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Inventory Form

LOCATION AND PROPERTY NAME
address:26809 Greenberry Rd historic name:Harris, Whitby, House
Corvallis, Benton County current/other names:Whitby House
assoc addresses:Rt 3 Box 611
block/lot/tax lot:
location descr: twnshp/rng/sect/qtr sect:13S 5W 9
PROPERTY CHARACTERISTICS
resource type:Building height (stories):1.5 total elig resources: total inelig resources:
elig evaluation: eligible/contributing NR Status:
prim constr date:1875 second date: date indiv listed:
primary orig use: Single Dwelling orig use comments:
second orig use:
primary style: Gothic Revival prim style comments:
secondary style: sec style comments:
primary siding: Horizontal Board siding comments:
secondary siding:
plan type: architect:
builder:
comments/notes:
GROUPINGS / ASSOCIATIONS
Survey/Grouping Included In: Type of Grouping Date Listed Date Compiled
   Benton County RLS Survey 2009 Survey & Inventory Project 2009
SHPO INFORMATION FOR THIS PROPERTY
NR date listed: N/A
ILS survey date:
RLS survey date: 09/30/2009
106 Project(s): None
Special Assess Project(s): None
Federal Tax Project(s): None
ARCHITECTURAL / PROPERTY DESCRIPTION
(Includes expanded description of the building/property, setting, significant landscape features, outbuildings and alterations)
Main entry door is flanked by sidelights and transom. Flat roofed, projecting slanted window bay is located on the main façade. On the north elevation a rectangular bay has five windows. Window bays have bracketed cornices and molded recessed panels below the windows. Pediment style window heads. Overhanging eaves. Gable wall dormer on main façade and south elevation. Capped cornerboards, rake and frieze boards. The John Harris House is located north of Greenberry Road at the end of a long, curved drive approximately three and two-tenths miles west of the Greenberry Road-Highway 99W intersection. The house is located on a terrace of Muddy Creek which flows immediately behind (west of) the house. A small tributary channel dissects the property to the south of the house (between the house and other outbuildings). The house fronts east. Behind the house bordering the creek are oak trees. The yard today reflects the size and basic arrangement that can be seen in an early photograph but the plantings are not 19th Century. A small pear orchard is located north of the house. According to the present owner, David Aro, the outbuildings now standing are all 20th Century. They include a wooden sheep shed (axis north-south) c.1930, chicken coop, brooding house for chicks, machine shed, storage shed, and a metal pole building erected by Mr. Aro in 1980. An old barn formerly sat just to the east of the sheep barn. Original windows all replaced on south. Picture window replacement. Flat roofed entry porch is recent. One story, shed-roof addition added to rear. Finials removed. All second story balconies have had decorative railings removed. Original windows all repalced on the south side. Picture window repalcement. Flat roofed entry porch is recent. One story, shed-roof addition added to rear. Finials removed. Garage, sheep shed, chicken coop, brood house, machine shed, storage and pole barn are all out buildings around the house. - Major alterations include a patio on the north side of the house with a sliding glass door to provide access from the house. - It's not clear from the previous site plan whether the additions had been made prior to the 1985 survey. If not then the house has been greatly altered since then. - Large garage added to the south side of the house that is converted to the south elevation of the house by an extension of a large addition added to the west elevation fo the house. - There is also an addition the the northwest corner of the house where it is covered with a shed roof and was noted in the previous survey. - House is in good condition but lacks integrity due to alterations.
HISTORY
(Chronological, descriptive history of the property from its construction through at least the historic period - preferably to the present)
Written by Nahani Stricker & Mary Weber & Kathy Schutt in 3/10/1985: The John Harris House is one of the best examples of a Gothic Vernacular farmhouse in Benton County. It is unusual for its multiple gable. From 1852 to at least 1939 the farm was in the Harris Family. John Harris and his descendents were very active in their community. John Harris was one of the organizers of the Willamette Grange (which stood near his home), and was its first master. He attended the nearby Oakridge Presbyterian Church and is buried in the Oakridge Cemetery along with his wife Jane, their son-in-law William Frederick Whitby, and a granddaughter Isabel. The daughter of John and Jane Harris, Mary J. was active in the Willamette Grange where she served as secretary for over twenty years and was also master for several years. John Harris was considered to have one of the best farms of the time. Comparatively wealthy, he made loans and had many investments. One of his investments was in the Willamette Valley and Coast Railroad Company formed by Colonel Hogg in 1874. Both Harris and his neighbor, J.M. Currier, were among the directors in this company. Through inter-marriage and common activities the Harris Family formed a distinct community along with the Buchanans, Curriers, and others. John Harris was a friend of Robert L. Buchanan (whose home lies just to the south) in England and it is possible they came to the United States together. John Harris was born October 12, 1828 in Ireland where his father, a member of the British military, was stationed. John Harris learned the turners trade as a youth and practice in England for several years. he was married to Jane Buchanan (sister of Robert L.) on March 12, 1848 in Liverpool, England. Harris came to California by way of the horn in 1849 or 1850. He prospected until 1852 and then came to Benton County. In that year he purchased a squatters right to 300 acres on William Braggs Donation Land Claim (the Metzker map of 1929 lists the claim as that of John Harris). Mrs. Harris left England and joined him here in 1853. A building is shown for J. Harris on the 1853 Survey Map in the approximate location of the present house. Presumable this was a cabin. The first real lumber house was destroyed and the present house was built in 1875. Of the some 600 acres eventually accumulated by John Harris, a large part was under cultivation. he did not raise much grain but participated in general farming and stock raising including Durham cattle and sheep. Mary J., the only child of John and Jane Harris, inherited the property. She and her second husband, William Frederick Whitby, a native of Ontario, Canada, who began as a hired hand on the farm, continued the tradition of farming and stock raising. A c.1905 photograph shows W.F. Whitby in front of his home with cattle grazing up to the yard fence. Their son, Harold R. Whitby, continued running the farm after his father's death.
RESEARCH INFORMATION
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:
Aro, David, Personal Communication, March 3, 1985. Benton County Census, 1900. Benton County Promotional Brochure, Corvallis, Oregon, c.1905. Cemetery Records, Benton County, Oregon, Winema Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, Corvallis, Oregon, 1948. Fagan, David D., "History of Benton County, Oregon", David D. Fagan, Portland, Oregon, 1885. "Gazette-Times", Corvallis Oregon, May 9, 1890. Phinney, Mark, "Historical Records Survey, Oregon - Benton County", Works Projects Administration, 1939. "Portrait and Biographical Rec9ord of the Willamette Valley", Chapman Publishing Co, Chicago, Ill., 1903. Scott, Leslie M., "The Yaquina Railroad - The Tale of a Great Fiasco", Oregon Historical Quarterly, Vol 16, #3, 1915. Sekora, Linda, Personal Communication, 1985.