Edgar Marks Lazarus (June 6, 1868 – October 2, 1939) was an American architect who was prominent in the

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, area for more than 45 years. He was best known as the architect of the Vista House on Crown Point in the

Columbia River Gorge The Columbia River Gorge is a canyon of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Up to deep, the canyon stretches for over as the river winds westward through the Cascade Range, forming the boundary between the sta ...

Early life and education

Edgar Lazarus was born on June 6, 1868, in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. He was a descendant of the Colonial Jews of

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

, and was the son of a

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

soldier.

Career

Clatsop County Courthouse - Astoria Oregon

Lazarus came to Portland in 1892 with a

letter of introduction ''Letter of Introduction'' is a 1938 American comedy-drama film directed by John M. Stahl. In 1966, the film entered the public domain in the United States because the claimants did not renew its copyright registration in the 28th year after pu ...

to a prominent citizen. He formed a partnership with William M. Ellicott that same year. Lazarus & Ellicott continued until 1895, after which Lazarus practiced alone until 1910. For a year he partnered with Morris H. Whitehouse and

J. André Fouilhoux Jacques André Fouilhoux (September 27, 1879 – June 20, 1945) was a French-born architect active in the United States from 1904 to 1945.''The New York Times''. (July 21, 1945) ''The New York Times'', p. 1. Accessed August 18, 2020. He is most ...

as Lazarus, Whitehouse & Fouilhoux. In 1911, he formed Lazarus & Logan with Frank Logan; the firm lasted until 1914. Lazarus then practiced alone for the rest of his career. He was a member of the

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

chapter of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

(AIA) and was elected a

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of the institute in 1895. Early in his career, Lazarus designed many houses for notable Portlanders, especially among the city's Jewish community. His residential designs were predominantly shingle style, but with Lazarus' unique design, including unusual shapes and extremely steeply pitched roofs. In 1905, he designed the domed Palace of Agriculture for the

Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition The Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition, commonly also known as the Lewis and Clark Exposition, and officially known as the Lewis and Clark Centennial and American Pacific Exposition and Oriental Fair, was a worldwide exposition held in Portlan ...

in the

Baroque style The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

. Lazarus also designed early alterations to

Pioneer Courthouse The Pioneer Courthouse is a federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, United States. Built beginning in 1869, the structure is the oldest federal building in the Pacific Northwest, and the second-oldest west of the Mississippi River. Along with ...

, was the resident architect for the U.S. Customhouse, and designed the first

Multnomah Athletic Club The Multnomah Athletic Club is a Social club, private social and Sports club, athletic club in Portland, Oregon, United States. Located in the Goose Hollow, Portland, Oregon, Goose Hollow neighborhood, it was originally founded in 1891 as the M ...

building at SW 10th and Yamhill streets, all in Portland. When Oregon started licensing architects in 1919, he received license #21 under a

grandfather clause A grandfather clause, also known as grandfather policy, grandfathering, or grandfathered in, is a provision in which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations while a new rule will apply to all future cases. Those exempt from t ...

Vista House

His most important work, completed in 1918, was the Vista House, an

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...

that also serves as a memorial to

Oregon pioneers 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 ...

and as a comfort station for travelers on the

Historic Columbia River Highway The Historic Columbia River Highway is an approximately scenic highway in the U.S. state of Oregon between Troutdale and The Dalles, built through the Columbia River Gorge between 1913 and 1922. As the first planned scenic roadway in the United ...

. The building shows great sensitivity to its site at Crown Point in the

near

Corbett Corbett may refer to: * List of Corbetts (mountains), 222 mountains in Scotland between , with prominence over * Corbett, Oregon, a community in the United States * Corbett Award, US award for athletics administrators * Corbett (surname), people w ...

, and is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

(NRHP). After completing the Vista House, Lazarus was engaged in a long, bitter dispute with the Oregon State Board of Control regarding his fees for both Vista House and his work at the Oregon State Hospital. The controversy brought him unfavorable attention in the press, and this may have harmed his career, as he did little important work after the incident.

Works

* Frederick V. Holman House, Portland, 1892 (demolished 2016) * George F. Heusner House, Portland, 1894 (NRHP) *Apperson Hall, Oregon Agricultural College (now

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

), Corvallis, 1898–1899 (NRHP contributing) *Mitchell Playhouse (now the Gladys Valley Gymnastics Center), Oregon Agricultural College, Corvallis, 1898 (NRHP contributing) ODCDomeBuilding1

* Morrow County Courthouse, Heppner, 1903 (NRHP) * Ahavai Sholom Synagogue, Portland, 1904 (demolished 1978) * Clatsop County Courthouse, Astoria, 1904–1907 (NRHP) * John S. Bradley House, Portland, 1906 (NRHP) * Taft Hotel, Portland, 1906 (NRHP) *George L. Campbell House, Portland, 1910 (Lazarus, Whitehouse & Fouilhoux) *J. C. Campbell Flats, Portland, 1910 (Lazarus, Whitehouse & Fouilhoux) * Wickersham Apartments, Portland, 1910 (NRHP) (Lazarus, Whitehouse & Fouilhoux) *Edward A. King House, Portland, 1910 *

Oregon State Hospital Oregon State Hospital is a public psychiatric hospital in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the state's capital city of Salem with a smaller satellite campus in Junction City opened in 2014. Founded in 1862 and constructed in the Kirkbride ...

Receiving Ward (the "Dome Building"), 1909 (NRHP contributing), and south wing of the "J Building", 1912 (demolished 2009), Salem * Vista House, Corbett, 1918

Later life, death and legacy

Lazarus was an avid horseman, artist, real estate entrepreneur, and ardent advocate for the architectural profession. In 1931, Lazarus' wife Fanny inherited a large fortune from a New York uncle. Lazarus died on October 2, 1939, in Portland, survived by his wife. He is buried in Oheb Shalom Cemetery, Baltimore City, Maryland, USA. In 2011, Edward H. Teague, head of the Architecture and Allied Arts Library at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

, and curator of the digital collection ''Building Oregon: Architecture of Oregon and the Pacific Northwest'', presented his discovery of several works not previously attributed to Lazarus, including some that are still standing in Portland.

References

External links

*
Edgar M. Lazarus, Architect: Life and Legacy
by Edward H. Teague, Architecture & Allied Arts Library, University of Oregon
Historic images of Edgar Lazarus works
from the University of Oregon digital archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Lazarus, Edgar M. 1868 births 1939 deaths American Jews Fellows of the American Institute of Architects Jewish architects Architects from Baltimore Architects from Portland, Oregon