Shore Acres
No flower pics today but here are some pics of our local botanical gardens, Shore Acres. The head gardener's pet project is a garden of South African flowers which do well in our mild climate.
Louis B. Simpson, the lumber tycoon, developed Shore Acres as his summer retreat in 1906. He built a 3-story mansion with a heated indoor swimming pool and a large ballroom. The grounds contained 5 acres of formal gardens, including a Japanese-style garden built around a 100-foot lily pond. When fire destroyed the mansion in 1921, Simpson began to build an even larger replacement - two stories high and 224 feet long. However, financial losses in the 1930's caused both house and grounds to fall into disrepair. In 1942, Shore Acres was purchased by the State of Oregon for use as a public park.
Simpson's father first arrived in this area in 1856 and built the first sawmill here. In 1874 he sent his son, Louis, to South Africa with a shipload of timber to sell. Louis sold the timber for a huge sum of money (Johannesburg was a booming goldmining town and needed the lumber for new construction) and then decided to stay in South Africa. It took him six months to spend all the money and then he sent word to his father that he needed more but dad refused and Simpson had to return to Oregon. He eventually married and settled down and built Shore Acres for his bride.
Every winter between Thanksgiving and New year's Day, Shore Acres is lit up with hundreds of thousands of Christmas lights and people come from all over Oregon to see them. The display also attracts foreign tourists. Last year, when I took my sister there, a busload of Japanese tourists arrived and there were Norwegian, Argentinian and German tourists too.
The only original buildings left are the caretaker's cottage and the bandstand (which you can see in the pics below.) Free coffee, hot cider and cookies are served in the cottage for those who have come to see the lights. The house is almost as small as a doll's house. People must have been smaller in those days because you have to duck to go through doors and the rooms are tiny.
Louis B. Simpson, the lumber tycoon, developed Shore Acres as his summer retreat in 1906. He built a 3-story mansion with a heated indoor swimming pool and a large ballroom. The grounds contained 5 acres of formal gardens, including a Japanese-style garden built around a 100-foot lily pond. When fire destroyed the mansion in 1921, Simpson began to build an even larger replacement - two stories high and 224 feet long. However, financial losses in the 1930's caused both house and grounds to fall into disrepair. In 1942, Shore Acres was purchased by the State of Oregon for use as a public park.
Simpson's father first arrived in this area in 1856 and built the first sawmill here. In 1874 he sent his son, Louis, to South Africa with a shipload of timber to sell. Louis sold the timber for a huge sum of money (Johannesburg was a booming goldmining town and needed the lumber for new construction) and then decided to stay in South Africa. It took him six months to spend all the money and then he sent word to his father that he needed more but dad refused and Simpson had to return to Oregon. He eventually married and settled down and built Shore Acres for his bride.
Every winter between Thanksgiving and New year's Day, Shore Acres is lit up with hundreds of thousands of Christmas lights and people come from all over Oregon to see them. The display also attracts foreign tourists. Last year, when I took my sister there, a busload of Japanese tourists arrived and there were Norwegian, Argentinian and German tourists too.
The only original buildings left are the caretaker's cottage and the bandstand (which you can see in the pics below.) Free coffee, hot cider and cookies are served in the cottage for those who have come to see the lights. The house is almost as small as a doll's house. People must have been smaller in those days because you have to duck to go through doors and the rooms are tiny.
posted by Joubert at 11:12 AM
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