials such as horizontal clapboard, double-run wood siding, shingles and shakes and other elements such as double-hung sash and fixed-pane wood windows. Window type (i.e. double hung, single hung, six-over-six, etc), fenestration and overall pattern are also typically character-defining components that contribute to a building’s stylistic composition. Some buildings utilized masonry such as regular bricks and “clinker” bricks, stone, tuff, as well as concrete block in a manner consistent with their respective stylistic traditions as well. Roof forms, likewise, varied according to stylistic traditions with gable, gambrel, and hipped roofs representing the most common roof forms. Asymmetrical hipped roofs and mansard roofs occur with lesser frequency.
The Creation of the Streetcar Suburb (1870-1900)
Late Victorian Era Architecture (Residential Buildings)
Extant buildings from this period in the district’s history are located in the southwest end of the district. Fifty-nine (59) buildings, predominately Queen Anne, date from this period. Queen Anne Cottages include the Newton Drew House at 1137 NE Tillamook Street, the Robinson House at 2126 NE 15th Avenue, and Roome-Stearns House at 2146 NE 12th Avenue. These buildings feature asymmetrical facades with bay windows, partial first-floor porches, patterned shingles along the gable, and spindlework. There are a number of two-story Queen Anne Victorians, which include the John E.G. Povey House at 1312 NE Tillamook Street and the William O. Fouch House at 2407 NE Tillamook Street. The residences feature wooden spindlework along the first- and second-story porches.
While rare, other Late Victorian architectural styles appear in the district. These styles include Gothic, Shingle, Stick, and Italianate. Perhaps the most notable of these buildings is the George Earle Chamberlain House located at 1927 NE Tillamook Street. The house was constructed in the Shingle style. Other Shingle-style residences include the W.H. Walker House at 2134 NE 17th Avenue and the F.L. Lippincott House located at 2137 NE 18th Avenue. These residences often feature gambrel roofs and the use of shingles as the principal form of siding.
Irvington’s Building Booms (1900-1948)
The building boom years (1900-1948) resulted in the construction of approximately 87 percent of the buildings in the district. Extant buildings in the district include 409 from the 1900s, 719 from the 1910s, and 1,232 from the 1920s, 144 from the 1930s and 83 erected between 1940 and 1948. The vast majority of buildings constructed during this period fall within the Late 19th/Early 20th Century American Movement and Period Revival architectural style categories. Period Revivals styles include Colonial Revival and English Cottage, with a minimal number of Tudor, Spanish Colonial Revival, and Mediterranean Revival styles. From the Late 19th/Early 20th Century American Movement category, the district features Arts & Crafts/Craftsman, Foursquare, and Bungalows, with a minimal number of Prairie School, commercial buildings, and minimal traditional residences.
Late 19th/Early 20th Century American Movements (Residential Buildings)
Within this category, district buildings include Arts & Crafts/Craftsmen (352), Foursquare (305), Bungalow (817), and about forty-eight (48) Prairie School buildings. The Arts & Crafts/Craftsmen style appears throughout the neighborhood and particularly along the numbered avenues. Notable Arts & Crafts/Craftsmen residences include the Arthur McKenzie House at 2508 NE 24th Avenue, the Harry P. Palmer House at 1931 NE Brazee Street, and the duplex at 821-823 NE Tillamook Street. These residences feature a low-pitched front-gable roof with decorative braces and bargeboards. Foursquare residences are also popular. The McBride House at 2401 NE 23rd Avenue with its square plan and low-sloped roof is an excellent example of the district’s foursquare residences. Bungalows also abound in the district. While there are numerous single-family bungalows, the City of Portland Fire Engine House No. 10 is unusual as there are very few public buildings in the district. Engine House No. 10 is located at 2200 NE 24th Avenue, and like single-family bungalows features a gable front façade with extended eaves and brackets. While limited in number, the Prairie style also appears within the district. The Marcus J. Delahunt House at 1617 NE Thompson is an excellent example of the Prairie style with wide eaves and a low-sloped roof. But for the eaves and roof, Prairie style residences are usually similar in overall plan and massing to the Foursquare. Expressions of these styles range from modest to ornate, and many of these buildings incorporate design elements from the period-revival styles, especially Colonial Revival, English Cottage, and Tudor.
Late 19th/Early 20th Century Revivals (Residential Buildings)
This category includes Colonial Revival (371) and English Cottage (365) -style buildings with a minimal number of Tudor (65), Mediterranean Revival (44), and Spanish Colonial Revival (24) -styles. The 41 Other Revival-styled buildings represented a more plain architectural aesthetic, but features elements, such as porch roofs with cornice returns and bilaterally symmetrical fenestration, which suggest the Colonial Revival style. Size and complexity of the designs vary, and it is not uncommon to see multiple stylistic elelments from different traditions on the same building. The one-story Hedrick House at 2437 NE 10th Avenue is exemplary of the more modest end of the 931 Period Revival buildings in the district. Overall, these more modest buildings exhibit details from a variety of revival styles in bungalow volumes, but often lack the massing and ornamentation to be attributed to a particular style.
Colonial Revival is typified by the John Sinot House at 2215 NE 25th Avenue, the Adam D. Carlock House at 2429 NE Thompson Street, and the Chester and Pauline Sorensen House at 3040 NE 14th Avenue. These residences feature a symmetrical fenestration with a prominent central entrance accented with pediment and columns. These details are often accompanied by the use of a broad plain frieze or dentils beneath a box cornice. The English Cottage, another popular Irvington style, is exemplified by two residences on NE 22nd Avenue. The Robert L. Aldrich House at 3034 NE 22nd Avenue features a steeply pitched gable roof, while the A.L. Carson House at 2517 NE 22nd Avenue features a steeply-pitched hip roof. Both residences use wall coverings, windows, and other details to achieve an English country house appearance. Another characteristic of the style is the use of rolled eaves.
The Tudor, Mediterranean, and Spanish Revival styles are also present in the district. While wealthy residents selected homes constructed in these styles, many smaller cottages constructed during the 1930s also utilized these styles. The range of the Tudor style can readily be seen from the grand Loyal E. Kern House at 1748 NE Tillamook Street to the smaller H.W. McIntosh House at 2714 NE 20th Avenue. The Tudor style is marked by the use of faux half timbering, stucco, asymmetrical plans and massing, as well as the use of projecting gable roofs. The Ervin and Della Horr House at 3324 NE 21st Avenue is a good example of the Spanish Revival style with an asymmetrical façade, tower, red tile roof, and stucco walls. The Spanish Colonial style is also marked by the use of wrought iron skirts around upper story windows. The La Bonita Apartments at 2502-2524 NE 11th Avenue (1931) reveals how the Spanish Colonial style was applied to a set of one-story court apartments. The C.W. Olsen and Lisle Weygandt building at 1421-1441 NE Broadway Street is a good example of the Mediterranean Revival style applied to a commercial building with its tile roof, corner tower, arched leaded glass windows, and inset tile detailing.
Multi-family Residences and Apartments Near Streetcar Lines
Several multi-family residences in Irvington exhibit the stylistic influences of the period and are reflective of the desire to be located near mass transit. Interestingly, many of these buildings were designed to be unobtrusive, if not illusory in terms of their real multi-family function. Several duplexes and fourplexes, for instance, feature single or side (or garden) entrances and even recessed doorways successfully obscure multiple enties. They were also designed to be unique as very few of these buildings were constructed in similar styles or plans. Several of the best examples appear on NE 15th, NE 24th, and NE 25th Avenues and between NE Tillamook and Broadway Streets. Structures at 2525 NE 15th Avenue, 1731 NE 25th Avenue, 2111 NE Hancock Street, 2201-2211 NE 21st, 2400-2402 NE 15th, 2420 NE 15th, and 2746-2748 NE 24th Avenues are all examples of this building type. Other apartments in Irvington were more overt in terms of their overall purpose and function. The Irvington Bowman Apartments at 1825 and 1835 NE 16th Avenue (National Register listed), designed in the Arts and Crafts Style, and the F.E. Bowman Flats at 1624-1636 NE Tillamook Street (National Register listed) represent two of the best examples of apartment housing in the Irvington Historic District.
Extended Storefronts and Alterations During Period of Significance
Towards the end of the building boom, buildings along the southern edge of the district were altered into multi-family residences or received commercial storefronts. Several residential buildings were also demolished during the latter part of the period. The widening of NE Broadway Street from 60 to 80 feet in 1930 precipitated a gradual transition of former single-family residences on the road. In several instances, foursquare-styled homes on the north side of NE Broadway Street received a one-story commercial addition that extended (usually at basement level) to the property border with the sidewalk. The residences behind these one-story additions, meanwhile, mostly retained their residential uses and appearances. In addition to the widening of NE Broadway Street, several residences were converted for use as boarding houses in the 1940s. The houses at 2116 NE 18th and 2512 21st Avenues, and 1927 NE Tillamook Street, for instance, were used intermittently as either boarding houses or multi-family residences in the 1930s and 1940s and were often altered through the installation of additional bathrooms or even interior partitions rather than exterior additions. Overall, these alterations reveal how changes to the district occurred during this period, but in a modest ways that reflectived the extension of Portland’s streetcar network.
Redevelopment and Infill (post-1948)
Extant buildings from this period in the district’s history are scattered throughout the nominated area. One hundred and seventy-four buildings (174), predominately Minimal Traditional-style dwellings, duplexes, churches, and apartments are noncontributing properties that lie outside of the period of significance. The Modern Period category characterizes single- and multi-family residences, as well as religious and government buildings in the district. The most significant building erected during this period is the Central Lutheran Church which was designed by Pietro Belluschi. The brick Holladay Park Church of God at 2120 NE Tillamook Street is another good example of the mid-twentieth century church. Several of the churches erected during this period resulted in the demolition of residences.
The Minimal Traditional style includes the wooden- and brick-clad residences at 3117 NE 10th, 3441 NE 18th, and 2206-2208 NE 19th Avenues, Minimal Traditional buildings were also constructed within older sections of the district, such as the single-family residence at 904 NE Tillamook Street. While erected of more modern materials and styles, these residences typically feature similar setbacks and are of a similar scale as neighboring houses. Several larger apartment and commercial buildings were also erected during this period. The apartment buildings range in style from being courtyard style apartments to “motel-like” apartments with exterior walkways and parking lots for residents.
Contributing and Noncontributing Status
A contributing building adds to the historic associations and architectural qualities for which a district is significant. To be a contributing building to the Irvington Historic District, a building had to be constructed during the period of significance, relate to the documented significance of the property, and retain historic integrity or independently meet the National Register criteria. A noncontributing building does not add to the historic associations or architectural qualities for which a district is significant because it was not present during the period of significance, does not relate to the documented significance of the property, or due to alterations, additions, or other changes it no longer possesses historic integrity.
In order to determine contributing and non-contributing status, the preparers of the nomination completed a 100-resource test survey of randomly selected blocks to determine the extent and nature of alterations to resources situated throughout the district. This information formed a baseline from which the integrity of materials, workmanship, feeling, setting, design, location, and association could be gauged. A reconnaissance level survey (RLS) was subsequently completed. To ensure that all contributing buildings fell within the period of significance, dates for all buildings were confirmed through a variety of sources including newspapers, tax records, and on-site field observations. By collecting information on architectural styles and lot development, conducting plat research, and drafting a historic context for the neighborhood, the RLS confirmed that all contributing resources related directly to the documented significance of the Irvington Historic District.
The RLS was also used to determine the integrity of contributing resources. Given the large number of resources, a profile for “in period” noncontributing resources was developed that field workers could use to determine integrity. In general, a resource was found to be noncontributing if alterations blurred its historical associations with the larger district. In many cases, rather than one type of alteration, it was the totality of alterations that determined whether a resource was noncontributing. These alterations included the replacement (or resizing) of more than 25 percent of visible windows, re-fenestration of the house, addition of oversize dormers that diminished a building’s stylistic attribution, one- and two-story additions to the house that visually compete or engulf the original residence, the addition of a complete second floor, removal of an original porch, and addition of features that are not consistent with the date of the house and that diminish its original appearance. Contributing outbuildings were noted at the same time, particularly garages. Contributing garages are noted with “CG” in the comments section within the individual building listing in Figure 5, Irvington Historic District Data Sheets. Buildings with noncontributing garages are noted as “NCG.”
Some building alterations that occurred during the period of significance included the one-story commercial extensions from residences along NE Broadway Street in the 1930s and 1940s, as well as the movement of intact houses from neighboring subdivisions. These changes do not preclude a resource from being considered contributing building because the changes occurred within the period of significance.
Summary
The Irvington Historic District comprises one of the most comprehensive collections of Late 19th/Early 20th Century American Movement and Period Revival residential architecture in northeast Portland. The architectural styles reflect the period over which the district development and the booms in new housing occurred. Continuous development of the subdivision throughout the historic period (from 1891-1948) lends a visual cohesiveness to the neighborhood, as the transition from earlier to later architectural designs is visible in the district’s housing stock. A strong majority of buildings that date from the historic period are contributing resources to the historic district. Both historic and modern infill is present in the district. The historic examples illustrate how the district evolved over time and how development went through cyclical periods of initial lot sales, building booms, and infill which contribute to the district’s overall character. The overall architectural integrity of the district is reinforced by the uniformity of the primary land use as a residential subdivision. The streetscape and siting of buildings reinforces the residential character of the district. The presence of historic commercial buildings on the fringes of the historic district helps to convey the lingering influence of deed restrictions upon the neighborhood’s development and the streetcar lines that ran through the neighborhood. |
