The Oregon Gardens

Saturday/Sunday March 22/23, 2014

Weddings are a great occasion to hang with friends I don't get to see as often as I'd like. One of the great things about Carla being in a bunco group for over 20 years is we get to go to a lot of weddings of kids we've known for years. Cam and Lisa's daughter Kirsten married Colin at The Oregon Garden near Silverton which is about an hour south and east of our home in Beaverton. 

Knowing we'd be out late, drinking, dancing and having fun we figured it would be a good idea to stay at the adjacent resort. Given the in-and-out spring weather we experience in western Oregon, the wedding was held in the main hall; but we had our fingers crossed that we'd be able to explore the gardens a bit on Sunday before coming home. We totally lucked out: cloudless skies and temperatures in the high 60s greeted us. We made plans Saturday night to meet for breakfast with the Suzanne and Darrel. After checking out of the hotel we headed over to the gardens for a little walk.

First was a great bell. Darrel is a musician (The Bozo Brothers Band) and said it was an "A" tone.

Bell at The Oregon Garden

It isn't just Japan and Washington D.C. that have cherry blossoms; we've got them too,

Blossoming cherry tree at The Oregon Garden

Cherry blossoms at The Oregon Garden

After putting up a wood duck box a couple of weeks ago, we've been interested in birdhouses. I don't know what kind of birds live here or what they think of being in such close quarters but it is interesting.

Bird houses at The Oregon Garden

Back in the 50s  Frank Lloyd Wright's was commissioned to build a house by Evelyn and Conrad Gordon, a gentleman farmer and his wife, near Wilsonville, which is just a bit north of Silverton. This was one of a series of affordable homes built by Frank Lloyd Wright. The house is known as "The Gordon House". The house is one of a series of Usonion houses which are built to link nature and architecture. The term Usonian comes from Wright's nomenclature for United States of North America.

The Gordon House at The Oregon Garden

When it was built in the 50s it had a commanding view of the Willamette River out the front windows and Mt. Hood out the back. After the Gordons' deaths new owners were preparing to demolish the house to build a bigger one. A group came together to buy the house and transport it, in pieces, to its current home at The Oregon Garden. New concrete was poured and the house was put back together piece by piece.

Wright loved horizontal lines; notice the mortar work on the fireplace below. The horizontal lines were emphasized while the vertical lines were de-emphasized.

Main living space in the Gordon House at The Oregon Garden.
Notice that original stereo equipment

Suzanne, Darrel, Howard, and Carla.

 We caravanned on the way home and stopped by the Mt. Angel Sausage Company for a lovely extended lunch on the deck. The weather was the best we've had since last September. We spent almost two hours eating sausages, drinking beer, and talking. Darrel told a story about his dog, Belle, tangling with a skunk. The method of cleaning a skunked dog is peroxide and baking soda. Darrel had a chance to practice again; when they got home they discovered Belle hadn't fully learned her lesson.

What a great weekend. The rain came on Tuesday and we've been back to the gray and wet. We learn to take advantage of our opportunities here in western Oregon.