Ellis F. Lawrence
Ellis Fuller Lawrence (November 13, 1879 – February 27, 1946) was an American architect who worked primarily in the U.S. state of Oregon. In 1914, he became the co-founder and first dean of the University of Oregon's School of Architecture and Allied Arts, a position he held until his death. Lawrence concurrently served as campus architect for the University of Oregon and designed many campus buildings, including Knight Library and the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art.
Also recorded as Ellis Fuller Lawrence
Ellis F. Lawrence
Katr67 · Public domain
- Name
- Ellis F.
- Born
- 13 November 1879
- Birthplace
- Malden, Massachusetts, U.S.
- Died
- 27 February 1946
- Place of death
- Portland, Oregon, U.S.
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- architect
- Education
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Known for
- McArthur Court
- Honours
- Fellow of the American Institute of Architects
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Ellis Fuller Lawrence (November 13, 1879 – February 27, 1946) was an American architect who worked primarily in the U.S. state of Oregon. In 1914, he became the co-founder and first dean of the University of Oregon's School of Architecture and Allied Arts, a position he held until his death. Lawrence concurrently served as campus architect for the University of Oregon and designed many campus buildings, including Knight Library and the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art.
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Note VALÉORINE
Ellis F. Lawrence (1879–1946) was an American architect. Born in Malden, the architect died in Portland.
Ellis F. Lawrence studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The architect was a member of Lawrence & Holford.
Works include McArthur Court. Ellis F. Lawrence received Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
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In this article
Biography
Biography
Lawrence Hall on the university campus (which replaced his Architecture and Art Building of 1923) was named in his honor in 1956. His body of over 500 projects includes churches, residences, commercial and industrial buildings, funerary buildings, multi-family residences, and public buildings. In 1988, the private residence he designed for Thomas A. Livesley, a prominent Salem, Oregon businessman and civic leader, was purchased through private donations and donated to the state and now serves as the Governor's official residence (Mahonia Hall).
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Ellis F. Lawrence • Born — 13 November 1879 • Birthplace — Malden, Massachusetts, U.S. • Died — 27 February 1946 • Place of death — Portland, Oregon, U.S. • Significant Buildings — Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art Elsinore Theater • Illustration — East entrance of Knight Library in Eugene, Oregon
Biography
Biography
Ellis F. Lawrence was born in Malden, Massachusetts and received his secondary education at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts graduating in 1897. He received both his bachelor's and master's degrees at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the first school of architecture in the United States. After graduation in 1902, Lawrence worked for the Boston architectural firms Peabody & Stearns and Andrews, Jaques & Rantoul as well as for architects John Calvin Stevens and Constant-Désiré Despradelle before he left to travel in Europe. He was employed by the Boston architectural firm Codman & Despradelle in 1905. In 1906, Codman & Despradelle (Boston), sent Lawrence to San Francisco to commence work there, but the 1906 San Francisco earthquake convinced him to stay in Portland, Oregon where he had stopped on the way. He lived in Portland the rest of his life and commuted to his work as dean and campus architect in Eugene. He was associated with several Oregon-based architecture firms: MacNaughton, Raymond & Lawrence (1906–1910); Lawrence & Holford (1913–1928); Lawrence, Holford, Allyn & Bean (1928–1933); and Lawrence, Holford, & Allyn (1933–1941). Lawrence's final partnership, Lawrence & Lawrence (1944–1946), was with his son, Henry Abbott Lawrence.
Buildings designed by Lawrence
Buildings designed by Lawrence
• Illustration — Detail of Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art entrance
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
• Alpha Phi Sorority House, University of Oregon • Chambers House • Knight Library, University of Oregon • Hope Abbey Mausoleum • Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon • Women's Memorial Quadrangle (includes Gerlinger Hall, Susan Campbell Hall, and Hendricks Hall), University of Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
• Belle Court Apartments • Cumberland Apartments • Henry B. Dickson House • Lewis T. Gilliland House • Albert, Oscar, and Linda Heintz House • Dr. Harry M. Hendershott House • James Hickey House • Irvington Tennis Club • William H. Lewis Model House • Alexander D. McDougall House • Natt and Christena McDougall House • Henry B. Miller House • Paul C. Murphy House • Isaac Neuberger House • Harry T. Nicolai House • John V. G. Posey House • O. L. Price House • Samuel G. Reed House • Maurice Seitz House • Blaine Smith House • Stanley C.E. Smith House • Arthur Champlin Spencer and Margaret Fenton Spencer House • John A. Sprouse Jr. House • Alice Henderson Strong House • Fred E. Taylor House • Troy Laundry Building • Wells-Guthrie House • James E. Wheeler House • Illustration — Interior of the Elsinore Theatre • The Earl Bronaugh House
Other Oregon NRHP structures
Other Oregon NRHP structures
• Old Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority House, Corvallis • James M. and Paul R. Kelty House, Lafayette • Leaburg Powerhouse, part of the Leaburg Hydroelectric Project Historic District, Leaburg • Hall–Chaney House, Milwaukie • Elsinore Theater, Salem • Mahonia Hall, (Oregon Governor's mansion), Salem
Other buildings
Other buildings
• Illustration — McArthur Court • Baker Middle School, Baker City • Cooley House, Lewis and Clark College, Portland • Franklin Building, Salem, contributing structure to the Salem Downtown Historic District • Martin House, Eugene • McArthur Court, University of Oregon, Eugene • Mount Crest Abbey Mausoleum, Salem • Ocean View Abbey Mausoleum, Astoria • Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house, Eugene • Donald R. Newberry House, Medford, Oregon • John Hughes house, Salem Oregon • Prentiss Hall, Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington • Hunter Conservatory, Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1879
Ellis F. Lawrence was born in 1879 at Malden.
1946
Ellis F. Lawrence died in 1946 at Portland.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Malden.
Birth place
Portland.
Death place
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.University of Oregon Libraries. The Architecture of the University of Oregon:Lawrence Hall.
- 2.Oregon Department of Transportation. Highway: Geo-Environmental Section Architecture.
- 3.United States Department of the Interior—National Park Service. T. A. Livesley House National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. 1990.
- 4.Guide to the Ellis Lawrence papers at the University of Oregon
- 5.Teague, Ed. Architecture of the University of Oregon: Gerlinger Hall. University of Oregon Libraries. 2004.
- 6.Most Endangered Places 2011 - Baker City Middle School. Historic Preservation League of Oregon. 2011.
- 7.State Historic Preservation Office. Ellis Lawrence Building Survey, University of Oregon. 1989.
- 8.Goodenberger, John. From slippery slopes to disrepair, Astorians face tough burial decisions. The Daily Astorian. November 28, 2005.
- 9.Shellenbarger, Michael. Harmony in Diversity: The Architecture and Teaching of Ellis H Lawrence. University of Oregon. 80. 1989. 0871142538.
References
Citations
References
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Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
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