Greek Revival

Spectacular Greek Revival

In the 1850s, Portland’s landscape was dominated by two distinctly different styles; the Gothic Revival and Greek Revival styles.  One, the Greek Revival, grew out of the Oregon territories many early forts, which though rough and rural, displayed an immense architectural skill and refinement.  The other, the Gothic Revival, drew a stark contrast to the rigid symmetry of Greek Revival homes.  Interesting that two such disparate styles shared such popularity at or around the same timeframe.  A bit later, somewhere towards 1870, the Italianate style, from which the American Foursquare was born, came along and ushered in a new architectural period.

Greek Revival

In the early-to-mid 1800s, the nation was fascinated with Greek history, especially the remarkable Greek architecture.  That fascination led directly the America’s Greek Revival movement, with its characteristic use of uniquely

Typical Portland Greek Revival

 Greek touches.  By no means was the movement unique to Portland and the Pacific Northwest, though.  Thomas Jefferson, in fact, was fascinated with Greek architecture and his fascination led, in large part, directly to the use of Greek architecture in many important buildings on the East coast (Capital Building, for example).

Greek Revival homes mimic Greek temples with their rectangular and symmetrical plans, gabled roofs with pedimented ends, return cornices and , of course, balustrated porches with decoratively designed columns.  The Wells Fargo building, for example, looks like a Greek temple repurposed for the bank’s use.  Many people with names any Portlander will surely recognize owned some extraordinary representations of the Greek Revival style.  Captain J.C. Ainsworth’s temple-fronted Greek Revival house still stands just east of Oregon City.  Henry Corbett built is Greek Revival house in 1854.  James Bybee built his Sauvie Island home in 1856.  S.J. McCormick, James Hawthorne, Captain John Couch and Socrates Tryon, fittingly, all lived in spectacular Greek Revival homes.

Typical Portland Greek Revival

While Greek Revival homes can be stunningly beautiful and designed on a majestic scale, there are much more modest examples all over Portland.  In fact, the Greek Revival style is one of the most commonly seen classic home in Portland.  However, many people do not know that what they’re actuall viewing is, indeed, a Greek Revival home.  Most people often mistakenly label these homes as Bungalows or, more egregiously, Old Portland style.  Bungalow tends to be almost a catch all term for any modestly sized classic home, but there is a distinctly Bungalow style.  Old Portland, or Old PDX, is a murky concept at best, one that I’ve seen used to describe everything from Bungalows to Greek Revivals to, oddly enough, Cape Cods.  In actuality, while there is no distincly Old Portland style, the term is correctly used to describe the American Foursquare. 

The temple front and porches with columns is what people generally think of when thinking of Greek Revival homes, but it is important to note that neither the porch nor the columns are absolutely necessary.  There are many variations to the classic style and Portland has an excellent collection of these homes with many, many stylistic variations. 

Stylistic elements:

• Rectangular, generally symmetrical plans
  

  West Linn Greek Revival

• Pedimented gable ended roofs
• Cornices
• Doors with transoms and sidelights
• Balustrated porches
• Temple-fronts often with columns

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