Nov 1909: Old People's Home Plans

The Oregonian, 7 Nov 1909
Plans Being Made

Old People's Home Will Be Luxurious Place
FOUNDER VISITS THE EAST
Mrs. P.J. Mann Studies Other Like Institutions and Will Make Portland's Finest in Country. Cost Is to Be $60,000

Plans are now being prepared by Whitehouse, Lazarus & Fouilhoux, architects, for the Old People's Home to be built on the Ladd tract by Mrs. P.J. Mann in memory of her late husband. For the purpose of studying institutions of like character in the East Mrs. Mann has visited the principal places of this character in an extended trip through the East, and she has taken the best points found in these various institutions and has requested the architects to embody them in the plans for the Portland home.

Mrs. Mann has been communicating at all times with the architects concerning the proposed building and has sent numerous suggestions for the comfort of the inmates of the home. These have been embodied in the plans. On her trip through the East, Mrs. Mann visited the St. Regis Asylum for Old People, Quebec; the Protestant Home for Women and Children, Quebec; The Home for Aged Women, Boston; the Home for Aged Men ad the Home for Aged Couples, Boston; the Home for Aged People, Cambridge; the Home for the Aged, Methuen, Mass.; St. Luke's home for Aged Women, New York; the Home for Aged Couples and Old Men, New York; the Old Ladies' Home and the Chapin Home, New York; and other institutions in the first city of the land. In Philadelphia she visited the Presbyterian Home for Old Ladies, one of the oldest institutions of this character in the country, and at Bola, PA, the Home for Aged Couples and Old Men. The Cathcart Home for Aged People and Incurables was also visited and reports were received from numerous other charitable institutions.

The Portland institution will be erected on the west end of the Ladd tract, on the site of the old Ladd farm, in what is now Laurelhurst. The site is located on the Rose City carline and was purchased by Mrs. Mann. The buildings to be erected will cost $60,000, in addition to the cost of the site.

The building will be built of brick and will be of Tudor, Gothic and Elizabethan styles of architecture. The structure will be U-shaped and will be 51x132 feet in size, exclusive of wings. It will be of red brick with white trimmings. In the rear of the southern part of the building will be beautiful landscape effects, and special attention will be given to the gardens, which will be made a spot of beauty for the old people who are inmates of the home.

Laurelhurst Ads

I'm pretty sure the Laurelhurst sales group had an artist on staff to make a lot of ads. I saw few ads repeated in The Oregonian. So, obviously, I can't share them all, but these are the ads I liked the most:

The Oregonian, 5 Feb 1910

The Oregonian, 3 Feb 1910

The Oregonian, 8 Feb 1910

Sep 1909: First Home Started

Oregonian 26 Sep 1909

East Side Is Busy

Building Now Under Way Aggregating $1,000,000.
OUTSIDERS BUY HERE
Transfers Are Many, Building Is Active and Streets Are Being Put in Good Condition--New Homes Going Up.

...The streets through Laurelhurst Addition, comprising the Ladd Farm, have been opened and will be improved. It is predicted that this tract will be disposed of rapidly and will be built over with high-class residences. This will add to the further importance of East Burnside, East Ankeny, East Couch, East Davis and East Everett Streets, all of which are tributary to the Burnside Bridge. An 80-foot street, East Glisan extended, has been provided for in the Laurelhurst Addition, and beyond Laurelhurst Street also will be widened as far as the city limits. Thence it will be extended to Fairview as a county road....

...W.N. Everett is the first to start the erection of a house in Laurelhurst Addition which has been but recently placed on the market. He purchased lot 17, block 13, for $1300 and has started on a 7-room home. J.L. Karnopp, recently from Wisconsin, purchased lot 16, adjoining Mr. Everett's lot, and will also put up a residence. Mr. Karnopp is a builder and contractor. These two residences will cost between $4000 and $5000 each....

Oregonian 26 Sep 1909
Henry to Build Home

REALTY DEALER TO ERECT RESIDENCE ON TRACT
House to Rise Near Center of Laurelhurst Addition—Many Improvements Under Way

Charles K. Henry, president of Laurelhurst Company, will build a residence in the new Laurelhurst Addition, which he will occupy as a home. The site chosen by him is composed of lots 1, 2 and 3, block 1, on the property now occupied by the old farmhouse near the center of the addition. The site is 225 feet above the city and affords a fine view. Mr. Henry has decided to sell his beautiful home in Irvington.

Plans are now underway for the improvement of the addition. The improvements consist of grading, curbing, paving and sidewalking all the streets. Asphalt paving will be used and six-foot cement sidewalks have been ordered for the entire addition. The order for these improvements was passed by the City Council last week. There will be a total of about six miles of streets and 12 miles of sidewalks installed.

The sale of lots in Laurelhurst has been very active since the addition was placed on the market. More than 20 lots were sold last week and the statement is made by the owners of the addition that the majority of the purchasers plan to build homes on the property at once. The first home on the addition is now nearing completion.

Additional plans for the improvement of the addition include the installation of cluster lights along the streets and the erection of an entrance arch at the northwest corner of the plat.

Sept 1909: Laurelhurst Excursion

Oregonian 11 Sep 1909
Big Excursion Planned

REALTY BOARD WILL GO ON TRIP TO LAURELHURST

Two Special Cars and 40 Automobiles Will Convey Guests to View Proposed Improvements.
In two special streetcars and from 23 to 40 automobiles loaded chockfull and overflowing with jolly real estate men and their guests, the Portland Realty Board will celebrate its second big “get acquainted" excursion of the season this afternoon with a trip to Laurelhurst.

Promptly at 2:30 o'clock the two special cars which have been chartered for the occasion by the excursion committee of the board will leave the spur switch at Fourth and Yamhill streets for the new suburb. Anybody can go on the cars who can find room, and each car will seat 60 persons comfortably. Tho Realty Board has announced it is making this excursion for the benefit of the public as much as anything else, and everybody who cares to go along will be genuinely welcomed. It will not cost a cent for carfare either. The committee has attended to all that.

In addition to these electric cars, 25 automobiles have already been placed at the service of the real estate men, and there may be 40 of them by this afternoon. The members of the board will ride to Laurelhurst in these autos in regular parade formation.

May 1909: Laurelhurst Lots

The Oregonian, 9 May 1909
Laurelhurst Lots
First Offered at Very Low Prices

"Laurelhurst," which was well and formerly known as "Hazel Fern Farms," is being platted into lots and blocks, no lot less than 50x100 feet in size.

The Laurelhurst Company will place these beautiful sites on the market at extremely low prices, and on very attractive terms. Several hundred lots will be at prices ranging from $600 to $1000. The building restrictions will be higher on the most desirable part of "Laurelhurst," and the prices will be in accordance with the choice location. It will pay every intending lot buy or home-builder to wait until this tract is platted and ready for sale, about the first of June, before buying elsewhere.

This will be sold by the Laurelhurst Company, whose temporary office is with Charles K. Henry & Son, 250 Stark Street, Portland Oregon.

Apr 1909: Ladd Farm Sold

Once upon a time, I posted a bunch of historic Oregonian articles on a Laurelhurst wiki, but it looks like that resource has been taken down. Sadly, I didn't grab a backup from it. (I'm not sure I could have, but I never really tried either.) Anyway, I do have some files still on my computer backup drives and I would like to do what I can to preserve that information in a searchable format. So, I will do my best over the next few months to republish interesting articles I found during my research of Laurelhurst several years ago. I'll pick it up near the beginning and try to publish the articles mostly in order.

Oregonian, 24 Apr 1909

Ladd Farm Sold for $2,000,000

Property Includes 462 Acres on East Side WILL BE OPENED FOR HOMES
Charles K. Henry Heads Syndicate in Big Deal
2880 LOTS CALLED FOR
Land Laid Out by Boston Firm in Ideal Building Locations--Will Probably Be Put on Market in Single Lots About July 1

Hazel Fern Farm, the magnificent tract of land consisting of 463 acres in the heart of the East Side, owned for many years by the Ladd Estate, has been acquired by Charles K. Henry and associates at a consideration of approximately $2,000,000.

Mr. Henry now has under consideration the formation of a syndicate to handle the vast property. With him in the initiative stage of the proceedings are associated Frank F. Mead and Paul C. Murphy, of Seattle, and H.R. Burke of Portland.

Hazel Fern Farm lies between the Barr Road on the north and the Base Line Road on the South and East 33rd and East 44th Streets east and west. Olmsted Brothers, of Boston, some months ago laid out the big tract in a parking system, preserving the higher portions for buildings with streets following the contour of the lands. This plan calls for 2880 lots and it is the intention of the new owners to place these on the market. Under the Olmsted plan the tract will be one of the most attractive in the country, lending itself to ornamental landscape gardening in its highest phases. As at present outlined, lots will sell from $800 upward, and building restrictions will range from $2000 to $5000 according to location.

Seattle Buyers Men of Experience 

Mr. Mead and Mr. Murphy, the two Seattle men interested with Mr. Henry are handling a suburban tract at Seattle known as Laurelhurst, which is pronounced to be one of the show places in the Sound city. They own lands near the Exposition grounds on Lake Washington and report good sales to people who intend to build fine residences.

Sandy Road cuts through the Ladd farm diagonally in the northwest corner, and an extension of East Glisan Street passes through the middle. There has been some movement on the East Side to have East Glisan made a wide street, either 80 or 100 feet, and the new owners said yesterday that if the

projectors of this wide street would assure them that the work would be taken up in the contiguous territory they believed no difficulty would be found in meeting such a proposition halfway.

Dec 1908: Tract Wanted for Park

The Oregonian, 19 Dec 1908
Tract Wanted For Park

Sunnyside Park Club Is After Ladd Farm of Forty Acres

The Sunnyside Push club, of which J.T. Wilson is president, is working actively to secure 40 acres of the Ladd farm, fronting on the Base Line road, for a public park, and has a committee of 14 representative citizens handling the matter. The tract is between East 31st and East 39th Street, and the north side of Base line, covered with fir timber. Charles Mautz, a prominent member of the club, said yesterday:

We want the entire 40-acre tract for park purposes. The land is centrally located, only a short distance from the carline, and will be accessible from practically the whole of the East Side. The land as it stands is now a park and will require little expense, only a few walks and other small improvements being necessary. It is covered with a natural growth of trees, which can be left standing, the land is rolling and is in every way fitted for park purposes. It is much nearer to the center of population than Mount Tabor, where it is to purchase 169 acres. People can walk to the tract in the Ladd farm.

There has already been some negotiation with the representative of the Ladd estate, and I believe there will be no great difficulty in securing the land for park purposes. It ought to be secured as soon as possible. Too much delay might mean its entire loss.