Earl Bronaugh House, 18121 River Road, Milwaukie, Clackamas County, OR

Significance: The Earl Bronaugh House, as designed for Judge Earl Clapp Bronaugh in 1912, is architecturally significant as one of noted Oregon architect Ellis F. Lawrence's Arts and Crafts style residences. It is ranked as a primary resource in the 1989 Ellis Lawrence Building Survey along with 17 other Arts and Crafts style houses throughout Oregon. Lawrence was well known for his fine residential designs along with his buildings on the University of Oregon and Oregon Medical School campuses. He was the founder of the School of Architecture and Allied Arts at the University of Oregon and served as dean from 1914 to his death in 1946. The Bronaugh residence represents the early phase of Lawrence's work and was designed during the short period he was in practice by himself. The interior and exterior details such as fireplace surrounds, leaded glass, balconies and brackets, exemplify the architect's attention to detail as well as his interest in the incorporation of the arts into architecture. It is also an early example of the country estate, a type which had begun to develop in and around Portland, Oregon during this period and which later flourished in the 1920s. The residence is the only extant 20th century country estate in north Clackamas County as cited in the 1986 Clackamas County Inventory of Historic Properties and is ranked as a primary resource.
Survey number: HABS OR-150