Journalist By Nature: Dunthorpe: Elegant, Exclusive, Expensive Estates

Kindly stay out!

If you are looking to spend several million dollars on a home in a neighborhood of similar properties, then the Dunthorpe community may suit your tastes. Situated across the Willamette River from Milwaukie, Dunthorpe is sited on the western bluffs amid a forest of old Douglas firs, huge rhododendrons, carpets of sword ferns and hill-retaining boulders. As in most of Laura Foster's research for her book Portland Hill Walks, famous Portland names pop up in association with early developments. Here we find William Ladd (of Ladd's Addition, Eastmoreland and Laurelhurst neighborhoods) and Simeon Reed (of Reed College) investing in speculative hematite ore land grabs.

Once the ore fever subsided, Ladd looked to other uses for his holdings and began to subdivide the property into residential estates. One of the most notable early homes was the Frank Manor House in the Arts and Crafts style. It was later sold for a fraction of its value to Lewis and Clark College, a private arts and science undergraduate school, law school and education/counseling grad school. Today, Dunthorpe is home to some of the Trailblazer basketball players. Don't look for signs on their homes as this upscale neighborhood gives no quarter to tourists peeking through hedges. A private security vehicle makes frequent rounds through the narrow network of streets. We waved cheerily as it passed, not wanting to appear inquisitive but merely as morning strollers.

Starting our (almost) Dryday walk we made our way uphill on Military Road to the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon's Elk Rock Garden of the Bishop's Close. This property was developed by Peter Kerr, another early Portland industrialist. The main house now standing on the property took two years to build: one year to blast away the basalt rock for the basement and a second year to construct the house. Once the house was finished, Peter turned his attention to the 13-acre yard and a dream to plant an extensive garden of varying flora collections including the present 35 different magnolias.

The layered acreage surrounds a spacious lawn, once used as a small golf course by Mrs. Kerr. There were tennis courts, a swimming pool and ever-expanding pathways to distant corners of the property. Some of the trees are now century specimens, underplanted by more perennials than annuals to reduce the field work. The Columbus Day storm of 1962 took a toll on the garden, downing a number of evergreens. The space once occupied by towering firs is now a rock garden with moss-covered steps and tiny plantings. A stone-walled pathway wanders along the basalt cliff above the Willamette River where native plants such as Oregon grape and trilliums grow amid primroses, Fawn lilies, Dicentra formosa (bleeding heart) and witch hazel trees. The view across and up the river shows the backside of Milwaukie and the Willamette View Manor as well as floating docks and newer riverfront properties. Rachel, the head and only gardener gives group tours in between tending to the property and planning new beds. Mr. and Mrs. Kerr are buried on the property under a cluster of overhanging trees, an appropriate resting place for the people who made this garden such a delightful addition to the Portland garden collection.

The garden is open to the public 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily but group tours must be made by appointment. There is extensive historical information in Portland Hill Walks and at the garden itself if you want further interesting tidbits about the lives of former Portland movers and shakers. It's a garden truly worth visiting!

Continuing uphill, we passed numerous unique mansions, many gated, others secluded at the ends of long winding driveways. The yards were often open to view and were without exception immaculately serviced by the multitude of lawn care crews seen out and about the area. No residents were ever sighted, although we once saw a dog walker with canines tugging on leashes. There was a cool calmness pervading the district due to a lack of traffic and enhanced by aged trees and hedges.

Interestingly, we noted a number of For Sale signs along the roads. It would seem that spring is the time of selling, when lawns are lush with fresh growth and color, early flowering shrubs are popping out in an exuberance of color and birds are feasting on emerging worms and bugs. Everything looks fresh and clean and smells of great potential. Bring on the buyers!

The one disappointment on this hill walk was to discover the demise of the Berry Botanical Garden, once located high on Summerville Avenue. Here, on part of the former Henry Corbett estate (home to another Portland businessman and politician), Rae Selling Berry and her husband purchased 9 acres for additional gardening space after their Irvington property was filled with plants. Mrs. Berry specialized in placing plants where they would thrive in one of her many microclimates rather than forcing them to grow in combination with unhappy neighbors just for show. Through her interest in exotic places she collected seeds of plants from around the world. In 1983 the Portland Garden Club, by then the owners/caretakers of the garden, "founded the nation's first seed bank devoted to rare and endangered species" says Foster in Portland Hill Walks.

The sadness comes because despite its listing on the National Register of Historic Places, the property fell into an underfunded state and was sold to a private developer. This developer closed the property and reportedly plans to subdivide the acreage into small lots and build a crush of new homes. How tony Dunthorpe will react to this eyebrow-raising project remains to be seen. Some of the plant collections of the Berry Botanical Garden were rescued by the gardener at the Bishop's Close and are thriving in their new home. The majority of the ancient plantings will be pushed aside in the name of progress.

As usual, the hungry hikers sought a new and interesting lunch spot to quell their growling stomachs. Lake Oswego's Zeppo's restaurant was the target this time. Situated near the lake turnaround, it offers Italian cuisine and has embraced a kitchen utensil decorating theme with sieves and graters for light fixtures, muffin tins for knee bumpers at the bar and an imaginative wall art piece of kitchen gear. The baked panini sandwiches were creative combos and the tomato basil soup made you sit up tall and take note. Once again we had a delightfully educational expedition into a Portland neighborhood. Grab a friend and take a hike into the hills of your city! [Double click on pictures to enlarge]