S. H. Kress And Co. Building (Portland, Oregon) on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The Kress Building is a building located in
The five-story store and office building is located on the northeast corner of SW Fifth Avenue and Morrison Street in the center of Portland's retail district. It was built for S. H. Kress & Co. in 1928 from plans by their corporate architect, E. J. Hoffman.
The steel frame building rests on a concrete foundation. Its exterior is faced entirely with cream colored glazed terra cotta, enhanced with a variety of classically inspired decorative motifs. The roof is flat. The footprint of the building is rectangular; its original 100 square feet was extended to the east by a 50 × 100-foot single story wing in 1953 when an adjoining building was acquired and faced with terra cotta to conform with the rest of the block.
The store's design is in the Commercial style of the Chicago school, with detailing in the Classical vein. It exhibits the retail base including mezzanine level and multiple stories capped with a full classical
downtown
''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...
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 ...
, 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 ...
.
It was built in 1928 for S. H. Kress & Co. As of 2011, tenants of the building include Nike and Sephora
Sephora is a French multinational retailer of personal care and beauty products. Featuring nearly 340 brands, along with its own private label, Sephora Collection, Sephora offers beauty products including cosmetics, skincare, body, fragrance, n ...
.
Description
The five-story store and office building is located on the northeast corner of SW Fifth Avenue and Morrison Street in the center of Portland's retail district. It was built for S. H. Kress & Co. in 1928 from plans by their corporate architect, E. J. Hoffman.
The steel frame building rests on a concrete foundation. Its exterior is faced entirely with cream colored glazed terra cotta, enhanced with a variety of classically inspired decorative motifs. The roof is flat. The footprint of the building is rectangular; its original 100 square feet was extended to the east by a 50 × 100-foot single story wing in 1953 when an adjoining building was acquired and faced with terra cotta to conform with the rest of the block.
The store's design is in the Commercial style of the Chicago school, with detailing in the Classical vein. It exhibits the retail base including mezzanine level and multiple stories capped with a full classical entablature
An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...
that are characteristic of Commercial style emporium
Emporium may refer to:
Historical
* Emporium (antiquity), a trading post, factory, or market of Classical antiquity
* Emporium (early medieval), a 6th- to 9th-century trading settlement in Northwestern Europe
* Emporium (Italy), an ancient town ...
s. The attic, or parapet
A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...
wall above the cornice carries the store's title in escutcheons centered on either street face. While the entire scheme is conservative, especially in consideration of its late date, it is a generally well-preserved and well-crafted part of the aggregation of fireproof tall buildings dating from the 1910s and 1920s which distinguishes Portland's central business district.
See also
*National Register of Historic Places listings in Southwest Portland, Oregon
Current listings
...
References
External links
* {{Portal bar, Architecture, National Register of Historic Places, Oregon 1928 establishments in Oregon Beaux-Arts architecture in Oregon Chicago school architecture in Oregon National Register of Historic Places in Portland, Oregon Office buildings completed in 1928 Portland Historic Landmarks S. H. Kress & Co. Buildings and structures in Southwest Portland, Oregon