Deepwood Estate & Carriage House, c1895 [Photo: DMG Facebook page] April 5, 2018 Episode.
In this 1895 photograph, the earliest house photo in the collections of Deepwood Museum & Gardens , Deepwood House appears quite stately even before its glorious gardens were installed.
In this 1895 photograph, the earliest house photo in the collections of Deepwood Museum & Gardens , Deepwood House appears quite stately even before its glorious gardens were installed.
Deepwood Museum & Gardens, c2017 [Photo: DMG-FB]
Yvonne Putze, the Executive Director of Deepwood Museum & Gardens, joined us to share her vision and plans for this long-time Salem treasure. Although originally from the midwest where she was involved in nonprofit leadership and then corporate marketing positions, Yvonne moved to Salem fourteen years ago but was hired as the Executive Director here about 1.5 years ago--the perfect position to meld her desire to return to the world of nonprofits with her passion for history and the sharing of that history. She went on to explain that the Friends of Deepwood, a nonprofit organization, operates the five-acre venue which includes the Victorian Queen Anne home, the carriage house, the original gazebo, formal and border gardens, and an extensive natural plant area.
Dr. Luke A. Port [DMG:FB] The house was originally built in 1893-94 for Dr. Luke A. Port on land in the Yew Park Addition east of Pringle Creek. Dr. Port, a pharmacist and speculator, hired young architect W.C. Knighton to design a home "with all the modern conveniences" including all electric light fixtures (the home was located near the electric trolley lines, thus allowing electrical service several years before the majority of Salem homes.) Knighton would later design such landmarks as the Oregon Supreme Court Building (1914), The Governor Hotel (1909) and the (North) Salem High School (1937), and become Oregon's first State Architect.
| In 1895 attorney (later judge) George Bingham and wife Willie Harrison Bingham bought the property. Following the Bingham's deaths in 1924, their daughter, Alice Bingham Powell, sold her childhood home to hop/wool broker Clifford Brown and his wife Alice Bretherton Brown. The Browns and their two young sons, Chandler and Werner, moved in after making some modifications to the house; unfortunately, Clifford died just two years later. In 1929, widowed Alice Brown commissioned the new firm of Lord & Schryver, the first female-owned landscape architecture firm in the Northwest, to begin design of what would later become the Deepwood Gardens. Following this massive project, Elisabeth Lord and Edith Schryver went on to design over 250 gardens in the region and continued to advise their friend Alice Brown on her gardens throughout their lives. (For more information click here.) |  Judge George & Willie Bingham [DMG:FB]  Alice Brown & son Werner, 1924 [Photo: DMG-FB] |
In 1935 Alice Brown named the estate "Deepwood" after The Hollow Tree and Deepwoods, a book by Albert Bigelow Paine that was a favorite of her sons. Coming full circle again, Alice Brown married Keith Powell (widower of second owner's daughter, Alice Bingham Powell) in 1945 in the gardens of the estate. The couple lived at Deepwood another 25 years before moving to a smaller home in 1968. Following a challenging community campaign to save the property from demolition, Deepwood became a City of Salem-owned park and museum in 1972, and is now considered part of the adjacent Bush's Pasture Park complex.
Bingham Powell & Nanny Sally, C1919 [DMG-FB] Yvonne shared her plans for the future of this resource, including ensuring their financial stability, both now and in the future; securing a long-term, intergenerational volunteer base; and developing a marketing plan that appeals to all age groups. She continues to strive for doing the best with their collections, and to this end they have opened displays in two previously vacant rooms--a servant's quarters, and another bedroom--that reflect what home life was like in the years in which the home held families. Deepwood was built to be a family residence and served as hearth and home for four families for more than seven decades.
Deepwood Museum & Gardens continues to serve families, both those visiting Salem and those who live here. Ongoing events, such as the Erythronium plant sale, Easter Egg hunts, and Mothers' Day teas in the spring, along with garden parties, fashion shows, monthly high teas, Halloween and Christmas open houses, continue to showcase Deepwood's long tradition of opening its doors to host the community. To learn about upcoming events, checkout their website. For lots of historic and event photographs, check out their Facebook page.
~~Posted by Deb Meaghers
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