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Oregon Historic Sites Database

address:2658 NW Cornell Rd historic name:Honeyman, Walter B. & Myrtle E. House
Portland, Multnomah County current/other names:
assoc addresses:
block/lot/tax lot:
location descr: twnshp/rng/sect/qtr sect:
resource type:building height (stories):2.5 total elig resources:2 total inelig resources:1
elig evaluation: eligible/significant NR Status: Individually Listed
prim constr date:c.1911 second date: date indiv listed:09/10/2014
primary orig use: Single Dwelling orig use comments:
second orig use: Single Dwelling
primary style: Late 19th/20th Period Revivals: Other prim style comments:
secondary style: Tudor Revival sec style comments:
primary siding: Vertical Board siding comments:
secondary siding: Half Timbering
plan type: architect:David C. Lewis (architect), Goodwin H. Beckwith (associate architect)
builder:
comments/notes:
Not associated with any surveys or groupings.
NR date listed: 09/10/2014
ILS survey date:
RLS survey date:
106 Project(s): None
Special Assess Project(s): None
Federal Tax Project(s): None
(Includes expanded description of the building/property, setting, significant landscape features, outbuildings and alterations)
The Walter & Myrtle Honeyman house at 2658 NW Cornell Road, Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon, is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion C for exemplifying the distinctive characteristics of the Tudor Revival style in Portland and the purest example of the style within the work of local master architect David C. Lewis. The house is on an extremely steep, terraced lot above the city of Portland with a view to the northeast of the Fremont Bridge and Mock’s Crest. This urban site has side lot lines that are extremely close to similarly scaled grand houses along Cornell. The approach to the house is via a brick-enclosed, L-shaped, concrete staircase with multiple landings. It begins at the sidewalk in the southeast corner of the lot. In the northeast corner, in back of the sidewalk, is a two-car garage (a contributing building). Atop the staircase is an open front yard with raised planting beds used for a vegetable garden. Behind the beds is a large patio of brick (in progress) in front of a symmetrical front/northeast façade. The house consists of 5,656 finished square feet, excluding sleeping porches, the basement, and the garage. Siding consists of clapboards on the ground floor and false half-timbering on the upper levels. The house exhibits a center hall plan that is three bays wide and two-and-one-half stories tall in a restrained Tudor style. The roof form is a side-gable jerkinhead with three front gable dormers and one rear shed dormer. Attention to detail is clear, with elaborate bargeboards, multi-pane windows, corbelled chimneys, and sparingly used cross braces in the otherwise rectilinear false half-timbering. Most of the windows are original wood; they are covered with aluminum storm windows with painted metal parts. The only exception is the kitchen windows, which are new, double-pane, wood-frame windows. The rear yard is extremely steep and generally unusable, but has a small patio and koi pond in a narrow flat area immediately behind the house. Slightly up the rear slope in the southwest corner of the lot is a small, open-sided work/storage shed (a non-contributing building). The interior is a complex mélange of Tudor, Colonial Revival and Arts & Crafts detailing, varying by room. The ground floor consists of four major public spaces: reception hall, living room, library, and dining room. There is also a large kitchen that has been modernized into a relatively public space. The second level features four bedrooms, two baths, two closets, a linen closet, and two sleeping porches at the rear. The attic remains a traditional servant area with three bedrooms, a full bathroom, and an open communal area, all with minimal detailing. The basement is a mostly unfinished work and storage area except for a full bath and a small bedroom finished in half-round logs with striped bark log posts, conveying a rustic style. Interior integrity is immaculate in nearly all areas, including one room which has seen no changes since construction, and many others where changes have been limited to light fixtures and wall treatments.
(Chronological, descriptive history of the property from its construction through at least the historic period - preferably to the present)
Associated with Fred (Zella) Ashcraft, Mt. Olivet's Go-Getter's Club, President; Diner car porter (PDX African American Context, 1997). The Walter & Myrtle Honeyman House, located at 2658 NW Cornell Road, is significant at the local level as an outstanding early example of the Tudor Revival style in the City of Portland with an exceptional level of interior and exterior integrity. It was considered highly notable when new, receiving mentions in two regional publications. It is also significant as the work of a master, i.e., David C. Lewis, who remains widely recognized for his skill and craft in the Portland area. Lewis’s work has been remarked upon in nearly every text on Portland or Oregon architecture and it received extensive press attention during his lifetime. Indeed, Architectural Record noted his 1907 Board of Trade Building in Portland as part of a new zeitgeist of Pacific Coast architecture. He was also the chosen designer for major buildings at the 1905 (Lewis and Clark Centennial American Pacific Exposition and Oriental Fair) and 1909 (Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition) World’s Fairs and thus represented the best of Oregon. The Honeyman House stands out as the purest example of the Tudor Revival style in Lewis’s residential work. Nearly all of Lewis’s other residential designs were typically Colonial Revival, Jacobethan, or Arts & Crafts. His only two significant Tudor-influenced exterior house designs either featured a Gothic Revival interior (Bishopcroft, 1911) or a notable Arts & Crafts influence (Stewart Linthicum House, c. 1911, demolished). Finally, the Honeyman house is also a rare example of a pre-1920 single family Tudor Revival single family design in northwest Portland. Mr. Honeyman, Secretary of the local hardware empire of Honeyman Hardware, commissioned this home of his brother-in-law, David C. Lewis, the de facto family architect. Lewis had already designed many other homes and commercial investment properties for the Honeyman family, including the company’s headquarter building in the city’s railroad industrial district (Honeyman Hardware Co. Building, 832 NW Hoyt St, NR 1989). The period of significance for the building is the date of the completion of construction in 1911.
Title Records Census Records Property Tax Records Local Histories
Sanborn Maps Biographical Sources SHPO Files Interviews
Obituaries Newspapers State Archives Historic Photographs
City Directories Building Permits State Library
Local Library: University Library:
Historical Society: Other Respository:
Bibliography:
“Acquittal Won by Honeyman.” Oregonian, November 19, 1943. Angelus Studio. “Residence of Walter B. Honeyman.” Pacific Coast Architect 5, no. 1 (April 1913): 23–29. Architectural League Of The Pacific Coast. The Architectural League of The Pacific Coast and Portland Architectural Club Year Book 1913. Portland, OR: Architectural League of the Pacific Coast, 1913. Askin, Timothy, Ernestina Fuenmayor, and Carl Abbott. “North Buckman Historic District, National Register Determination of Eligibility,” 2013. Oregon SHPO. Bates, Philip S. “David C. Lewis House [Photograph].” In Residential Portland, 1911: Portland, Oregon, The Rose City. Portland, OR: The Newspaper Syndicate, 1911. http://tinyurl.com/LewisDCHouse. “Bird Dogs and Automobile ‘Make Up’ After Lively Chase up Canyon Road.” Sunday Oregonian, March 5, 1916. Bosker, Gideon, and Lena Lencek. Frozen Music: A History of Portland Architecture. Portland, OR: Western Imprints, the Press of the Oregon Historical Society, 1985. Boston Architectural Club. The Domestic Architecture of England during the Tudor Period: Illustrated in a Series of Photographs. Boston: Caustic-Claflin, 1923. https://archive.org/details/domesticarchitec1923bost. “Burglar-Catching Popular Pastime.” Morning Oregonian, July 24, 1915. Ching, Frank. A Visual Dictionary of Architecture. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1995. City of Portland. “Henry, James E., House.” Portland Historic Resource Inventory, 1981. Clark, Rosalind, and Albany (OR). Oregon Style, Architecture from 1840 to the 1950s. Portland, OR: Professional Book Center, 1983. Colmer, Montagu, ed. History of the Bench and Bar of Oregon. Portland, OR: Historical Publishing Company, 1910. https://archive.org/details/historyofbenchba00histrich. Croly, Herbert D. “Portland, Oregon: The Transformation of the City from an Architectural and Social Viewpoint.” Architectural Record 31, no. 6 (June 1912): 591–607. Crook, David H. “Louis Sullivan and the Golden Doorway.” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 26, no. 4 (December 1, 1967): 250–58. doi:10.2307/988451. Cullinane, James J. “Mrs. Honeyman in Eight Years Heads Democrats of Oregon.” Washington Post, January 18, 1937. Darby, Melissa, Karen Zisman, and Historic Dimensions. “Honeyman Hardware Company Building, National Register Nomination,” 1989. Oregon SHPO. Daughters of the American Revolution. “Honeyman, William of Portland Oregon, Probate No. 3707.” Portland, OR, 1899. Multnomah County Probate Summaries 8/2. Genealogical Forum of Oregon. “David C. Lewis Is Dead.” Morning Oregonian, April 5, 1918. Demuth & Associates. “King’s Hill Historic District National Register Nomination,” 1990. Oregon SHPO. Donovan & Associates, Prohaska & Associates, and City of Portland. “1311 NW 21st Avenue, Portland, Multnomah County,” 1992. Oregon Historic Sites Database, Oregon SHPO. Http://heritagedata.prd.state.or.us/historic/index.cfm?do=v.dsp_siteSummary&resultDisplay=54353. Donovan, Sally. “W. B. Ayer House, National Register Nomination,” 1991. Oregon SHPO. “Excursions Will Bring Parade Crowds.” Seattle Times, May 25, 1908. Ferriday, Virginia Guest. Last of the Handmade Buildings: Glazed Terra Cotta in Downtown Portland. Portland, OR: Mark Pub. Co, 1984. Gottfried, Herbert, and Jan Jennings. American Vernacular Buildings and Interiors, 1870-1960. New York: W.W. Norton, 2009. “Handsome New Home on Cornell Road Commands Fine View of the City.” Sunday Oregonian, May 21, 1911. Harrison, Michael, Cielo Lutino, Liza Mickle, Peter Mye, Bill Cunningham, and Stephanie Gauthier. “Alphabet Historic District, National Register Nomination,” 2000. Oregon SHPO. Hawkins, William John, and William F Willingham. Classic Houses of Portland, Oregon: 1850-1950. Portland, OR: Timber Press, 2005. “Herbert Croly.” Wikipedia, 2013. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Croly. “Honeyman Firm Quits Business.” Oregonian, April 14, 1942. Honeyman Hardware Company. “Honeyman Hardware Company Catalogs, 1893-1942.” Portland, OR, various dates. Mss 1671. Oregon Historical Society. “Honeyman Plans Trip.” Morning Oregonian, January 31, 1925. “Honeyman’s Funeral Held.” Oregon Journal. January 3, 1961. “Increases Stock to $1,000,000.” Oregon Daily Journal, March 14, 1907. Kadas, Marianne. “Tarpley, Louis and Bessie, House National Register Nomination,” 2007. Kalberer, Mary Jo. “McDougall-Campbell House, National Register Nomination,” 2005. Oregon SHPO. King, Bart. An Architectural Guidebook to Portland. 2d ed. Corvallis: Oregon State University Press, 2007. MacColl, E. Kimbark. The Growth of a City: Power and Politics in Portland, Oregon, 1915-1950. Portland, OR: Georgian Press, 1979. Mariels, Irene. “Classifieds, Homes—NW, Open 1 to 5.” Oregonian, February 15, 1959. Matthews, Henry. Kirtland Cutter: Architect in the Land of Promise. Seattle / Spokane: University of Washington Press ; Eastern Washington State Historical Society, 1998. McAlester, Virginia. A Field Guide to American Houses. Revised edition. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2013. Michaelson, Alan. “David Chambers Lewis.” Pacific Coast Architecture Database (PCAD). Seattle, WA: University of Washington, 2014. https://digital.lib.washington.edu/architect/architects/5357/. Miller, Marjorie. “Bishopcroft of the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon, National Register Nomination,” 1999. Oregon SHPO. “Millions Invested in New Buildings.” Morning Oregonian, January 1, 1907. “Much Activity in Real Estate.” Oregon Journal, June 2, 1907, sec. 2. “New Tract Will Be Platted.” Morning Oregonian, June 1, 1907. Nolan, Edward W., Eastern Washington State Historical Society, and Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture. “Guide to the Cutter & Malmgren (Spokane, Wash.) Records.” Northwest Digital Archives, 1987. http://nwda.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv10277. Nowell, Frank H. “Oregon State Building and Grounds with Visitors, Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition, Seattle, June 1909 [Photograph],” 1909. Frank H. Nowell Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition Photographs. PH Coll 727, Negative No. Nowell x1545. University of Washington Libraries. Http://tinyurl.com/LewisAYP. Oregon Agricultural College. “Foreign Exhibits Palace [Photograph].” Portland, OR, 1905. Visual Instruction Department Lantern Slides, P217, set 049, slide 013. Oregon State University Archives. Http://tinyurl.com/LewisForeign. Oregon Historical Society. “George Luis Baker (1868-1941).” Oregon History Project, 2002. http://ohs.org/education/oregonhistory/historical_records/dspDocument.cfm?doc_ID=7A580A88-1C23-B9D3-6861365FF8D474A8. “Oregon Will Be First to Select Its Site.” Seattle Times, November 9, 1906. “Perjury Laid to Honeyman.” Oregonian, October 6, 1943. “Plea Entered by Honeyman.” Oregonian, November 11, 1943. Portland Art Association / Portland Architectural Club Year Book [of The] Second Annual Exhibition. Portland, OR: Irwin-Hodson, 1909. Ritz, Richard E. Architects of Oregon: A Biographical Dictionary of Architects Deceased, 19th and 20th Centuries. Portland, Oregon: Lair Hill Pub, 2002. Ritz, Richard J. “Conversation with Ronald J. Honeyman, Son of Jas. D. Honeyman - 5/8/79,” May 8, 1979. Richard Ritz Papers. Architectural Heritage Center. San Mateo, County of. “David C. Lewis, Standard Certificate of Death.” Death Certificate. Redwood City, CA, April 4, 1918. 229-9. Records of the Office of the San Mateo County Assessor-Clerk-Recorder. Shellenbarger, Michael. “An Index and Summary of Oregon Building Information in the Portland Daily Abstract (1906-1910),” 1992. http://library.uoregon.edu/aaa/shellenbarger.html. Snyder, Eugene E. We Claimed This Land: Portland’s Pioneer Settlers. Portland, OR: Binford & Mort, 1989. “Social Events of the Past Week.” Sunday Oregonian, November 10, 1912. University of Washington Libraries. “Map of Fairgrounds in 1909.” Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition Centennial, 1909-2009, 2009. https://content.lib.washington.edu/extras/images/Viewer/viewer.html. Vaughan, Thomas, ed. Space, Style, and Structure: Building in Northwest America. 2 vols. Portland, OR: Oregon Historical Society, 1974. Walker, Charles Howard. Theory of Mouldings. New York: W.W. Norton, 2007. “Walter B. Honeyman Breaks Record Unpacking Suitcase.” Sunday Oregonian, February 2, 1919. Wasniewski, Matthew A. “Nan Wood Honeyman.” In Women in Congress, 1917-2006, 164–67. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 2006.