Razed and Put Right Back Together Again

I grew up in Seattle and spent many years carpooling past the William O McKay Ford and Pacific Lincoln Mercury Showroom buildings. Built in the 1920's, they were sort of like a lost sad sagging wedding cake among a drab stretch of the city; nothing like the construction boom enveloping South Lake Union today. A few years ago, when heading home for some holiday, I was kinda pissed when I noticed that the buildings were completely gone. Just gone. What I didn't know was that the buildings were registered historic in 2006 and what was replacing them would include them. So fast forward a few years when I saw the shiny new Allen Institute for Brain Science and Allen Institute for Cell Science buildings rise from the site. Only there was something odd. There was a flat concrete wall right at the sidewalk that was the exact shape and size of that beautiful pile. Naturally I took to "the Google" and found that the original structures, all 2,760 pieces of terra cotta, had been painstakingly removed and were going back. Well this Thanksgiving I again passed right by and pulled off to take some photos. What's even more amazing is it's not even really Facadism. There's an entirely reconstructed interior. Every piece just as it was. This is what we should expect of respectful builders in historic parts of the city. Without these 2 buildings if you stand at the corner there would be nothing more than 5 years old to be seen. Even the roads in the area have been entirely rerouted, widened, and even their directions altered. Paul Allen has financial ties to Portland so I wonder if we could have something this amazing here too.

Old Photo of the Howard Ashby / Frank Durbin House in Salem Oregon

I tend to pick up old images (especially cabinet photos) of cool old houses when I run across them. I bought this at an antique store in The Dalles Oregon. There is a Court Street in The Dalles but it's a very short street and I did a search of the Sanborn Maps of the city and found no house with this footprint. I had a sneaking suspicion that it might be Salem. Not really sure why. Maybe the flatness or the fan palm or that I knew there was a Court Street there too (not that that's unique to these 2 towns). Well I posted the photo on a facebook page all about the history of The Dalles and in less than a day I had 2 commenters (Jon Roderick and Sandra Rose) find the house!!!! This 1892 home still stands with a few alterations at 1517 Court Street NE. Can you believe it!!!!