Nothing remains of the magnificent home of Drs. Henry and Viola Coe, built on the northwest corner of NW 25th & Lovejoy. He owned and operated the Morningside Hospital and was very active in business and politics. He commissioned and donated four statues that still stand in Portland, most notably the golden Joan of Arc in Laurelhurst. Dr. Viola Coe was “was an ardent worker for woman suffrage” according to her 1943 Oregon Journal obituary. She was acting president of the Equal Suffrage Association when Oregon women achieved the right to vote in 1912, substituting for an ill Abigail Scott Duniway. Thanks to Ed Teague at University of Oregon Libraries for the suggestion.
(University of Oregon Libraries)
Tags: 1912, Lovejoy Medical Building, Nob Hill, Oregon, Portland, Women's Vote
October 24, 2012 at 8:16 am
Anyone know when this home disappeared?
October 24, 2012 at 9:22 am
Sheldon, this lovely(?) example of 60′s architecture currently stands on the lot:
http://goo.gl/maps/4QIeJ
Per PortlandMaps (http://goo.gl/biyqt) it was built in 1965, so that’s probably a good guess.
October 24, 2012 at 9:39 am
I was sad at the thought the house was gone, Seeing what is there now makes me bewildered.
October 24, 2012 at 10:37 am
I’m sure it seemed like a great idea at the time…
October 24, 2012 at 11:32 am
Viola Coe seems to have been a particularly interesting person:
http://kimberlyjensenblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/viola-coe-ca-1863-1943.html
October 24, 2012 at 12:16 pm
The Lovejoy building was design by my husband’s grandfather James c. Gardiner. He died in 1967.
http://www.docomomo-wewa.org/architects_detail.php?id=83
Definitely an iconic building, I have to say It has grown on me over the years and soon will reach its own 50-year birthday.
October 24, 2012 at 1:43 pm
Looks like the property taxes went up nearly 20K in the 10 years from 2000-2010. A few more hefty jumps and they’ll be knocking this building over in favor of something 10-20 stories high!
October 24, 2012 at 4:38 pm
All I can say is that I’m happy it wasn’t replaced with another brutalist monstrosity.
November 2, 2012 at 8:23 am
It’s a shame that house is gone. While doing research on Dr. Coe & his golden Joan of Arc statue I ran across a bunch of articles about the Dr. & Dr. Coes’ scandalously ugly divorce. They overspent on that house–they spent something like $30K on it when most nice houses were $10K–and they were suing each other. It read like a soap opera.
November 2, 2012 at 11:28 am
The fact that Viola Cole was also an M.D. in a time when few women were in the professions must have complicated the marriage just a little.