The Gordon House, 1963; the Poultry Building, 1921; and Silver Falls State Park, log buildings
The Pacific Northwest Field School will take place at three sites this year that are all centrally located in Oregon's beautiful Willamette Valley. Field School Weeks One, Two, and Four will take place at the Frank Lloyd Wright Gordon House. Week Three will focus on the Oregon State Fair grounds Historic Poultry Building. The final week, Week Five, will concentrate on CCC wooden structures at Silver Falls State Park.
** Each one-week session includes two (2) graduate or undergraduate credits, all necessary course materials, housing, meals, expert lectures, & field trips** (click here for general field school information)
Photos: The Frank Lloyd Wright Gordon House, The State Fair Ground's Poultry Building, Silver Falls State Park CCC Structures
Field School Schedule:
Week One - August 16th-21st:
Historic Landscapes (Gordon House)
Week Two - August 23rd-28th:
Architecture & Structural Preservation (Gordon House)
Week Three - August 30th-September 4th:
Exhibitions & Wood Window Repair (Poultry Building)
Week Four - September 13th-18th:
Historic Wood Craft & Historic Modern Interiors (Gordon House)
Week Five - Sept 20th-25th:
Preservation and Restoration of CCC Park Structures (Silver Falls State Park)
Application:
Applications received before May 15, 2009 will be given priority consideration. Please mail your completed application to:
Pacific Northwest Preservation Field School
Historic Preservation Program
School of Architecture and Allied Arts
5233 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403-5233
U.S.A.
Click here to download the Application for the 2009 PNWFS
Frank Lloyd Wright's Gordon House, Silverton
The Poultry Building, Oregon State Fair, Salem
Log structure, Silver Falls State Park
The Gordon House - Silverton, Oregon
The Gordon House is located at the Oregon Gardens in Silverton, Oregon and is the only structure in Oregon designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The house was moved to the gardens in 2001 to save the building from its impending demolition. In 2004 the Gordon House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its distinctive architectural characteristics. The house has a T-shaped plan, with flat roofs, cantilevered balconies, concrete block walls and fireplaces, and exceptionally unique windows. This year's field school will focus on the restoration of some of the wooden features and finishes thoughtfully designed into the structure.
History of the Gordon House
Evelyn and Conrad Gordon commissioned the Gordon House in 1956. Evelyn was a graduate of Mills College and Conrad was a prominent local farmer. The Gordon's visited Mr. Wright while they were in Arizona and requested he design a house for their property located on the Willamette River near Wilsonville, Oregon. Wright was only bound by only one requirement while designing the Gordon house, it was requested that he make an accommodation for a loom, as Evelyn was an avid weaver. Wright signed the final presentation drawings in December of 1956. Construction, however, did not begin until the spring of 1963. An apprentice of Wrights, Burton Goodrich, oversaw construction.
The Gordon's lived in the house together until 1979 when the death of Conrad Gordon left Evelyn as the sole resident until her death in 1997. After Evelyn's passing, the house was sold and slated for demolition. The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy (FLWBC) was alerted to the demolition and organized a team of volunteers to quickly save the house. The new owners agreed to donate the house to the FLWBC as long as it could promptly moved to a new location. The Oregon Garden location was chosen because of its similar landscaping to the original site and for its easy public accessibility. For more information about the Oregon Gardens and the Gordon House click here.
Frank Lloyd Wright's Gordon House, Silverton
Gordon House interior detail
 |
 |
| Gordon House living room and fireplace |
Gordon House exterior window and eave detail |
Oregon State Fairgrounds Historic Poultry Building - Salem, Oregon
Week 3 of the 2009 Pacific Northwest Preservation Field School will take place on the State Fair Grounds located in Oregon's Willamette Valley. This timing is to coincide with the 2009 Oregon State Fair. (click here to be directed to the Oregon State Fair Website). The primary purpose of this week will be to focus on restoring the large, wood frame, windows on the historic Poultry Building, during the fair, as well as repairing the building's unique chicken medallions.
History of the Poultry Building
The poultry building is a one-story, Spanish Colonial Revival style building with structural hollow terracotta brick walls coated with stucco. It has arched windows, a terracotta tile parapet, and decorative chicken medallions. Oregon State Fair's Poultry Building was built in 1921. According to the Oregonian the first year the building was in use it held "1100 head of poultry, 300 rabbits and 250 pigeons in 1275 coops of galvanized iron and wire." The Poultry Building, along with the adjacent historic Stadium, is one of the last remaining historic buildings from this period of the Oregon State Fair's history.
The Poultry Building, Oregon State Fair, Salem
 |
 |
|
Decorative Cementitious Medallions
|
Detail of the Poultry Building entryway |
 |
 |
| Historic wood window restoration before (left) and after (right). |
Silver Falls State Park
Silver Falls State Park is approximately 26 miles east of Salem on Oregon Highway 214 in Marion County. Encompassing 8,700 acres, it is the largest state park in Oregon. Its location in the western foothills of the Cascade Mountains provides elevations that vary from 200 to 3,200 feet. In addition, the area receives a large portion of watershed from the north and south forks of Silver Creek. The combination of the varied elevations and watershed help produce the magnificent waterfalls that make Silver Falls State Park a crown jewel of Oregon.
Silver Creek may be named for James "Silver" Smith who came to the region in the 1840's with a bushel of silver dollars. In the 1880s, the town of Silver Falls was surveyed allegedly with the help of future president, Herbert Hoover. Logging was the main industry and the town grew to have a hotel, stable and sawmill. However, fires in the late 1800s and early 1900s led to the decrease in success of the lumber industry in the area. By 1929, Silver Falls City had only one resident family.
Land for the present park was acquired from 1931 to 1945 by gifts from Marion County as well as by purchase. In 1948 and 1949 additional land was deeded through the National Park Service. Originally the area functioned as the Silver Creek Recreation Demonstration Area providing youth camps for children as well as public camping opportunities. In the 1930s the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built several structures in the park using local stone and huge logs to complement the natural setting. Among these structures are a stone concession building and log lodge. The CCC also made other improvements to the park such as constructing picnic facilities, putting in water systems and improving trails.
The most famous aspect of the park is the "Trail of Ten Falls," a seven-mile hiking trail that meanders through Silver Creek Canyon. There are ten waterfalls along the trail ranging from 27 to 178 feet high. An intriguing aspect of the trail is that it actually goes behind three of the falls. A variety of wildlife and plant species can be seen in the park amidst the huge Douglas fir, western hemlock and western red cedars. In 1983 a nine-acre portion of the park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The nominated area includes the historic Silver Falls Lodge ensemble and the South Falls viewpoint.
Lodge at Silver Falls
Porch of Lodge at Silver Falls
Kitchen Shelter at Silver Falls
Field School Faculty
Sessions will be led by one or more professionals specializing in the techniques and materials involved. Faculty come from across the Northwest and participate, as well as teach, in the Field School. Past faculty at The Pacific Northwest Field School have come from the U.S. National Park Service, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Oregon State Department of Parks & Recreation, Oregon State University, the University of Oregon, Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, Washington State Office of Archaeology & Historic Preservation, and the professional community.
The following is a preliminary list of the primary instructors for the Field School:
Shannon Bell is a co-director of the Pacific Northwest Preservation Field School, an adjunct Historic Preservation professor at the University of Oregon, and a consultant in historic architecture. She maintains a consulting practice that focuses on historic architecture and her research interests include, preservation technologies and box construction in the Pacific Northwest. Shannon, a graduate from both the University of Oregon's Architecture and Historic Preservation program, currently teaches a field recordation, condition assessment, and HABS sequence for the University of Oregon’s historic preservation program.
Donald Peting, Emeritus Architecture and HP faculty, is the founder of the Preservation Field Schools and is currently serving with Professor Bell as co-director of the summer program here in the Northwest. He is occasionally teaching part time in such areas as architectural design, preservation technology, and historic structures. He is an historical architect and maintains a consulting practice that focuses on 19th and early 20th century architecture and his research interests include traditional building technologies, early powered mills, and seismic retro-fitting of historic structures. He has been a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome since 1978. In 2005, the National Council for Preservation Education honored his educational career with their James Marston Fitch lifetime achievement award.
John Platz has been actively involved with the Pacific Northwest Field School since its inception in 1995, initially as the leader of the Heritage Structures Team of the U.S. Forest Service of the Mount Hood National Forest, a preservation team he formed over 20 years ago. His skill at the use of traditional carpentry, particularly in timber framing, log construction, and 19th century building technology, was responsible for the early success of the Field School. Over ten years ago, he established Pilgrims Progress Preservation Services, a highly regarded professional practice doing significant preservation work throughout the west. In addition to teaching in the field school each summer, he has been involved in a number of HP courses during the school year, most recently the construction of a French Canadian trapper’s cabin at Kanaka Village at Fort Vancouver. He is a highly respected teacher, craftsperson and mentor of many of preservationist in the Pacific Northwest.
Amy McCauley is the owner of Oculus Fine Carpentry, Inc., a window and door specialty business. She has been working in construction for the past 13 years in the Portland-Metro area, six of them devoted to developing Oculus. Her emphasis is in working with traditional tools and techniques; some of her notable projects include the Pioneer Courthouse, A.T. Smith House, Delaney-Edwards House, Virgil Crum House and the Gardener’s House at Shore Acres State Park.
Leland Roth is an Architectural History Professor at the University of Oregon. Books authored include: A Concise History of American Architecture, American Architecture: A History, and McKim, Mead & White, Architects. Professor Roth is also the editor of America Builds and co-editor of Architecture in Colonial America.
Fred Walters is an award winning historical architect and architectural conservator in Cambridge, Idaho. He holds architecture licenses in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Nevada. His work includes building condition assessment and evaluation of over 240 buildings, as well as design and construction services for a wide variety of preservation projects. Walters has been an adjunct professor at the University of Oregon, teaching courses in Preservation Technology and Condition Assessments. He has been an active member of the field school since 1999.
Other past faculty at the Field School have come from the U.S. National Park Service, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Oregon State Parks and Recreation Department, Oregon State University, the University of Oregon, and the professional community.
Historic Preservation Program
School of Architecture & Allied Arts
5233 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403-5233
Field School Assistant/GAF
Email: pnwfs@uoregon.edu
Office: 541-346-2089
Fax: 541-346-3626
Field School Co-Director
Shannon M. S. Bell, Adjunct Faculty
Email: smsbell@mac.com
Field School Co-Director
Don Peting, Professor Emeritus
Email: peting@uoregon.edu
Office 541.346.2993
Mobile: 541.954.9248
For more information:
pnwfs@uoregon.edu
541-346-2089
