The best way to get a glimpse of the past, present, and future of a place is to take a look at the historical and contemporary buildings in its downtown area. Though architectural fashions change through time, each city has a unique and recognizable style. The art of designing buildings and other structures finds its place in every human settlement. The specific architectural style, along with the local community’s capability and willingness to preserve it, has made houses for sale in Lebanon, Oregon even more attractive and valuable.
After the Civil War, the population of Oregon underwent an enormous increase due to the emergence of the transcontinental telegraph, the building of the railroad, as well as the influx of new immigrants. It all influenced changes in the local architecture since the movement of people, ideas, and materials became easier than before.
The late nineteenth century brought some new architectural styles across the United States, along with developing licensing and professionalization of architecture. Those styles can be found throughout Oregon as well, including Lebanon. They were most apparent in the visual appearance of buildings and overall aesthetics.
Some of the distinctive architectural styles of this era were Gothic Revival, Italianate, Second Empire, Stick, Eastlake, Queen Anne, and Shingle styles. Each of them can be found in Oregon, adapted to local materials and uses. The most common material was wood, while the most common use was residential and agricultural. While many prominent architects from around the country came to Oregon, mostly to Portland, local carpenters used to adapt their most attractive architectural details to their work. Such practice made Queen Anne cottages, for example, one of the most common fashions in the local architecture of both Oregon and Lebanon, making land for sale in Lebanon, Oregon easily recognizable.
Although it is not a huge metropolis like Paris or London, the city of Lebanon does have plenty of notable properties with a certain historical significance. They contribute to the city’s unique character, preserving various historic resources within its boundaries. Many of them are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Maybe you won’t find them in the offers of real estate agencies in Lebanon, but you will surely enjoy them while walking around the city. Just like you can find pleasure in walking trails out of town, you can also tour inside the city, sightseeing Lebanon’s most popular locations.
The Elkins Flour Mill is one of the oldest structures in Lebanon and among the oldest industrial buildings in the Willamette Valley. It was built in 1871 by the Elkins brothers, some of the biggest local industrialists of the time. The mill has been renovated and preserved as an important historic place.
The Lebanon Southern Pacific Railroad Depot is another historic building important for the local community. It is a former railway station, constructed in 1908 for serving the Southern Pacific Company for both freight and passenger operations. The depot was constructed along the tracks of the Albany-Lebanon Railroad, north of Sherman Street. During the 1950s the stations remained in use only for freight traffic, while the passenger train called the Willamette Limited was permanently closed. In 1985 it was closed until the city of Lebanon purchased it and added it to the National Register of Historic Places.
In 1906 the Main Street in Lebanon got one of its landmarks, known as the Louis A. Crandall House. The house has been preserved as the only example of high-style American Foursquare architecture in the city. This fashion was particularly popular as post-Victorian style, dating from the late nineteenth century to the late 1930s, and characterized by a plain boxy shape, hipped roof, and Craftsman-style woodwork. The Louis A. Crandall House was designed and built by the local company Crandall Brothers Planing Mill. It greatly influenced local building styles in the years that followed.
Finally, some of the most significant Lebanon landmarks are of rural provenance. The Henry and Mary Cyrus Barn was built in 1884 and it is preserved as an increasingly rare and highly representative example of the barns built in Linn County in the late nineteenth-century era. The Barn’s historical identity was well maintained due to the fact that the original grain bins and wood stanchions of the structure remained intact, keeping its original looks.
Not only historical structures build one city’s identity. Contemporary architecture, designed for work and living, also plays an important role in it. If you’re looking for homes for sale in Lebanon, you might find it particularly interesting to meet the city’s contemporary architectural fashions.
The Mill Race Urban Renewal Plan includes developing a commercial and residential district at what will be called Mill Race Station, located near the Samaritan Health Sciences Campus, Boulder Falls Hotel, and the Oregon Veterans’ Home. Fifty acres of land is owned by Larry and Nikki Spires, whose grandfather lost it in a card game and then the Spires managed to buy it back. The land will be transformed into a residential complex.
The long-term plan is to feature both commercial and residential components, incorporating apartments, professional offices, grocery stores, condominiums, medical offices, and storage facilities. It is supposed to remain affordable for the local residents. This project is expected to enrich Lebanon, OR real estate market, and to offer a greater variety of possibilities to new customers, helping Lebanon to grow in the future.
In 2011, the opening of the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, Northwest brought to Lebanon’s community not only an influx of young people, new jobs and opportunities but also a new architectural gem. This is the very first medical school built in Oregon in more than a century. Designed by Soderstrom, the acknowledgeable architecture and interior design company based in Portland, OR, the school was built as a modern, high-tech facility, following the latest design trends the Portland architecture is known for. The building uses a living wall biofilter of vertically suspended plants with the system for detoxifying and adding oxygen to the interior air. Since a medical school for the 21st century required a set of technological demands (research labs, information technology, etc.), the building of such a structure was a real challenge both for the architects and for the construction workers.
For a city with 16,000 inhabitants, Lebanon, OR does have a surprisingly large selection of architectural treasures across times. It is a good example of how small communities should preserve their history, no matter how modest it was. The multitude of historic places is a good case in point. Moreover, the look into the future is possible by looking at the current architectural and building projects in town, because they show us what the plan to grow the community looks like.
Brokers in Lebanon, OR can be of particular help for those who want to inform themselves about the future possibilities for housing in the city. If you’re looking for land or a home to buy, in the city of Lebanon you can choose nicely between the existing and future real estate offer.
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