Almost a year ago . . . and a tidbit about our approaching spring.

I took this photo on March 4, 2013, just over a year ago, at 2:37 p.m. I took off work early to go on a tour, part of the Benson Hotel's 100th Birthday Celebration. The entire thing turned out very well, but it was super neat to me to also get a chance to look out the windows of the rooms we toured. This view is looking north and slightly west of the hotel. My favorite Portland architect is A. E. Doyle. His firm designed the hotel.

Were you confused at first, seeing those two white vehicles seeming as if they were parked down among the leafless trees on West Burnside? Actually, they're parked on the roof of a parking garage. Info about the parking garage: The historic Corbett Brothers Auto Storage Garage (built 1926) is also known as Broadway Garage and is located 630 SW Pine in Portland, Oregon, United States, is listed on the US National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). That same Portland architect, A. E. Doyle, designed the parking garage, too.



This screen shot has my photo beside a Google Map of the intersection. See where I added West Burnside on each of them? The text is just about in the same place on each photo. Anyway, most every workday, I'm on a bus that turns right onto the wide open street before turning right onto West Burnside. The wide open street is Broadway. You can see the street the bus is on before it turns right, there beside the north side of the parking garage. And in the Google Map, you can see that the trees have their leaves on! Right now the trees look just about the same as in my photograph, although I did notice a few along the homeward commute Thursday after work, some with enough leaf buds large enough to give a hint of color to the tree. Spring's comin', y'all!

Seen on the street, February 16, 2013, No. 1

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First, that white cloth above his jeans is the top of his tighty-whiteys, not a "crack in the butt" sighting. I promise. I looked, with some trepidation, at the original image in its largest size, just to make sure. Second, I first saw him as we walked toward each other. As he stopped at the Benson Bubbler, I approached on his right and watched without being obvious as I walked by. I knew I had to take a photo, but I also knew that it would be smart for me to take it once I was beyond him. I definitely did not want him to notice that I was taking a picture. Third. Out of the shopping bag, he took a partially filled two-liter plastic bottle, opened it and held it in his left hand. The liquid in it was orange. Next, he filled his mouth with water, brought the bottle neck to his mouth and spit the water into the bottle. Honest. That's what he did, several times before I managed to get past him and turn to take this photo. Tell me the truth, now. You're glad I didn't get a photo of him spitting into that bottle, right? 

A part of the sculpture Talos No. 2 by James Lee Hansen is visible at the right. All along the TriMet Transit Mall downtown, you'll find public art of all sorts. This corner is where the Bank of California stands, right across the street from the U. S. National Bank, both by architect A. E. Doyle. If you search my blog for Bank of California, you'll see the corner on several of the posts. I cannot get a link to any of them to work--sorry.

A. E. Doyle's Bank of California, No. 8

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Looking southeast across the lobby from the entrance portico--the photo that I took on October 25, 2012. 
 

Looking that same direction in a photo taken in 1977 when Durham & Bates occupied the building. 

Here's a bit about the upper floors of the Bank of California building, from the 1978 application to the National Register of Historic Places:


As previously mentioned, a new entrance was installed to provide access to the elevator lobby serving the upper floor tenant spaces. This lobby was formed by partitioning off a portion of the space under the mezzanine at the north end of the banking room.

The second and third floors, previously used as administrative offices and work spaces for the bank, will soon be available as rental offices. The second floor boasts a 13' high ceiling--higher than is offered by most modern tenant spaces being built today. Aside from this, the space is not unusual. It is planned to update this floor with the installation of air conditioning units above a new acoustical ceiling, carpeting, lighting and partitioning to suit tenant requirements.

The third floor, having a usable area somewhat smaller than the second floor, is housed beneath the hipped, tile roof. This provides a low plate height along the west and south walls and sloped ceilings which extend up to the east-facing windows and clerestory, giving a unique garrett-like appearance to the space. This floor was originally used as a lounge, library, and recreation space for the bank's employees.

A. E. Doyle's Bank of California Building, No. 7

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Next are two photos of just a portion of the entrance portico which I managed to photograph. You can make out the bronze and the marble in this one. The original floor was marble, too. According to the paperwork for the National Register of Historic Places, it is made with Hungarian Red, Taverne Le Pink Tennessee, and Jaune Nile. Surely those three different colors represent these three marbles and the floor today is the original floor. Oh, I hope so. 




And here's what was written in the application for the National Register of Historic Places about the entrance: The entrance to the building is through a handsome bronze portico set in the middle arched window opening at the west facade, and boasts a pair of bronze gates which can be slid in front of the double entrance doors. The original bronze-framed doors were removed a number of years ago and replaced by automatic tempered glass doors. 
   


Here's the same vintage photo as yesterday--I wanted to be certain you've noticed that entrance to the building through the bronze portico. A portion of it is there on the left of the photo. The marble columns and arches visible make me happy because, even with the changes to the lobby made by Durham and Bates, no one messed with the entrance portico!

A. E. Doyle's Bank of California Building, No. 6

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Looking northeast at the end of the lobby, in a photo that I took on October 25, 2012. Thankfully, the arches are still there. Look at the photo below for a comparison.
 

Looking northeast at the end of the lobby, in a photo taken in 1925, on opening day.

Picture yourself entering this huge, open lobby. Which setting would have overtaken your senses? OK, I know the photo at the top leaves a bit to the imagination since I couldn't get such a wide view, and there is a piece of equipment sitting on the floor. Even if I had been able to see it all and could have provided you with a better comparison, would that have made a difference? Not to me. I'd still have to vote for the breath-taking view in the vintage photo. And I still wonder how the sun-filled lobby smelled with all of those bouquets on site.




Here's the lobby as it was when the application was made, in a photo taken in 1977 or 1978. Durham and Bates would have been the occupant at that time. The gorgeous glass and what looks to be marble shape on the left side of the photo is the entrance portico situated on the west side of the lobby. The back of this photo says: Interior view of Old Bank of California Building looking Northeast in former banking lobby, now office space, showing extended mezzanine. 

Here's information about the building's interior from the paperwork turned in to the National Register of Historic Places: The building's main floor, originally the banking lobby, tellers' cages, and office platform, was designed as a grand two-story room with a handsome ornate coffered beam ceiling.The east wall has blind arches which echo the window forms of the west wall and, as with other Renaissance forms, are carried out in fine detail. As on the exterior, the interior finishes demonstrate the skill which had developed in the fabrication of imitation materials at the time of construction. Interior surfaces are almost entirely cast materials--an integrally colored plaster, formed to look like travertine marble. Only the Escollette marble vestibule, marble floor of the banking lobby, and the tellers' counters, which have been removed, are of genuine materials. The floor incorporates three kinds of marble--Hungarian Red, Taverne Le Pink Tennessee, and Jaune Nile. At some subsequent time, the colored "travertine" plaster was painted a rather yellowish color. During the recent remodeling, it was repainted to a beige tint more akin to the original color. 

In adapting the former banking room for use as office space, the original 16' wide mezzanine along the north wall was extended south against the east wall to the south wall. An additional free-standing stair was added to connect the new mezzanine to the main floor. Architects for the renovation--Fletcher, Finch, Far and Associates--designed all partitions, railings, and other added forms in a contemporary style in order to strongly contrast with the original building forms. This was further carried out by the selection of contrasting colors for the new design elements, with no attempt being made to copy the renaissance colors and forms of the original design. 

A. E. Doyle's Bank of California Building, No. 5

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An eatery, The Original Dinerant, occupies the street level of the building to the north of the Bank of California. The BOC is just out of sight at the right of this building, next to the black-faced wall visible near the current-day TriMet bus shelter you see lit up for the night-time users of mass transit. Someone waits for a bus and appears to have a bicycle to place on the bike rack attached to the front of the bus.
 

Here's the Bank of California, just south of The Original Dinerant--notice the black-faced wall.

Vintage photos, part of the documentation used to place architect A. E. Doyle's Bank of California on the National Register of Historic Places. The application is dated as received on February 15, 1978, and approved on March 14, 1978.
 

Vintage photo shows the Guaranty Building which was adjacent to the Bank of California and north of it. The back of the photo says that it was taken in 1924. Since the grand opening photos are dated 1925, it may not have actually been occupied at the time this photo was taken. I wish I had a photo of the north end of the building, which was exposed with the demise of the Guaranty Building, complete with the drive-up window and the canopy. Below is the next best thing.
 

The north end of the Bank of California, taken during 1977 probably. Note the placement of the older style TriMet bus shelter here on this section of SW 6th Avenue--part of the then brand new Portland Transit Mall. In the second photo on today's post, a bench occupies this spot, put there when the Transit Mall was rebuilt. And you've already seen the style of bus shelter which replaced these iconic ones, in the top photo today. 

From the paperwork submitted to the National Register of Historic Places:

Since the Bank of California's move to a new building in 1970, the structure has been occupied by The Security Bank of Oregon and, subsequently, the Oregon Bank. In 1977, ownership passed to Bankside Investors for occupancy by Durham and Bates, Inc., an insurance firm of pioneer beginnings in the Portland area. Since its construction, the exterior of the building has remained substantially unaltered, the only significant change being the addition of a drive-up banking window and canopy at the north end of the building. This was made possible by the razing of the six-story Guaranty Building which occupied the property immediately to the north until the mid-or late1950s. At this time, the newly exposed north wall was plastered in a rusticated stonework pattern simulating the west and south building elevations.

The imposing west facade of the bank building has five large arched windows which extend from the ground floor to a height of 28 feet above the sidewalk in recognition of the two-story banking lobby inside. Centered above these arches are smaller rectangular windows which serve the second floor office space almost 35 feet above the ground floor. Window frames are of painted steel. Above the second floor windows is a marble frieze and bracketed cornice which supports the Cordova Terracotta tile hipped roof typical of the Pallazzo style. The imposing rusticated "stonework" of the exterior walls and cornice are, in reality, cast terra-cotta executed with excellent craftsmanship. Only the marble base course and frieze are genuine. 

The entrance to the building is through a handsome bronze portico set in the middle arched window opening at the west facade, and boasts a pair of bronze gates which can be slid in front of the double entrance doors. The original bronze-framed doors were removed a number of years ago and replaced by automatic tempered glass doors.

Recent modifications to the building, made just prior to occupancy by the present tenant, include the removal of the added drive-up window and canopy at the north wall, and the filling in of a door which was cut through to the parking lot.

A new entrance was installed in the northern-most window of the west wall to provide access to a new lobby serving the upper floor
tenant spaces. Presently, theTri-Metropolitan Transit District has contracted for the widening and brick-paving of the sidewalk on SixthAvenue. The brick texture and color, together with soon-to-be-installed trees and street furniture should further enhance the handsome building.

A. E. Doyle's Bank of California Building, No. 4

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Look at the clock, there, centered inside one of the arches on the back wall of the bank's lobby.
 

I think it's the same clock that can be seen in this vintage photo. What do you think? The unusual clock face, what looks like brass Roman numerals and a brass ring around the edge of the clock face--they all match closely, as best I can tell from these two photos.

A. E. Doyle's Bank of California Building, No. 3

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The ceiling and one of the light fixtures.
 

A closer view, from a different angle.
 

Another vintage photo. From the National Register of Historic Places application for the Bank of California--I could not find the photos online anywhere except in the PDF, so I took photos of the photos with my camera because the thought of not being able to share them with you saddens me immensely. Please do not copy and paste this photo. Thank you.

A. E. Doyle's Bank of California Building, No. 2

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Standing at the front door, I took this first photo after I got off the bus. Excited to see something inside, anything at all--I'd never been able to see anything through the doors. So, these light fixtures and what look to me like maybe bank teller stations tickled me, big time. 

Next I walked to the south end of the building to look in the first window there, after I walked around the corner onto SW Stark. I like the perspective of this view which shows those light fixtures and the counter as seen through part of the brass metalwork along the bottom of the arched window. The juxtaposition of the light fixtures with each other intrigued me. 

Curious and still not satisfied that I'd seen all I could see, I moved a step or two and took one more photo through the metalwork on the window--this one. I believe I saved the best for last. Look at that curved counter! The metal supports of the light fixtures! Well, it looks like metal to me. And you can tell that someone's been in there and left a chair and a piece of equipment. Left the lights on, too, thanks be to the architecture-lovin'-gods!

A vintage photo of the building--on the back it says "View looking Northeast at the corner of 6th Avenue and Stark Street showing Old Bank of California Building." and "Bank of California Building (Old), 330 SW Sixth Avenue, Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon, 3 of 8, Curtis Finch photo 1977. West and south elevations. Fletcher, Finch, Farr & Associates, 920 SW Thirteenth Avenue, Portland, OR 97205." From the National Register of Historic Places application for the Bank of California--I could not find the photos online anywhere except in the PDF, so I took photos of the photos with my camera because the thought of not being able to share them with you saddens me immensely. Please do not copy and paste this photo. Thank you. Oh, by the way, notice that curved-topped structure at the right corner of the building--that's what all of the mass transit stops used to look like downtown, on the Transit Mall. I miss them and their shape immensely.

A. E. Doyle's Bank of California Building, No. 1

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Here's the back story about the upcoming posts of architect A. E. Doyle's Bank of California on the corner of SW 6th Avenue and SW Stark. I'm not going to call it any of its other iterations because I'm so fond of Doyle's work and figure he deserves respect from me in my posts about his buildings. For years I have felt this building to be one of the loveliest in downtown Portland, so pleasing to the eye in its symmetry and size, the shapes of the windows, the bronze metalwork along the bottom of the arch windows and at the heart of the door, the cast terra cotta and marble exterior. 

Here we have two photos that I took on October 25, 2012. I got off the homeward bound bus to take them and the ones you'll see over the next few days.

I go this way Monday through Friday after work, but I never get off the bus here--there's no reason--I've only been on it a . At least there wasn't until the day before I got off and took these photos. As we passed by, my back to this side of the street, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that there were lights on inside the building which has not been in use since I moved to Portland in June, 2006, that I know of anyway. Astonished, I swiveled my head from right to left to make certain that I had really seen lights on in the Bank of California. 

I found this online which explains why the lights were on inside the Bank of California: 

Historic Bank of California Building for lease 330 S.W. Sixth Ave. POSTED: Monday, December 17, 2012 at 12:01 PM PT BY: Lee Fehrenbacher Tags: A.E. Doyle, Bank of California Building, historic buildings 

The historic Bank of California Building in downtown Portland, which opened in 1925 and was designed by noted Portland architect A.E. Doyle, is for lease. The Italian Renaissance Palace Style structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. 

And I found the 1978 National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination form online, which makes for some fine reading about the building. I cannot get the link to work! So, I don't know if this will help or not, but in case you're interested, here it is for you to copy and paste: http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/78002306.pdf
   

Three photos for you to enjoy:

• Vintage Photo One, 1974
• Vintage Photo Two, 1974
• Close-up of Door, Photo Three

Looking through a window of a storefront

On the corner of SW 6th Avenue and SW Salmon, there used to be a Nike store in the A. E. Doyle building known as The Public Service Building. At some point in the recent past, Nike moved to another location, then the windows were covered, followed by a complete gutting of the interior space.

As I walked by Friday night, on my way to catch a MAX Yellow Line to the Rose Garden Arena for a Trail Blazers' game, I stopped to look through the now uncovered windows, just to see what I could see. Completely through the building to the parking garage exit, it seems. I'm not sure where the woman came from, but her movement drew my eye from the concrete pillars and the chance to see the innards of a Doyle building. I watched as she walked across the pavement, turned to face my direction and stepped back out of the way to wait.

In moments she had her phone in her hand, possibly texting her ride to let her know that she had arrived at their agreed upon point. I'll never know for sure.

Info from Wikipedia about the building:

The Public Service Building is a historic 67.06 m (220.0 ft), 15-story office building in downtown Portland, Oregon, United states. The building and its attached parking garage have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Public Service Building and Garage since 1996. It was built to house the offices of the Portland Gas and Coke Company and the Pacific Light and Power Company. The building's name reflects the fact that these utilities were "public services."A space in the Public Service Building fronting the corner of Salmon and Sixth streets became the first Niketown store.

Structural details

The north and south wings of the building were originally two stories tall, but were built up to their present height of 12 stories in 1957. Considered a skyscraper, once complete, the Public Service Building became the tallest building in Portland, holding that record until the 1960s. It was overtaken by the Hilton Portland Hotel in August 1962 when that building reached 229 feet (70 m).

The main power plant for the city was once located in the basement. The space is now used to house the city's main power feeds.

Architectural details

The Public Service Building was the third of three similarly Italianate buildings built in Portland by the firm of prolific local architect A.E. Doyle. The project's primary designer, Charles K. Greene, worked on the other Italianate Doyle-commissioned buildings in Portland: the smaller Bank of California Building (1924) and the Pacific Building (1926).[5] Green initiated the design of this structure, but left Portland before the building was complete. Pietro Belluschi then completed the project.

The first three floors of the Public Service Building are faced with gray terra-cotta, and the upper floors in gray brick. The cornices and details are also terra-cotta. The building has a stylized wave motif that can be seen along its moldings. The original roof, like its sister buildings, was clad in red clay tile. Pietro Belluschi's touch can be seen in the building lobby, where he designed elevator doors that represented the utility company tenants.

Taking advantage of its being the tallest building in town, the utility companies added neon signs atop the roof: "POWER," "HEAT," "GAS," and "LIGHT," each aimed in a cardinal direction. At some point all four sides of this sign said "PACIFIC POWER."

A.E. Doyle died in January 1928, only three weeks after the Public Service Building opened.

Renovations

Renovations to the Public Service Building took place in 1957, 1973, and 1999. The 1957 renovation raised the height of the building's wings to 12 floors. In 1973, the neon signs and original roofs were removed, and a new metal roof installed. The 1999 renovations focused on reducing energy costs with new technology, costing around US$20 million. The building was sold in 1993 to the Goodman Family, also owners of parking garages and lots in Portland, for US$3 million.

Serendipitous, the connection between this van and one of my favorite sites/sights in downtown Portland, the Bank of California building! Plus a new friend!

Before our adventure became interrupted, when Lamont, Leland and I were heading in the opposite direction of hundreds of participants in the Hood to Coast Relay and their support vehicles, naturally I had to take photos from the windows of the Volvo station wagon. As I decided which other photos to share with you, I looked closely at this one, to see what it said on the side of the van. Lo and behold! 3 Kings Environmental Inc. and a Washington state telephone number. I couldn't believe my eyes!

Continue reading and looking to find out why. I've copied and pasted my post from March 3, 2010, about the other end of this serendipitous connection.

On the corner of SW 6th and SW Stark, stands another of my favorite downtown Portland buildings. I'm partial to Portland's prolific architect of yesteryear, A. E. Doyle.



Huge windows. Tiny pedestrians, in relation to the huge windows. Notice the public art? It's part of the Transit Mall's collection.




Notice the Benson bubbler, to the right between the public art and the tree?



The Z on the sign on the pole marks the transit stop near that corner.



You'll see this same intricate light fixture on a different Doyle building.

From Wikipedia, but I need to add that the sign on the building is not for The Bidwell & Company. It says Three Kings. I couldn't find anything about Three Kings, Portland, at that address. Anyone know anything?

The Bank of California Building or also The Bidwell & Company Building, is a historic two-story building in downtown Portland, Oregon. Since 1978, it has been on the National Register of Historic Places. The building is currently vacant.

This location was the site of the first Portland Central Library, which moved to its present site in the early 1920s. The Bank of California saw the lot as fit to build a Portland branch and hired local notable architect A.E. Doyle to design it. Doyle's chief designer Charles K. Green had traveled abroad to study Greco-roman architectural forms in the 1910s. The result of his research resulted in three Italianate buildings, of which the Bank of California Building was the first. The others were the Chicago/Italianate Pacific Building and the Public Service Building, an early skyscraper. The exterior lights on the Public Services Building are of the same design of those on the Bank of California Building.

The Bank of California remained at this site for 50 years until moving a couple of blocks west to the Union Bank of California Tower. The building underwent an intensive renovation in 2000.



Here you can see Three Kings on the plaque on the wall, above the ornate entrance doors. I took this photo on August 23, 2012, when a new friend had come home to Portland, to visit his mother and to get a look at this building. You see, his dad once worked inside for a maritime insurance company, Durham and Bates. My new friend had discovered the March 2010 post when he was on the Internet, wondering about what had happened with the building for which he had fond memories of going to with his father, seeing the many models of ships on display; he wondered what had happened to them, too.

That's how we met, through our mutual appreciation for its outstanding design. He knew that 3 Kings was an environmental company, something I didn't know. I found out from a very helpful someone at Durham and Bates that many of the ship models now are on display at their current location, not too many blocks from this building. One more lo and behold. Their new location is another A. E. Doyle building! More about that and the ship models in a post, soon, I promise.

Festival of Flowers, Pioneer Courthouse Square, downtown Portland

Let me set the scene. You're looking slightly north of east across Pioneer Courthouse Square, nicknamed Portland's Living Room. The white glazed terra cotta building houses Macy's and The Nines Hotel, but it was originally the Meier & Frank department store, the first major commission of my favorite Portland architect, A. E. Doyle; the building was completed in stages between 1909 and 1932. The lovely building to the right of the trees is the Pioneer Courthouse, completed in 1875. And in front of it is a TriMet MAX Yellow and Green line light rail station--those people milling about are waiting for a ride closer to home.

At BeFunky dot com, I've altered this photo by cropping it, sharpening it, and using the special effect Orton. The result reminds me how some vintage post cards look--I really like it.

About the flowers, here's the news release from The Square PDX dot org:
FESTIVAL OF FLOWERS CONTAINER OF ESSENCE ARRIVES TO PORTLAND’S LIVING ROOM JUNE 1ST! PORTLAND, OR – (May 25, 2012)

The 28th Annual Festival of Flowers celebration officially opens June 1st in the heart of Downtown Portland!

This year’s design, Container of Essence created by local artist and sculptor Dana Lynn Louis, will be on display at Pioneer Courthouse Square through June 12th.

Container of Essence at the Square will bring together nearly 20,000 colorful flowers, bamboo and ornamental grasses to create a mandala in the heart of downtown encouraging peace within one’s self and the world at large. In conjunction with the two week festival there will be plenty of noon time activities encouraging downtown visitors to find their inner peace with free yoga and meditation! For two weeks on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, grab your yoga mat as the Square transforms into an outdoor yoga studio. Beginning June 4th at 12pm, CorePower Yoga instructors will be conducting FREE Yoga classes on the Square. For more moments of Zen, Maitripa College, one the first Buddhist colleges in America will be leading classes in meditation on June 5th and 12th. KIND Healthy Snacks will also be at the Square for “KIND Tuesday” on June 5th as they hand out free snack bars and seed packets for your garden, while supplies last.




See the little girl sitting on the bricks, near the mandala, with her left arm raised in the air? Would that I could read  her mind and know the memories she's making at the sight of these lovely flower designs.


And this info about the Flower Sale, from the same Internet source:

2012 Festival of Flowers Price List

Container of Essence Design by Dana Lynn Louis
4” Flowers/Annuals & Herbs
$1/each or $10/Dozen

Flowers/ Annuals ($1 each)
Blue Salvia, Red Salvia, Red Begonias (bronze leaf), Red Begonias (green leaf), Durango Red Marigolds, Orange Marigolds, Orange Impatiens Extreme, White Alyssum, White Impatiens Extreme, White Begonias (green leaf), White Begonias (bronze leaf), Light Pink Impatiens Extreme, Light Pink Begonia (green leaf), Coral Petunias Simply Madness, Dark Pink Impatiens Extreme Rose, Dark Pink Begonias (green leaf), Lime Green Coleus Versus

Herbs ($1 each)
Peppermint, Spearmint, Lemon Balm, Common Sage, Hyssop, Chives

3.5” Grasses/ Perennials ($3 each)
Acorus Gramineus ‘Ogon’, Carex Dolichostachya ‘Kaga-Nishiki’, Juncus Effusus ‘Unicorn’

1 gallon Grass ($5 each) Imperata Bloodgrass

Bamboo ($60 each) 8-10ft Phyllostachys nigra from Bamboo Garden

Flower Sale begins Wednesday June 13th at 8:00AM
Boxes and Bags available while supplies last!

Altered with Picnik, Various Edits and Special Effects, No. 3

A. E. Doyle is my favorite Portland architect. This building, which also appeared in yesterday's post, is one of his which I adore. One of these days I will go inside and ask if I may take photos. Until then, more about the exterior.



Info found at the Architecture Foundation of Oregon Web site:

The US Bank Main Branch ... Architect: A.E. Doyle ... Built in 1917 (Please notice the building peeking through the space between the columns and the building. More about it soon.)

Built in 1917 and added to in 1925, the US Bank building was built in two stages that allowed it to occupy half of the National Bank Block in Portland. The location of the first project was at the corner of Southwest Sixth and Stark, later extended west to border Broadway. One of the west coast’s leading architects, A.E. Doyle designed the bank in the Classical temple style after the famous Knickerbocker Trust Bank in New York designed by McKim, Mead and White. This style was considered at the time by US Bank president J.C. Ainsworth to ‘embody the most modern type of bank architecture’.

When visiting this magnificent building, the first architectural elements you are likely to notice are the freestanding monolithic columns designed in the Corinthian order. The Corinthian order was chosen for the entire exterior of the building, in part to set a contrast between this building and the Doric order of the rival First National Bank.

Looking up between two of the columns.

This photo contrasts the size of the pedestrian and the dog with the size of the columns. Monumental difference. The intersection: SW Stark is the one way street, eastbound, crossing SW 6th Avenue, looking north on SW 6th Avenue.

Large bronze doors to the lobby greet visitors at the entry. Arvard Fairbanks, a former sculptor and professor of the University of Oregon designed these doors, which were inspired by the fifteenth century “Gates of Paradise” located in the Baptistery in Florence, Italy.


The Bank’s interiors are just as ornate and detailed as the exterior, having been built in a period before the modern movement removed ornamental architecture, and in a time when no dollar was spared to create a masterpiece. Three different colors of marble are present in the main lobby; each traveling from far reaches around the world. The white marble that can be seen in the floor and columns came from Italy; the red marble in the floor traveled from Hungary; and finally, the black marble at the counters found its way here from quarries in Belgium. The ceiling displays excellent artistry in ceramic bas-relief that was made in casts that were hand carved. Architect A.E. Doyle carefully oversaw the hand painting of the bas-relief, which has never needed to be repainted.

Altered with Picnik, Vibrance Special Effect, No. 2

Altered by cropping, tinkering with the exposure, and using the Vibrance Special Effect to make the colors pop.

What do you think is going on here? Did the man on the bicycle squeak in pain after taking the curb, causing the man waiting to cross SW 6th take a close look?

Thursday, August 25, Part 1 of this day's fun!

On the phone--during one of our numerous phone calls discussing important things like "Are you gettin' ready for us, Lah-neigh-yet?" and "What are we gonna do all those dayzzzz?"--Milton told me the one thing he wanted to be sure to do, visit Multnomah Falls like they had done with Mama and me back in May, 2007, on their first visit. "I want to video it 'cause Mama loved it so."

Here's how we got it done.

Lamont picked us up and drove us to the Zipcar which does not live within walking distance of my apartment. Bus distance, yes, but that sweet son of mine offered to give us a ride over there, and we jumped at the chance! The Ford Escape waited patiently on the corner of SE Division and SE Caesar Chavez/39th Avenue in a service station parking lot. We put the cooler in the back and drove over to Fred Meyer for supplemental supplies: our bottles of water and pop, some cookies, some chips, and a loaf of buttermilk bread. Then we headed east toward our first stop.


I love this natural wonder even if it's difficult to get all of it in one photo. I read online that the upper falls of 542 feet and the lower falls of 69 feet have a gradual nine foot drop in elevation between the two of them which adds up to a total height of 620 feet. Not sure I totally understand that bit about the gradual nine foot drop in elevation, and since I won't be walking up to the bridge any time soon and looking into the pool at the bottom of the upper falls, I may never understand it. And I hadn't read those facts prior to Milton's going up on the bridge, so I didn't know to ask him to check it out for me.


I had no trouble understanding the sign on the left.


A. E. Doyle, one of my favorite Portland architects, designed the 1925 Multnomah Falls Lodge, which is now on the National Register of Historic Places. A bit about the lodge that I found on the Internet: The Multnomah Falls Lodge is located at Multnomah Falls, Oregon, at Columbia River Mile (RM) 136. It was built in 1925 as an overnight rest area on the Historic Columbia River Highway. Originally the lodge had dormitories and four rooms for the overnight stays.

Then I found this up-to-date information on the building's Web site: Thank you for your interest in an overnite stay at the Lodge. Unfortunately, the building was origionally construsted as a day lodge only, and does not offer overnight accommodations.

Available for public viewing, the Lodge houses a U.S. Forest Service interpretive center, an exceptional gift shop, , snack bar, espresso cart and public restrooms on the plaza level. The second floor accessed by Stair or elevator is home to the restaurant lobby and dining rooms, spectacular patio dining in suitable weather, cozy lounge and bar area.

Ah, the joy of the Internet, where anyone can post anything. I'm pretty sure we ought to trust the building's own Web site as factual.


I managed to get it all in one photo! Amazing accomplishment, and I didn't have to stand on my head. My camera has one of those viewer thingeys that rotates so that you can hold your camera in out-of-the-ordinary places, so I wrapped the strap tightly around my wrist and held the camera outside the railing, with the viewer thingey tilted so that I could see what the camera saw. Neat!


Milton on the bridge, wide shot.


Milton on the bridge, close shot.


The best buds, ever!


One last look, for Mama.


Then we headed for the SUV.

Downtown Portland's Benson Hotel, one of A. E. Doyle's buildings

Mama's doing OK, not great, but OK. Thanks to everyone for the prayers.


On our first visit to Portland, summer 2006, Mama and I stayed here. We loved every second of it. I took this photo the evening of November 19, 2010.

Here's what I found at the Oregon Encyclopedia about the hotel:

The Benson Hotel, built in Portland by pioneer lumberman Simon Benson in 1913, was constructed as an annex to the adjacent Oregon Hotel to the south. It was originally called the New Oregon Hotel. Soon after it opened, however, it became known as the Benson. The older hotel was demolished in 1959 to make way for a new addition.

Conceived as a high-end hotel in downtown Portland, the Benson was designed by architect A.E. Doyle, who modeled it after the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago. Doyle's design used the elements of the Baroque Revival Style in a grand manner, sheathing the twelve-story building in red brick and cream-colored, glazed terra cotta.


The massive mansard roof is covered in copper and green terra cotta and pierced with pediment dormers. (My photo, taken August 5, 2010, during the Architectural Heritage Center Downtown Terra Cotta Walk. Near as I can tell, the golden sphere rests inside a vase-like depression and is held in place by a scroll-like shape. I was wishing for a gargoyle.)

The interior also displayed an opulent touch. The lobby featured rare Circassian walnut woodwork from Russia, Italian marble floors, and Austrian crystal chandeliers. The ceiling was punctuated with ornate plaster designs of acanthus, rosettes, egg-and-dart, and other classical motifs. Noted lighting designer Fred Baker created the lighting fixtures for the interior. The Benson Hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

The $1 million, 200-room hotel boasted the latest in modern conveniences, including private baths, automatic door switches, electric lights, and telephones in each room. The hotel has been well maintained over the years, receiving a thorough rehabilitation in 1991. The Benson Hotel has always sought to attract a high-end clientele, which included show business celebrities, business leaders, politicians, and many U.S. presidents.

Simon Benson (1852-1942) gradually accumulated a fortune in the timber business, shipping large quantities of lumber to southern California to supply a building boom in the early years of the twentieth century. He sold his holdings in 1910, invested in real estate, and built the hotel that bears his name.

Written by William F. Willingham

And this is from Wikipedia:

The Benson Hotel is a 287 room historic hotel building in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. It is owned and operated by Coast Hotels & Resorts. It was originally known as the New Oregon Hotel, and is commonly known as "The Benson." It has a reputation as one of Portland's finest hotels. The hotel is named after notable businessman and philanthropist Simon Benson.

Simon Benson had wished to build a world-class hotel in Portland. During the population boom that occurred between the 1905 Lewis & Clark Centennial Exposition and the Great Depression, Benson fulfilled his wish.

The firm of Doyle, Patterson, and Beach designed the main hotel building in French Second Empire style. The hotel opened 1912 and Chicago's Blackstone Hotel served as the inspiration of the building's overall design. The building was originally an annex to the Oregon Hotel, and was known as the New Oregon Hotel.

In 1959, the old Oregon Hotel next door was demolished to, ironically, make way for a 175 room annex to the 1912 building. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.