The Windsor House of Tea

Astoria, Oregon ~ January 23, 2010

Thanks for bearing with the same photo for a few days. I decided to take a break. I'm back, and will be pulling random photos out of the archives this week. The business is not more, but the building remains. Would anyone like to share their fond memories either in the comments or by e-mail? I visited once, treated by my friend Lisa. The baked treats were spectacularly flavorful and decadent. I'm sorry to say that because of that and the engaging conversation, I don't even remember the tea. (It was a few years ago.) It was also one of my not-too-many forays into the basement of Astoria. I love these Art Deco buildings along Marine Drive between 9th and 10th.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

The Y Gallery

In a town of interesting facades, this has to be one of the most unusual. It's listed online as:

Y Gallery

12th & Exchange

Artist Jim Russell/Vintage Bike Works

I know nothing about it except that it seems to be a private affair, or maybe by invitation only. It's located in a building that used to be the YMCA. I'll show you the marking on the corner someday. I thought I read that the building was spared by the 1922 fire and was used as triage during that event, but (again, trying to remember) I think there is a date of 1923 on the corner. Maybe someone will comment.

Part of the building's charm is this window on 12th Street.

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Lots of Lines

Some people separate sheep from goats. In Astoria, we separate Victorian from Deco. It's not because we like to segregate them, it's because two fires required the downtown to be rebuilt. This rock marks one of the corners of both fires. Behind me you will find a lot of Victorian architecture, and in front you will find mostly art deco, or in some cases just plain rectangular buildings.

The rock says:

THIS MARKER

IS NEAR THE SOUTH

WEST CORNER OF THE

BUSINESS DISTRICT OF

ASTORIA, OREGON, THAT WAS

DESTROYED BY FIRE IN 1883

AND AGAIN IN 1922

The rock sits just past the street sign in the middle of the photo.

Here's the sign (at the corner of 9th and Exchange). If you follow Exchange for a few blocks, you'll come to another of the fire's landmarks, which I'll show another day. I read about it, but I don't think it has a marker like this corner has.

I took this photo of the Labor Temple a few paces down 9th Street toward the river. You can see clearly the deco influence in this building and the tan building on the right, which fronts on Commercial, the main street of downtown Astoria. Like many of the downtown buildings, the date, 1923, is stamped on the Labor Temple along with the building's name. Keeping up with the times, the Labor Temple Diner & Bar has its own page on Facebook. And here's an earthy review of the venerated landmark. I suppose "language or content warning" is appropriate on the second link, but I think it gives a true picture of what you'll find there, and it has a photo of the inside.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

When Worlds Collide

I'm sure that title is too strong. It could be a mellow blending on the inside. Outside, however, you can see that we have to be careful when we're driving or walking. I really hate one-way grids, and that's what we have throughout the downtown area of Astoria, Oregon. In other places, it always seemed much simpler and safer to me when everyone knew we had to look both ways at all intersections. The rules didn't change from place to place. After a little checking, it seems that the statistics on safety are . . . well . . . conflicted.

The old Ocean Crest auto repair building at the corner of Duane and 14th Street has been empty for several years until recently, when it was purchased by the owners of the Fort George Brewery and Public House just around the corner. If they do for it what they did for the other building, we'll see the place come alive. Of course, what caught my attention was the primitive-looking cool art. Inside there are already barrels. And there's art. Whatever the plans are, I'm sure it will be interesting.

I also like this photo because it shows how buildings accommodate Astoria's crazy slopes.

I used to wonder about the name Fort George, until one day I read that this was the name for the entire town at one time. In 1813, Astoria's name was changed in honor of the King of England. The British-owned North West Company had purchased the town; there was incentive to sell to them, because a British ship was headed this way that would have attempted to take it by force as an act of the War of 1812 if the owners had not sold it! The town continued to be called Fort George until 1846, although the Treaty of Ghent in 1814 had caused ownership to be returned to Americans.

Art Deco? Art Nouveau? Definitely imaginative . . .

I think this is one of Astoria, Oregon's, most imaginative downtown buildings. It's hard for me to say whether it's more Art Deco or Art Nouveau, or a combination of the two. In any event, it's unique. I don't know the date it was built, but my guess is, around 1923. It's in the area that burned in the 1922 fire, and the style fits with the period of re-building.

The location is the corner of 13th Street and Exchange. In fact, this building and the small parking lot next to it take up the entire length of 13th Street (see the photo below). The most coveted locations for small businesses are a block and a half away on Commercial Street, so at the moment, this charming building sits empty.

This is the entirety of 13th Street. Or at least I think so. If you go just to the right outside this photo there's a narrow passage for foot and bike traffic that goes for one block, connecting Duane and Commercial, and may qualify as an extension of 13th Street. I'll save that photo for another day. Because of the disagreement between Shively and McClure in the 1800s, 12th and 13th Streets do not fall into a regular pattern in the city grid, as they would if it had all been gridded by one person or on one system. Thirteenth Street became a strange anomaly in the grid because of it.

I took this photo on a recent bright, clear day. Today it's overcast and, thankfully, cooler.

Windows of the lovely Astor Hotel

Does anyone know the style of these delightful windows?

They can be seen on the Duane Avenue and 14th Street sides of the Astor Hotel in Astoria, Oregon. The building was constructed after the 1922 fire burned down its predecessor. I wouldn't know what to call the style. I called the building Art Deco based on various features and the look of its Commercial Street side opposite (shown here). If anyone can help me out with the style, I'd be very interested in what you have to say. I love architecture and styles, but this one isn't 100% in my vocabulary. One author called it "Gothic," and I didn't see that at all on the other side of the building, but these windows bear a hint of Gothic, if only a hint. As to the old hotel itself, several comments from the last post are worth printing here. Some were made on Blogger, and some on the Facebook page for this blog. By the way, I left two small heads at the bottom of the photo for scale and reference. I tried cropping, but I kinda like them there.

Branden Wilson: Don't forget that the top few floors are not even original. They were an afterthought built on years later . . .

Julie Winlund Evans: The bus depot was on the ground floor and I can remember watching the wooden 'dock' rot away over the years as the blackberry briars took over.

Kurt Hanson: I remember the ballroom, it was totally awesome and the little cafe on the corner where the toy store is/was? I also remember the bus depot - I can,t remember what year that was late 60's?

Lee Spangler: What is also cool is what is left of the interior of the main floor. We'll sneak in next weekend.

So, perhaps we'll have additional photos coming up. There's also a comic and game store on the corner of Commercial and 14th with a sign worthy of a photo. I'll see what I can do with that one some time!

There's a bit of sky here, and I like taking part in Skywatch Friday, but I have to admit that the photo was taken last Sunday when the sky was blue and the weather was glorious. That was just before the heatwave. Now the heat has been followed by the marine layer's inevitable clouds, and today so far it's completely overcast. It rained last night, it's cool today, and I'm not complaining!

Her Art Deco Majesty, the Astor Hotel

The Astor Hotel at Commercial and 14th Streets is the tallest building in Astoria, unless you're counting the column at the top of Coxcomb Hill. It's also one of the most striking due to its intriguing Art Deco design. The rear of this building has some outstanding windows that look totally different, and yet blend beautifully with the whole. I'll post them soon. You can read concise history of the building on the web site of Robert D. West, Astoria, Oregon. Scroll down to Number 14, John Jacob Astor Hotel. Briefly, it was built in the aftermath of the 1922 fire that burned 32 city blocks of downtown Astoria. It has an unexpected place in history in that cable TV was invented in this building in 1948 by Ed Parsons, and it became the location of the first cable TV company. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places. In the end, Astoria could not support the large number of hotel rooms, and in 1968 it closed for eleven years. It's currently used for low-income housing for the elderly and others who receive Section Eight housing benefits. As it's only one block from the river, it affords a remarkable view.

The darker building in the middle is the newly-refurbished Commodore Hotel, seen in this earlier post.

The building in front is the one in this post with the striking Art Deco rounded window at the corner made up of small squares of glass.

Where's Hitchcock when you need him?

This building sits at the corner of 12th Street and the River Walk. It also sits at the corner of 12th and Marine Drive. It's a very short block, as the streets adjust to the curve of the river. I took this photo on July 18th, and sun's glow had grown even deeper in color than when I had snapped the photo of the Art Deco building in this post. The style above looks a little bit Art Deco, although it doesn't have the dramatic elements I've learned to look for. David Thompson, of the wonderful blog, Art Deco Buildings, suggested that it could possibly be a transition style between Victorian and Deco. I'll put it on my list for my next visit to the Heritage Museum, and I'll look more closely for clues when I see the building again.

The only train running past this signal any more is the Riverfront Trolley, and it runs slowly while the drivers give their talk about the sights and watch carefully for visitors and locals ambling along absorbed by the scenery.

The inside of the building has been refurbished in the last few years for office suites, while a medical supply company and a bead store take up much of the ground floor.

Sun glow Deco

Anyone who knows Astoria will remember this building at the corner of 14 Street and Marine Drive as being pale yellow and beige in color. The evening sun was turning everything deep, rich colors on July 18th, and the camera picked up on that and enhanced the color even more. I believe the top storey consists of apartments. Downstairs is a pet store, mainly tropical fish and related supplies and equipment. A new sign on the other side of the building advertises "The Pet Works, Self-Service Dog Wash, Pets & Supplies." So maybe they've expanded. I haven't been in for awhile. There is a third story set way back from the edge of the building so you can't see it in this photo. The windows all have curtains that look like they'd be apartments.

Astoria has a number of prevalent building styles, including Victorian houses, Arts and Crafts Movement (Craftsman Style) houses, and there's quite a bit of Art Deco in the downtown area, which makes sense because the commercial area had to be rebuilt after the 1922 fire. The tall Art Deco-style window here is a unique element in town, although I'll be looking for more such interesting detail from that era.

For other photos featuring the color yellow, check out Mellow Yellow Monday.