| 1-25-2011 Update
The John C. Ainsworth home was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. The house was first restored by Ruth McBride Powers in 1965 for use as a museum. It was restored again in the early 1990s by Claire and Tom Met (Hawkins, 1999:45). It is currently used, in conjunction with its gardens, as an event space and is privately owned. It underwent reviews by the Historic Review Board in 2005 for an addition and in 2010 for an addition and alteration. It retains excellent integrity and is a historic resource.
The following statement of significance for the Ainsworth House is from Rosalind Clark’s “Architecture Oregon Style:” “Oregon’s best example of the Greek Revival temple form exhibits a front façade pedimented gable, full entablature, colossal two-story octagonal columns, pilasters, six-over-six [sic] double-hung front windows that extend to the floor, transom and side lights surrounding the front entry narrow weatherboard siding, a recessed balustraded balcony, and an inconspicuously sited chimney. The bay window is a later addition. John C. Ainsworth, captain of the steamboat Lot Whitcomb, built the house on a slight knoll with a commanding view of Oregon’s Mount Pleasant area” (Clark, 1983:34).
The following more detailed description of the Ainsworth house is from the 1973 National Register Nomination: “Situated atop a slight knoll on the outskirts of Oregon City, the Ainsworth House commands a view of Mount Pleasant Heights south of the city. Built in 1851 for Captain John C. Ainsworth, a prominent pioneer steamship captain, merchant and financier, the house is one of the well-known examples of the Classical Revival style in Oregon because of its dramatic two-story portico.
The house is rectangular in plan, with gable ends oriented north to south, and it has an offset kitchen ell. Horizontal lap siding or clapboarding coves the south, east and west exterior walls. On the north face the pedimented gable end and the area protected by the portico have flush wall boards. The porch was designed as a tetrastyle-prostyle portico with a colossal order. The Ainsworth House is believed to be a unique example of the temple front type on a large scale west of the Rockies. The four columns supporting the pediment are octagonal rather than turned. To simulate fluting, lathes were attached to the planes of the octagon. A half balcony on the second story is independent of the columns. At the corners of the façade are two-story pilasters with elaborately molded capitals. The cornice of the rear gable end has returns. The gable roof has a boxed cornice and frieze that is divided into two registers by a strip of molding. An interior brick flue with corbelled cap is located on the ridge of the roof.
Fenestration is unusual in that coupled openings are used on the sides of the house with double-hung sash windows with six lights over six. Openings of the three-story bay façade are of the so-called French type extending to the floor line with sashes of six lights over nine. Lintels are slightly tapered and decorated with molding to suggest shallow pediments. The off-center entry serving the side stair hall consists of a six panel door with side lights and transom. Directly above it, a similar entry opens onto the balcony from the second story.
The interior of the house has been essentially unaltered. A projecting bay with sash windows was added to the east elevation to serve the dining room and a bedroom above. The current owner partially restored the house in 1965 and has operated it for the past several years as a house museum accessible on a regular basis during the summer and by appointment (Hartwig, 1973).”
Today the 2.2-acre site is surrounded by suburban residential development within Ainsworth Estates No. 3, on Lot Whitcomb Drive. Also on the site are a contemporary event center and a smaller house with a side gable roof, a half-width recessed porch, and six-over-six-light, wood-frame, double-hung windows in wood frames. It is clad in clapboard with a composition roof and concrete foundation. The parcel is formally and extensively landscaped. Diana Painter |
