John Virginius Bennes (August 23, 1867 – November 29, 1943) was an American architect who designed numerous buildings throughout the state of Oregon, particularly in Baker City and Portland. In Baker City he did an extensive redesign of the Geiser Grand Hotel, designed several homes, and a now-demolished Elks building.[1] He moved to Portland in 1907 and continued practicing there until 1942.
Bennes designed numerous projects in the Portland area, as well as in Corvallis, Prineville, and other areas of Oregon. He and his firms produced the designs for at least 20 buildings that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).[2] His work includes the design of more than 35 buildings on the Oregon State University campus in Corvallis, as well as plans for 12 other building additions and renovations.[3] He also designed the administration building at Eastern Oregon University.
Bennes is also credited with design work on the Hollywood Theatre in Portland and the Liberty Theatre in Astoria. He worked with Harry A. Herzog on some of the theaters, and Albert Mercier and Lee Arden Thomas have also been credited as collaborators on some of them.[4][5]
He studied at the University of Chicago[10] and spent a year abroad at the School of Fine Arts at Prague University, graduating with a degree in architecture in 1890.[1] After graduating from college, Bennes relocated from Chicago to Baker City, Oregon around 1900, where he invested in the region's gold mines.[11] On July 1, 1900, he married Annice Smalley; born December 4, 1876).[12]
Career
After relocating to Baker City, Bennes began his career in architecture, redesigning the Geiser Grand Hotel, as well as designing the Elks Building and several residences. He relocated to Portland in 1906 and partnered with architects Eric W. Hendricks and Willard F. Tobey.[1]Lewis Irvine Thompson also joined the firm. Bennes was a member of the Oregon Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, serving as vice president 1920-21 and as the chapter president in 1922.[10] Bennes practiced on his own from 1914 to 1926. Then he partnered with Harry A. Herzog until 1931 and the onset of the Great Depression, when he returned to solo practice.
His design for Eastern Oregon University's Inlow Hall was a Renaissance Revival-style building that serves as an administration building, housing the admissions, registrar's, financial aid, student affairs and president's offices.[13]
Bennes designed several Portland hotels, including the Broadway Hotel, the Hamilton Hotel, the Treves Hotel and the Cornelius Hotel. The Cornelius has been unoccupied since the 1980s, but has been the subject of various restoration plans, most recently in February 2015.[14]
Bennes relocated from Portland to Los Angeles, California, in 1943 after a bout of unnamed illness,[7] where he died the same year.[11] Some of his plans and drawings are held in the Cachot Therkelsen Collection with the University of Oregon Libraries.[16]
^Strand Agricultural Hall / Oregon State University. Hennebery Eddy Architects. p. 4. Agriculture Hall, as it was originally named, was designed by architect John Bennes and constructed in three phases between 1909 and 1913. Extending between the East and West Quads, the building was the largest structure at Oregon Agricultural College when completed, and soon became the home for many important academic departments and laboratory spaces. The building's three wings were identified as 'Agronomy' to the north, 'Horticulture' to the south, and 'Agriculture' at the center, which served as the central Administrative Building. In 1983 the building was renamed after August Strand, president of the university from 1942 to 1961.
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