John Virginius Bennes

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John Virginius Bennes (August 23, 1867 – November 29, 1943) was an American architect in Baker City and Portland, Oregon. In Baker City he designed the Geiser Grand Hotel, several homes, and a now-demolished Elks building. He moved to Portland in 1907 and continued practicing there until 1942.

Bennes designed numerous projects in the Portland area, as well as in Corvallis, Prineville, and other areas of Oregon. He and his firms produced the designs for at least 20 buildings that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).[1] His work includes the design of more than 35 buildings on the Oregon State University campus in Corvallis, as well as plans for 12 other building additions and renovations.[2] He also designed the administration building at Eastern Oregon University. In addition, Bennes and his firms planned several churches.

Bennes is also credited with design work on the Hollywood Theatre in Portland and the Liberty Theatre in Astoria. He worked with Herman Herzog on some of the theaters, and Albert Mercier and Lee Arden Thomas have also been credited with helping on some of them.[3][4]

Career

Broadway Hotel in Portland

Bennes was born in Peru, Illinois on August 23, 1867.[5] He moved from Chicago to Baker City circa 1900.[6] While in Baker City, he designed the Elks Building and several residences, before moving to Portland in 1906 and partnering with Eric W. Hendricks and Willard F. Tobey. Lewis Irvine Thompson also joined the firm. Bennes practiced on his own from 1914 to 1926. Then he partnered with Harry A. Herzog until 1931 and the onset of the Great Depression, when he returned to solo practice.

His design for Eastern Oregon University's Inlow Hall was a Renaissance Revival-style building that serves as an administration building, housing the admissions, registrar's, financial aid, student affairs and president's offices.[7]

Bennes designed several Portland hotels, including the Broadway Hotel, the Hamilton Hotel, the Treves Hotel and the Hotel Cornelius. The Cornelius has been empty and a home to vagrant for since the 1980s, but has been the subject of a restoration plan to convert in into the "Alder Park Hotel".[8][9]

Bennes was a contemporary of Frank Lloyd Wright and is said to have been "a product of the Chicago school of architecture."[10]

He retired to Los Angeles in 1943 where he died the same year.[6] Some of his plans and drawings are held in the Cachot Therkelsen Collection with the University of Oregon Libraries.[11]

Projects

Hotel Cornelius in Portland
  • Inlow Hall, Eastern Oregon University (1929), La Grande (NRHP)[7][12]
  • Oregon State University buildings, part of the Oregon State University Historic District (listed on NRHP[12]:2)
    • Bexell Hall
    • Delta Zeta and Alpha Gamma sororities
    • Kidder Hall
    • McAlexander Fieldhouse
    • Weatherford Hall
    • Women's Building
  • A. H. Maegly House, 226 SW Kingston St, Portland (NRHP)[12]:36
  • Abraham Tichner House, 114 SW Kingston Ave, Portland (NRHP)[12]
  • Astoria City Hall (new) (1923), 1095 Duane St, originally Astoria Savings Bank, which closed in 1929; the building became Astoria's City Hall in 1939[13]
  • Coleman–Scott House, 2110 NE 16th Ave, Portland (NRHP)[12]
  • First Presbyterian Church (1909), Corvallis
  • Gray's West & Co. Pioneer Chapel, built in 1903 according to a design by John Bennes for Charles Johns
  • H. Liebes and Company Building, 625 SW Broadway, Portland (NRHP)[12]
  • Heppner Hotel, 124 N Main St, Heppner (NRHP)[12]
  • Poultry Building and Incubator House, 800 SW Washington Ave, Corvallis (NRHP)[12]

Bennes & Herzog

Bennes and Hendricks

  • Broadway Hotel (1913), Portland (NRHP)[12]
  • Hamilton Hotel (1913), Portland, cataloged by the Historic American Buildings Survey, now demolished[16][17]
  • Pacific Hardware & Steel Company Warehouse, 2181 NW Nicolai St, Portland (NRHP)[12][18]
  • Treves Hotel (1912), 1035-1039 SW Stark St, Portland[17]

Bennes, Hendricks & Tobey

Bennes, Hendricks & Thompson

References

  1. ↑ Johnson, Ian (January 12, 2009). "Architect-Designed Portland Warehouse Listed in the National Register of Historic Places". Oregon Parks and Recreation Department News. 
  2. ↑ Albright, Mary Ann (March 2, 2007). "Case closed as buildings make list". Gazette-Times. 
  3. ↑ "John Bennes". Cinema Treasures. 
  4. ↑ "Bagdad Theater". Cinema Treasures. 
  5. ↑ Hedman, Arnie; Belsma, Ronnie; Lynch, James. (April 23, 1982). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Heppner Hotel" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved July 20, 2013. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Oregon State University Historic District section 8, page 22 U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Campus Tour and Information". Eastern Oregon University. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lee van der Voo Hotel returns to grand roots; Architects confront damage, neglect to preserve Cornelius March 25, 2008 The Portland Tribune
  9. ↑ Real Estate Roundup: Moyer remaking derelict hotel into biz-class accommodations February 11, 2008 Portland Business Journal
  10. ↑ Church's Building Well Worth Preserving, Larry Landis, February 01, 2001
  11. ↑ Cachot Therkelsen Collection 1906-1952 University of Oregon Libraries
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 12.7 12.8 12.9 12.10 12.11 12.12 12.13 12.14 12.15 12.16 12.17 12.18 "Oregon National Register List". Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. June 6, 2011. Retrieved July 31, 2012. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Astoria
  14. ↑ "Apartment Houses Rise". The Oregonian (Portland, Oregon: Oregonian Media Group). January 8, 1931. p. 24. 
  15. ↑ Clatsop County National Register of Historic Places
  16. ↑ Hamilton Hotel (Venable Hotel) HABS No. OR-159 Historic American Buildings Survey
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Alma Hotel National Register of Historic Places registration form
  18. ↑ Engeman, Jessica (June 30, 2008). National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Pacific Hardware & Steel Company Warehouse (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved July 31, 2012. 
  19. ↑ Old postcard of Cornelius Hotel (and images of lobby, cafe, and Ladies' Reception Hall)

External links

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