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Van Evera Bailey architectural papers, 1928-1980

Overview of the Collection

Architect
Bailey, Van Evera, 1903-1980
Title
Van Evera Bailey architectural papers
Dates
1928-1980 (inclusive)
Quantity
19.34 cubic feet, (178 oversize folders; 5 letter document cases; 2 slim letter document cases; 1 flat box (11x14); 3 flat boxes (13x16); 1 flat box (14x18); 1 oversize flat box (16x20); 1 oversize flat box (20x24))
Collection Number
Mss 3128
Summary
Architectural drawings, photographs, and professional documents relating to the work of Oregon architect Van Evera Bailey (1903-1980). Counted among the architects who developed the Northwest Regional Style of modern architecture, Bailey primarily designed private residences in the Portland area, with a number of early projects in the Palm Springs, California, area.
Repository
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org
Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Languages
English
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Biographical Note

Born in Oregon in 1903, Van Evera Bailey was best known for his contributions to the Northwest Regional Style of modern architecture. Bailey's early Oregon houses — Stonecrop, built for his brother Lawrence Bailey, and the George Rogers house in Lake Oswego — are craftsman-style cottages with rough-hewn stonework and exposed timber. His style shifted dramatically after he traveled to Europe around 1931 and saw early European modernism. Returning to the United States in 1932, Bailey settled in southern California, where he designed residences and speculative housing in modernist styles mostly in the Palm Springs area. He relocated to Portland in 1937 and would remain there for the duration of his career.

In 1940, Bailey served as the local supervising architect for the Jan de Graaff residence in Portland, designed by the California modernist Richard Neutra. Neutra had planned for stucco exterior walls, but Bailey altered the design for cedar siding, gaining him nationwide recognition for his regional sensibilities.

Most of Bailey's architectural commissions were for residences in the Portland area, but he also designed office buildings, banks, apartment buildings, and several remodels and additions. Among his most notable buildings are the modernist Thaddeus Bruno residence in Lake Oswego (1939); Naval Air Station housing in Astoria (1942), built on a difficult site to house naval personnel during World War II; the David and Cynthia Eyre residence in Portland (1953), which showcased Bailey's laminated structural roof; and his own residence in Portland (1958), for which he developed a wood stilt system to support the house on a steep hillside.

Bailey moved to Gleneden Beach on the Oregon coast to retire in the late 1960s and died there in 1980, survived by his wife, Janet, who died three years later.

Sources: "Frozen Music: A History of Portland Architecture," by Gideon Bosker and Lena Lencek (Western Imprints, The Press of the Oregon Historical Society, 1985); "Portland Modern: The Northwest Architecture of Van Evera Bailey," by Hope Svenson, Oregon Historical Quarterly, Vol. 112, No. 4 (Winter 2011), pages 434-461; "Classic Houses of Portland, Oregon: 1850-1950," by William J. Hawkins III and William F. Willingham (Portland: Timber Press, 1999).

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Content Description

This collection is the most complete archive of the Oregon architect Van Evera Bailey, who was known for his contributions to the Northwest Regional Style. It consists of architectural drawings, photographs, and a small quantity of professional correspondence, clippings, and ephemera related to Bailey's projects from the late 1920s through the 1960s. The majority of the materials concern residential projects in the Portland, Oregon, area, with a much smaller group in the Palm Springs, California, area and elsewhere.

The drawings are primarily construction drawings, which consist of plans, elevations, sections, details, sketches, and perspectives. Most are pencil drawings on tracing paper or vellum by Bailey's hand, with a small number of blueprints and diazo prints.

The photographs are primarily black and white, and many are professional images documenting Bailey's buildings after construction. There are some construction photos and photos of architectural models, and many photos taken or collected by Bailey during his travels abroad in the early 1930s. Formats include 35mm slides, contact prints, snapshots, color transparencies, and large format photoprints.

The collection also includes three scrapbooks filled with press clippings depicting Bailey's published projects from the 1940s and 1950s, and 12 ledgers that track Bailey's professional and personal expenses from 1939 to 1980, the year he died.

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

Van Evera Bailey architectural papers, Mss 3128, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

Restrictions on Use

The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in two series:

  • Series 1: Project records
    • Subseries 1.1: Oregon
    • Subseries 1.2: California
    • Subseries 1.3: Other locations
  • Series 2: Professional papers

Acquisition Information

Gifts of Janet Bailey in October 1980 (Lib. Acc. 15295), January 1981 (Lib. Acc. 15385), and July 1981 (via Gregory L. Nelson, Lib. Acc. 15569); and gifts of Gregory L. Nelson in November 1993 (Lib. Acc. 21503), May 1996 (Lib. Acc. 22720), and June 1996 (Lib. Acc. 22772).

Preservation Note

Researcher access to negatives in the collection is limited for preservation purposes. To inquire about viewing the negatives, contact library staff.

Processing Note

This collection was initially processed in the 1980s or 1990s. In 2025, the collection was reprocessed by Hope Svenson to incorporate photographs that had previously been cataloged separately as Org. Lot 100 (the Van Evera Bailey architectural photographs collection), as well as three additional unprocessed accessions of Bailey drawings, ledgers, papers, correspondence, and photographs. During processing, the collection was rehoused and rearranged to reflect the additional materials.

When the Bailey papers were originally processed, each project was cataloged individually. The catalog cards and online records for these projects contained information, such as names or addresses, that is not present on the drawings and documents themselves, and whose source is unknown. During reprocessing of the collection, the individual online catalog records for Bailey's projects were replaced by this single, comprehensive collection guide. Because the additional details in the original catalog cards and online records are unverified, the collection guide reflects only the information provided on the drawings and other materials in the collection. However, the original catalog cards and records are available to researchers upon request.

Related Materials

Other Van Evera Bailey materials at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library include blueprint drawings for the Eric Hoffman residence, 1945-1946, in the Thomas Kerr Jr. family papers, Coll 973; plans in the Martin Witt architectural papers, Coll 848; and blueprint plans for the Thaddeus Bruno residence in the Bruno family papers, Coll 704.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

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Subject Terms

  • Architects--Oregon--20th century
  • Architects--Oregon--Portland--20th century
  • Architecture, Domestic--California--20th century
  • Architecture, Domestic--Oregon--20th century
  • Architecture, Domestic--Oregon--20th century--Photographs
  • Architecture, Domestic--Oregon--Designs and plans--20th century
  • Architecture, Domestic--Oregon--Portland--20th century
  • Architecture, Domestic--Oregon--Portland--20th century--Designs and plans
  • Architecture, Domestic--Oregon--Portland--20th century--Photographs

Personal Names

  • Bailey, Van Evera, 1903-1980

Form or Genre Terms

  • architectural drawings (visual works)
  • photographs

Hope Svenson
2012; revised 2025

CC0

About Creative Commons Licenses in Archives West

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