St. Mark: The Interior is Even better

 

Unlike houses and commercial buildings, churches are less susceptible to abusing their original architecture with trendy makeovers or so-called “upgrades.”  As time passes, churches often become sentinels that represent continuous stability as neighborhood landmarks.

A key example is the Parish of St. Mark in Northwest Portland, now celebrating its hundredth year in its red-brick basilica and bell tower at the intersection of NW 21^st Ave. and Marshall St.   While its presence on the street is unmistakable, the interior with its muscular, thick Norman arches is an even more remarkable architectural statement.

The interior also is graced with murals, stained glass windows, two organs and a variety of religious relics that predate the church’s arrival in Portland.   Regardless of one’s religious beliefs, anyone interested in architecture should visit the interior, either for a regular service or when the church is open for other events.  More public events will be held as 2025 unfolds.  Details can be found at stmarkportland.org

Some photographs provide at least some evidence of the artistic treasures inside.

St. Mark was designed by Portland architect Jamison Parker, whose brief career was cut short by the Great Depression.  In just a few years, he also designed First Unitarian Church downtown and many residences for affluent clients.  Parker had started his career at age 17 in 1912 in the office of A.E. Doyle; he opened his own firm in 1921 after serving in World War I.

Parker’s design of St. Mark was modeled after the Church of the Evangelists in Philadelphia, which in turn had been patterned after Italian basilicas dating as far back as the 10^th Century.   Architectural purists no doubt will quibble about generously borrowing from earlier precedents.  Nevertheless, examples like St. Mark give us a taste of architectural history and a chance to enjoy the amazing engineering pioneered by brick masons centuries ago.

Regardless of religious views, seeing the building is a wonderful architectural experience.

 --Fred Leeson

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Perspectives on Preservation

 

During a recent visit downtown, Jim Paynter, a dedicated reader of Building on History, captured an interesting that tells us much about the importance of preservation.  Thanks to his permission, you can enjoy the picture above.

 In the foreground is the Skidmore Fountain, a gift of the 19^th Century entrepreneur and Portland City Council member, Stephen Skidmore.  Its classical composition, no longer embraced by the modern art world, reminds us that people came before us who also had vivid artistic sense that we can still enjoy.

 Behind the Skidmore Fountain sits the cast iron colonnade that once was the ground floor face of the New Market Theater’s north wing.  The north wing was erected in 1874 and torn down in 1952.  Fortunately, the cast iron was saved, and a wonderful preservationist, William J. Hawkins III and his dedicated Portland Friends of Cast Iron Architecture, lobbied to have reinstalled at its original location on SW First Avenue.  Mission accomplished in 1983.

Like the Skidmore Fountain, the colonnade reminds us of elegant architecture in an age long gone.  It showcases a wonderful, lasting building material no longer used in contemporary architecture.  It reminds us again that people who care about our history and want it saved, like Bill Hawkins, can achieve victories, though their roads may be twisted and difficult.

In the background, of course, is Big Pink, the 42-story tower completed for U.S. National Bank in 1983.  It celebrates the victory of modern technology and building practices that allow us literally to reach into the skies.  Big and modern as it is, Big Pink is on its way to becoming a relic, too, given how the digital age has shrunken the number of employees who are required to show up at the office.

The beauty of Jim Paynter’s photographs is that it celebrates the beauties of the past while honoring the present as we currently know it.  People were here before us, and if we’re careful, we can enrich our lives by respecting their art and craft.  People will come after us, too, and perhaps there will be folks among them who battle to save Big Pink from whatever ravages of time await it.

----Fred Leeson

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Transformation Complete

 

Exactly a year and a half ago, a couple residing in Northeast Portland’s Alameda neighborhood agreed to pay $500,000 for an eyesore residence that had been the lifetime home of two elderly brothers who simply couldn’t seem to part with anything.

 The yard of their unusual trapezoidal lot was littered with seven junker cars.  Inside, the decades-long accumulation of “stuff” restricted access throughout the two-story house and basement to narrow pathways.

 The buyers, Michael and Jaylen Schmitt, wanted to save the house built in 1926 and preserve the ambiance of their neighborhood filled with well-kept homes dating to the 1920s era.  They feared that a developer might swoop in and replace the derelict house with a McMansion or some larger structure incompatible with the neighborhood.

 

Cleaning up the property took several months.  The Schmitts worked with architects and an interior designer to completely renovate the house with historic touches reflecting its past while fully upgrading its kitchen, bathrooms and utility systems to 21^st Century standards.  You can see numerous pictures here:  

4072 NE 24th Ave, Portland, OR 97212 | For Sale ($1,575,000) | MLS# 263171720 | Redfin

The Schmitts entered the project with no ambition or expectations about earning big bucks.  On the other hand, they hoped not to fall into the red, if possible.  Based on the extensive renovations, the asking price may well be close to the breakeven point.

The asking price appears to be a little higher than the values of many other older homes on nearby streets.  But it also is only a block away from the huge Autzen mansion originally built for the lumber entrepreneur whose name now graces the football stadium at the University of Oregon.

 Whatever the financial outcome proves to be, it is a remarkable story of residents willing to take a major risk to preserve the ambiance of a neighborhood they deeply appreciate.

------Fred Leeson

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