Bitar Mansion, also known as Harry A. Green House or the Harry A. and Ada Green House, is a

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...

in the Laurelhurst neighborhood of

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, United States. The and 17-room structure was designed by architect

Herman Brookman Herman S. Brookman (July 2, 1891 — November 6, 1973) was an architect in Portland, Oregon, United States. Born in New York, Brookman received early training in the office of society architect Harrie T. Lindeberg and worked there until 1923. ...

and built in 1927 for $410,000, equivalent to $ today. The Mediterranean-style house contains a grand ballroom and many elaborate details. The mansion has views of the

Tualatin Mountains The Tualatin Mountains (also known as the West Hills or Southwest Hills of Portland) are a range on the western border of Multnomah County, Oregon, United States. A spur of the Northern Oregon Coast Range, they separate the Tualatin Basin of Washi ...

and adjacent

Laurelhurst Park Laurelhurst Park is a city park in the neighborhood of Laurelhurst in Portland, Oregon. The park was acquired in 1909 from the estate of former Portland mayor William S. Ladd. The City of Portland purchased the land in 1911, and the following ...

. Robert and Mable Bitar purchased the house in 1951. Robert later became an honorary

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

and lived in the mansion until his death in 2000. The house went on the real estate market for the first time in 55 years in 2006 and was purchased in December 2006 for $1.825 million. As of 2011, the house remains the most expensive home sold in southeast Portland. The house was put on the market again and is up for auction in August 2011.

Features

The Mediterranean-style mansion is on a property "the equivalent of seven standard city lots" adjacent to

and offers views of the

. The house contains a round tower, multiple chimneys, a red-tiled roof, bronzed iron gates, and

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

accents with a peacock motif. A bell-cast entrance tower, which contains a curved stairway and a vestibule, anchors "sweeping and curved low-pitched roofs". Next to the tower is the living room's fireplace chimney. To the right of the entrance hall is the formal living room that opens to the parterre overlooking Laurelhurst Park. To the entrance hall's left is the dining room, followed by a curved wing housing the kitchen, service areas and garages. The interior features a marble-floored ballroom, heated pool, servants wing, and elaborate woodwork, tile, metalwork and sculpture. Surrounding the French doors leading outside from the entrance hall are columns supporting paired peacocks cast in stone. The house plan is influenced by English Arts and Crafts tradition. Italian influences are evidenced by the garden parterre in the backyard as well as the "medieval style" columns and arches at the breakfast room windows. Decorative embellishments along the main garden door suggest Art Deco and Spanish Plasteresque styles. Stuccoed walls, tiled roofs and metal-framed windows showcase Mediterranean style. The windows are three-paned vertically within each casement; feature windows have columns supporting Moorish-arched openings. The living and dining rooms contain large

bay window A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room. Types Bay window is a generic term for all protruding window constructions, regardless of whether they are curved or angular, or r ...

s. Outside, an

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

leads to the swimming pool, where privacy from the street is provided by a pyramid-roofed bath house and garden walls. According to William J. Hawkins, III and William F. Willingham, these elements "add to the unity of the entire architectural composition, giving a handsome facade to the public street, yet providing a great variety of private spaces behind the house and walled gardens to the rear." The architect,

, also designed the Congregation Beth Israel and Fir Acres, the M. Lloyd Frank Estate that became

Lewis & Clark College Lewis & Clark College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Originally chartered in 1867 as the Albany Collegiate Institute in Albany, Oregon, the college was relocated to Portland in 1938 and in 1942 adopted the name Lewis & Cl ...

, both in Portland. Brookman mixed architectural styles, as evidenced by the many influences seen in Bitar Mansion.

History

Robert and Mable Bitar purchased the house in 1951. Robert recalled that as a young boy he vowed to one day own the house. A grocery store owner and

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

investor, Robert later became an honorary

and lived in the mansion until his death in 2000. While owned by the Bitar family, the home hosted First Lady

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

, pianist

Van Cliburn Harvey Lavan "Van" Cliburn Jr. (; July 12, 1934February 27, 2013) was an American pianist who, at the age of 23, achieved worldwide recognition when he won the inaugural International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958 during the Cold Wa ...

and many state governors and

U.S. senators The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and power ...

. The house was placed on the real estate market in 2006, the first time in 55 years, and sold for $1.825 million after being valued at $3.99 million by an assessor for Multnomah County. The new owners began to restore the mansion to its original condition with building renovations and searching for furnishings in the original Doernbecher style. Since 2010, the house has fallen into disrepair and been foreclosed. On August 22, 2011, the house was auctioned off at the Multnomah County Courthouse. The property was purchased by ReconTrust Company, an affiliate of Bank of America, for $1.605 million. In December 2011 the home sold for $870,000. ''

Willamette Week ''Willamette Week'' (''WW'') is an alternative weekly newspaper and a website published in Portland, Oregon, United States, since 1974. It features reports on local news, politics, sports, business, and culture. History Early history ''Willame ...

'' included the house on their "Best of Portland 2012" list as the "Best Barometer of the Real Estate Market", signifying the bottom of the economic market. As of 2011, the house remains the most expensive sold in Southeast Portland.

References

External links

Harry A. Green Residence Photographic Collection circa 1928-1951

Northwest Digital Archives Archives West is an online catalog of descriptive information about the archival collections at various institutions in the western United States (Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Alaska, Utah and Washington). It was established in 2005, and is a program of ...

Historic images of the Harry A. Green House
from the University of Oregon digital collections
Images of the Harry A. Green House
from author Bart King via Flickr {{Portal bar, Architecture, National Register of Historic Places, Oregon 1927 establishments in Oregon Houses completed in 1927 Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Portland, Oregon Laurelhurst, Portland, Oregon Mediterranean Revival architecture in Oregon Southeast Portland, Oregon

Features

History

See also

References

External links