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John Virginius Bennes#Bennes & Herzog

{{short description|American architect}}

{{Infobox person

| name =

| image = John V. Bennes.jpg

| image_size=180px

| alt =

| caption = Bennes in 1916

| birth_name = John Virginius Bennes

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1867|08|23}}

| birth_place = Peru, Illinois, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1943|11|29|1867|08|23}}

| death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.

| nationality =

| alma_mater=University of Chicago

| other_names =

| occupation = Architect

| years_active =

| known_for =

| notable_works = Geiser Grand Hotel
Hot Lake Hotel
Hollywood Theatre, Portland, Oregon, U.S.

}}

John Virginius Bennes (August 23, 1867 – November 29, 1943) was an American architect who designed numerous buildings throughout the state of Oregon, particularly in Baker City and Portland. In Baker City he did an extensive redesign of the Geiser Grand Hotel, designed several homes, and a now-demolished Elks building.{{cite encyclopedia |url= http://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/bennes_john_v_1867_1943_/ |title= John V. Bennes (1867-1943) |last= Landis |first= Larry |encyclopedia= The Oregon Encyclopedia |access-date= February 6, 2015}} 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).{{cite web |first= Ian |last= Johnson |url= http://www.prd.state.or.us/news.php?id=1181 |title= Architect-Designed Portland Warehouse Listed in the National Register of Historic Places |date= January 12, 2009 |work= Oregon Parks and Recreation Department News |access-date= February 25, 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110723150108/http://www.prd.state.or.us/news.php?id=1181 |archive-date= July 23, 2011 }} 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.{{cite news |first= Mary Ann |last= Albright |url= http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/article_e4ad64dd-1da6-55c0-a3c6-faaf513fffcd.html |title= Case closed as buildings make list |date= March 2, 2007 |work= Gazette-Times}} He also designed the administration building at Eastern Oregon University.

Bennes is also credited with design work on the Hollywood Theatre in Portland and the Liberty Theatre in Astoria. He worked with Harry A. Herzog on some of the theaters, and Albert Mercier and Lee Arden Thomas have also been credited as collaborators on some of them.{{cite web |url= http://cinematreasures.org/architect/591/ |title= John Bennes |publisher= Cinema Treasures}}{{cite web |url= http://cinematreasures.org/theater/335/ |title= Bagdad Theater |publisher= Cinema Treasures}}

Early life

Bennes was born in Peru, Illinois on August 23, 1867,{{cite web|last =Hedman |first= Arnie |author2=Belsma, Ronnie |author3=Lynch, James|title=National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Heppner Hotel |url={{NRHP url|id=82001511}}|publisher= National Park Service|date=April 23, 1982 |format=PDF|access-date=July 20, 2013}} to Czech immigrants Jan Beneš and Petronila Hlaváčková, raised in Chicago.{{Cite web|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XZQH-X45|title=Wisconsin, County Marriages, 1836-1911|last=Bennes|date=1891|website=FamilySearch}} He was purportedly a cousin of Czechoslovakian President Edvard Beneš though their surname is extremely common.{{Sfn|Ferriday|1984|p=133}}

He studied at the University of Chicago{{cite web|url=http://www.livingplaces.com/people/john-virginius-bennes.html|work=Living Places|title=John Virginius Bennes, Architect [1867-1943]

|publisher=The Gombach Group|access-date=May 30, 2017}} and spent a year abroad at the School of Fine Arts at Prague University, graduating with a degree in architecture in 1890. After graduating from college, Bennes relocated from Chicago to Baker City, Oregon around 1900, where he invested in the region's gold mines. On July 1, 1900, he married Annice Smalley; born December 4, 1876).{{Sfn|Hickman|1907|p=46}}

Career

After relocating to Baker City, Bennes began his career in architecture, redesigning the Geiser Grand Hotel, as well as designing the Elks Building and several residences. He relocated to Portland in 1906 and partnered with architects Eric W. Hendricks and Willard F. Tobey. Lewis Irvine Thompson also joined the firm. Bennes was a member of the Oregon Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, serving as vice president 1920-21 and as the chapter president in 1922. 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.{{cite web |url= http://www.eou.edu/campus_tour/ |title= Campus Tour and Information |publisher= Eastern Oregon University |access-date= 2010-02-26 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100309200709/http://www.eou.edu/campus_tour/ |archive-date= 2010-03-09 }}

Bennes designed several Portland hotels, including the Broadway Hotel, the Hamilton Hotel, the Treves Hotel and the Cornelius Hotel. The Cornelius has been unoccupied since the 1980s, but has been the subject of various restoration plans, most recently in February 2015.{{cite news |last1= Njus |first1= Elliot |title= Landmark Portland Buildings to be Transformed into Hotel |newspaper= The Oregonian |date= February 5, 2015 |page=B6 |url= http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2015/02/two_historic_downtown_building.html |access-date= February 6, 2015}}

Bennes was a contemporary of Frank Lloyd Wright and is said to have been "a product of the Chicago school of architecture."[http://www.endex.com/gf/personal/news/gfgt020101.htm Church's Building Well Worth Preserving] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081223221814/http://www.endex.com/gf/personal/news/gfgt020101.htm |date=2008-12-23 }}, Larry Landis, February 01, 2001.

Later life and death

Bennes relocated from Portland to Los Angeles, California, in 1943 after a bout of unnamed illness,{{cite web|url=http://pcad.lib.washington.edu/person/5846/|publisher=University of Washington Library|title=John Virginius Bennes|access-date=May 30, 2017|work=Pennsylvania College of Art and Design}} where he died the same year.[http://www.oregon.gov/OPRD/HCD/NATREG/docs/hd_nominations/benton_corvallis_oregonstateunivhd.pdf Oregon State University Historic District] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100717050934/http://www.oregon.gov/OPRD/HCD/NATREG/docs/hd_nominations/benton_corvallis_oregonstateunivhd.pdf |date=2010-07-17 }} section 8, page 22 U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service Some of his plans and drawings are held in the Cachot Therkelsen Collection with the University of Oregon Libraries.[http://nwda-db.wsulibs.wsu.edu/findaid/ark:/80444/xv14378 Cachot Therkelsen Collection] 1906-1952 University of Oregon Libraries

Projects

File:Former Cornelius Hotel in 2014 - Portland, Oregon.jpg in Portland, Oregon.]]

File:Broadway Hotel - Portland Oregon.jpg in Portland, Oregon.]]

File:Hollywood Theatre, Portland, Oregon (2014) - 2.jpg in the Hollywood District of Portland, Oregon.]]

File:Inlow Hall (Union County, Oregon scenic images) (uniDB0432).jpg at Eastern Oregon University.]]

  • John Virginius and Annice Bennes House (1911), Portland (NRHP)
  • Geiser Grand Hotel (1900 remodel), Baker City (NRHP contributing to the Baker Historic District)
  • Gray's West & Co. Pioneer Chapel (1910), Baker City, (NRHP contributing to the Baker Historic District as the Charles A. Johns House)
  • Hot Lake Hotel (1906), La Grande (NRHP)
  • Oregon State University buildings (1907–1941), part of the Oregon State University Historic District, Corvallis (NRHP){{rp|2}}
  • Agricultural Hall, now Strand Agricultural Hall (1909–1913){{cite book |title=Strand Agricultural Hall / Oregon State University|publisher=Hennebery Eddy Architects|page=4|quote=Agriculture Hall, as it was originally named, was designed by architect John Bennes and constructed in three phases between 1909 and 1913. Extending between the East and West Quads, the building was the largest structure at Oregon Agricultural College when completed, and soon became the home for many important academic departments and laboratory spaces. The building's three wings were identified as 'Agronomy' to the north, 'Horticulture' to the south, and 'Agriculture' at the center, which served as the central Administrative Building. In 1983 the building was renamed after August Strand, president of the university from 1942 to 1961.}}
  • Bexell Hall (1922)
  • Delta Zeta and Alpha Gamma sororities (1930 and 1928) (Bennes & Herzog)
  • Kidder Hall (1918){{cite web |url= http://osughost.imodules.com/s/resources/templates/login/index.aspx?sid=359&gid=1&pgid=492 |title= Up Close and Personal: Campus Tour |first= George P. Jr. |last= Edmonston |publisher= OSU Alumni Association |access-date= February 6, 2015}}
  • McAlexander Fieldhouse (1911)
  • Weatherford Hall (1928) (Bennes & Herzog)
  • Women's Building (1926)
  • Poultry Building and Incubator House (1913 remodel and 1907 design), 800 SW Washington Ave, Corvallis (NRHP)
  • Saint Francis de Sales Cathedral ({{circa}} 1905), Baker City, Oregon{{Sfn|Baker County Friends of the Library|2002|p=101}}

=Bennes, Hendricks & Tobey (1906-1909)=

=Bennes, Hendricks & Thompson (1909-1911)=

=Bennes and Hendricks (1911-1913)=

  • Broadway Hotel (1913), Portland (NRHP)
  • Hamilton Hotel (1913), Portland, cataloged by the Historic American Buildings Survey, now demolished[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/or/or0300/or0327/data/or0327.pdf Hamilton Hotel (Venable Hotel)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605021151/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/or/or0300/or0327/data/or0327.pdf |date=2011-06-05 }} HABS No. OR-159 Historic American Buildings Survey
  • Pacific Hardware & Steel Company Warehouse (1911), 2181 NW Nicolai St, Portland (NRHP){{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=08001263}} |format=PDF|title=National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Pacific Hardware & Steel Company Warehouse |author=Engeman, Jessica|date=June 30, 2008|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=July 31, 2012}}
  • Treves Hotel (Joyce Hotel) (1912), 1035-1039 SW Stark St, Portland[http://www.oregon.gov/OPRD/HCD/NATREG/docs/national_register_recent/Multnomah_HotelAlma_nrnom.pdf Alma Hotel]{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} National Register of Historic Places registration form. {{dead link|date=June 2016}}

=Independent (1914-1925)=

  • Astoria City Hall (1923), 1095 Duane St, Astoria, originally Astoria Savings Bank, which closed in 1929; the building became Astoria's City Hall in 1939 (NRHP contributing to the Astoria Downtown Historic District)
  • Coleman–Scott House (1916), 2110 NE 16th Ave, Portland (NRHP)
  • H. Liebes and Company Building (1917), 625 SW Broadway, Portland (NRHP)
  • Heppner Hotel (1919), 124 N Main St, Heppner (NRHP)
  • Howard Hall (1923), Salem, part of the former Oregon School for the Blind, demolished in 2015{{cite news |url= http://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2014/09/03/city-decision-howard-hall-demo-appealed-luba/15045759/ |archive-url= https://archive.today/20150209104512/http://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2014/09/03/city-decision-howard-hall-demo-appealed-luba/15045759/ |archive-date= February 9, 2015 |title= City's Howard Hall Demo Decision Appealed to State Board |last= Rose |first= Michael |date= September 4, 2014 |newspaper= Statesman Journal |access-date= February 6, 2015 }}{{cite news |url= http://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/health/2015/02/05/howard-hall-demolition-begins/22956735/ |title= Howard Hall Demolition Begins |last= Soo |first= Saerom |date= February 6, 2015 |newspaper= Statesman Journal |access-date= February 6, 2015}}
  • A. H. Maegly House (1914), 226 SW Kingston St, Portland (NRHP){{cite web |title=Oregon National Register List |url=http://www.oregon.gov/OPRD/HCD/NATREG/docs/oregon_nr_list.pdf |date=June 6, 2011 |publisher=Oregon Parks and Recreation Department |access-date=July 31, 2012 |archive-date=June 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609105953/http://www.oregon.gov/OPRD/HCD/NATREG/docs/oregon_nr_list.pdf }}{{rp|36}}
  • Abraham Tichner House (1918), 114 SW Kingston Ave, Portland (NRHP)

=Bennes & Herzog (1925-1931)=

  • John Bexell House (1926), 3009 NW Van Buren Ave, Corvallis (NRHP)
  • Churchill Hall (1925), Southern Oregon University, Ashland{{cite web |url= http://oregondigital.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=%2Farchpnw&CISOPTR=12366&CISOBOX=1&REC=1 |title= Churchill Hall, Southern Oregon University (Ashland, Oregon) |publisher= University of Oregon Digital Archives |access-date= February 6, 2015 |archive-date= February 6, 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150206211935/http://oregondigital.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=%2Farchpnw&CISOPTR=12366&CISOBOX=1&REC=1 }}
  • Hollywood Theatre (1923), 4122 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland (NRHP)
  • Inlow Hall (1927), Eastern Oregon University, La Grande (NRHP)
  • Jeanne Manor Apartment Building (1931), 1431 SW Park Ave, Portland (NRHP)
  • Liberty Theatre (1924), Astoria (NRHP)[http://myweb.msoe.edu/~westr/astoria.htm Astoria] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100121093733/http://myweb.msoe.edu/~westr/astoria.htm |date=2010-01-21 }}[http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/OR/Clatsop/state.html Clatsop County] National Register of Historic Places
  • B'nai B'rith Summer Camp (1928), Grand Ronde
  • Parkway Manor (1931), 1609 SW Park Ave, Portland{{cite news | title = Apartment Houses Rise | newspaper = The Oregonian | location = Portland, Oregon | page = 24 | publisher = Oregonian Media Group | date = January 8, 1931 }}

=Independent (1933-1943)=

  • Lieuallen Administration Building (1935), Western Oregon University, Monmouth{{cite web |url= http://www.wou.edu/provost/library/archives/university/buildings/html/admin.php |title= Lieuallen Administration Building |publisher= Western Oregon University |access-date= February 6, 2015}}

Notes and references

=Notes=

{{reflist|3}}

=References=

  • {{cite book| title=Historic Baker City, Oregon| publisher=Arcadia Publishing| isbn=978-0-738-52070-4| author=Baker County Friends of the Library|year=2002}}
  • {{cite book|last=Hickman|first=Sylvester|year=1907|title=Genealogy of the Hickman family: Beginning with Roger Hickman of Kent County, Delaware|publisher=Press of Cameron, Amberg & Co.|url=https://archive.org/details/genealogyofhickm00hick_0|quote=Genealogy of the Hickman family: beginning with Roger Hickman of Kent county, Delaware.}}
  • {{cite book|last=Ferriday|first=Virginia|title=Last of the Handmade Buildings: Glazed Terra Cotta in downtown Portland|year=1984|publisher=Mark Pub. Co.|isbn=978-0-961-40390-4}}

External links

{{Commons category}}

  • {{Oregon Encyclopedia|bennes_john_v_1867_1943_|John V. Bennes (1867-1943)|author=Landis, Larry}}
  • [http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/jspui/handle/1957/7760 John Bennes and OSU's Architectural Legacy, 1907-1941, OSU archives]
  • [https://www.flickr.com/photos/osuarchives/sets/72157617918292935/ Flickr OSU archive Bennes set]
  • [http://www.portlandbridges.com/00,5D0IMG03661,200,1,0,0-astoria-oregon.html Photos of Astoria City Hall and Liberty Theatre] downtown Astoria, PortlandBridges

{{John Virginius Bennes}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennes, John Virginius}}

Category:Architects from Chicago

Category:Architects from Portland, Oregon

Category:American people of Czech descent

Category:1867 births

Category:1943 deaths

Category:Charles University alumni

Category:Oregon State University people

Category:People from Peru, Illinois

Category:University of Chicago alumni

Category:Chicago school architects