| Chain of Title
•1893: April: Frank & Philie Dekum to E. A. Scofield, $1.
•1901: Mary Scofield (widow) mortgagor, E. L. Parker, mortgagee, approx. $1,250.
•1902: November: R. L. Zeller and W. R. & Mollie L. Stokes to William N. LeVanway, $3000, plus assumption mortgage of $1250.
•1928: Seller financed mortgage, W. N. & Bessie LeVanway sale to Daisie Anderson, $3,000. LeVanway retains possession throughout.
•1938, August 30: September-November: William N. LeVanway to Daisie Anderson, satisfaction of 1928 mortgage. Anderson not to take possession until November 1, except for “shop” in front, from which she earns the rent as of August 30.
•1994: Purchased by John Chally, et al. from unknown.
•2008 January: John, Ashby, & Marguerite Chally to Robert & Tricia Coveny, $420,000
One of three extant (of four original) identical homes built as investment property for the sister of W.R. Stokes (Mary E. Stokes Scofield).
Building permit records show that owner Fred Hallwyler installed a toilet and sink in the basement in 1923. The following year, 1924, W.N. LeVanway changed windows, enclosed the sleeping porch and replaced the roof, downspouts, and gutters. A basement garage was added in 1925. Fire damage was repaired and a new furnace installed in 1926. LeVanway then added the one-story commercial attachment in 1928 which housed a print shop. Daisie Anderson connected to the sewer in 1939. Owner Lea Lister added a sink to the building that had become a restaurant. Apartments were remodeled in 1980, which included replacing the apartment fixtures. A gas furnace and ductwork was added in 2002.
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE:
This land was once owned by Frank Dekum (1829-1894), a Portland patrician with substantial investments in banks, real estate, and streetcar line along E. Grand Avenue north to the Columbia River. It is assumed the land was sold unimproved as part of the liquidation of his estate at his death in 1894 (Gaston, 1911).
Mary Elizabeth Stokes (1857 -1927) and Edmund Scofield (1855-1898) appear to have acquired this land from the Dekum estate in 1894. Mary Elizabeth was the sister of local property developer, builder, and architect William R. Stokes (who arranged the sale of the property after the death of Edmund). Her husband Edmund A. Scofield worked as a carpenter for Stokes. They lived in the corner house at 15 East Twelfth in 1895. Mary mortgaged the home shortly after her husband’s death. The subject house was never occupied by the Scofield family (Portland City Directories 1895, 1896, 1898; U.S. Census 1900). The house was one of four identical “cottages” (three extant) designed and built by W.R. Stokes & Co (“East Side Affairs,” 1893).
Edgar L. Belknap lived at this house in 1895, as he prepared to set up a health spas on the west side of Portland, “treatment parlors for the scientific application of massage, manual Swedish movements, electricity, electric light, Roman baths and a thorough system of hydrotherapeutics” (The Oregonian, January 1, 1895).
William N. LeVanway (1859-1942) ("Funeral Notices: LeVanway," 1942) was a concert musician, performing with his own orchestra. Newspaper accounts tell of him usually playing the trombone, but he played the violin in public on at least one occasion, at the Laurelhurst Club, in accompaniment to a choir recital ("Fine Music Promised at Laurelhurst Club Dance," 1916; "Sang the 'Messiah': An Important Amateur Musical Event at the Armory," 1895).
William LeVanway first appears in the Portland city directories as a musician at the Standard Theatre in downtown Portland in 1891 and lived on the west side. In 1895, he married Elizabeth (Bessie) Mosher (nee Collins, 1873-1929) ("Died: LeVanway," 1929), a much younger divorcee with a young son named Frederick Ernest Mosher (1888-?) ("The Circuit Courts: Court Notes," 1895). In September1896, William and Bessie had their first child together, William, Jr. (1896-1957). They would have three other children Alice (1902-1948), Charles (1912-1989) and Elizabeth (1917-?).
During his tenancy, Mr. LeVanway made several changes to the property. First he created a basement garage in 1925 (City of Portland Department of Public Works, Bureau of Buildings (DPWBB) Inspection Report #162556). Second a large fire occurred in 1926 and damage was repaired (DPWBB Inspection Report #165085). Finally, a storefront addition was built by the Mercantile Fixture Corp. in 1928 (DPWBB Inspection Report #197714).
The storefront addition was built for the use of Alice LeVanway’s husband Fred Hallwyler (1902-1978) as his print shop and was later converted into a restaurant. |
