The Gordon House by Frank Lloyd Wright — Attraction in Silverton

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Review Highlights “As far as I understand this is the only Frank Lloyd Wright house in Oregon, and is the only publicly viewable one in the Northwest.” in 5 reviews

“Make sure to call at least a day in advance to see what tour times are available.” in 2 reviews

“I will have to go back, even though it is a far drive from Portland.” in 3 reviews

Location & Hours Map 869 W Main St

Silverton, OR 97381

Mon

Closed

Tue

Closed

Wed

12:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Thu

12:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Fri

12:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Closed now Sat

12:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Sun

12:00 PM - 3:00 PM

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Sukhman T. said"This is a non-profit cafe location. It is named after their son who unfortunately passed away. They give some of their income from this cafe to non-profit organizations. The building from the outside looks like a old town hall. They…"read more

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11/4/2022 Ok, this was a bummer , in so many ways. i would not recommend it. Biggest problem is that the people who are paid to work there are lazy. According to the website, it's open from 12-4, and guided tours are offered at noon, 1 and 2 , with price of admission. We were a group of 4 adults - one of whom was a retired architect. We had called ahead to make sure they would be open. When we got to the house, a girl named Mairie came to the door of the house, and said, "no, you can't go thru it, only open for school tours . " I said, "No one told us that when I called ahead She just smiled and said, "You can look thru the windows", and she shut the door as we stood there! We walked around it, which took 5 minutes. It was much smaller than we expected. Then 2 more people pulled up in the parking lot, so now we are a group of 6 people. We knocked on door again. Mairie came to the door again, .... And so did another woman who was working there. TWO women were present in the office of this place, and neither one could show us around ? That was 6 admissions that were turned away! I asked the 2nd woman , "When is the next school tour? We could come back tomorrow-- our friend is a retired architect and really wanted to see this . "

Her answer was "The next school tour is not until Saturday. " Okay, this was a Thursday afternoon, and the next school tour was not until Saturday? 48 hours from now? and they were completely not doing anything until Saturday?? New levels of Lazy. I asked her , "If the next school tour is not until Saturday, what's going on here for 2 days? " She had no answer. She simply shut the door in our face.

Secondly, the house wasn't very big, and was not particularly interesting. There was no landscaping. There were no plaques or any explanation of anything at the house. There were 2 cars in the car port ,belonging to the 2 women who were "working there", but too busy to do anything . There was no notice on the website, that the house would be closed.

Our group of 4 and the other group of 2 were all in agreement, that the house should be open for tours. On the other hand, we all agreed that we should let the public know, the house is not anything worth seeing , and the people working there should be fired for not doing their job. They need from Thurs thru Saturday to prepare.... for a school tour..... which is the only thing that their job is about ? Skip this one. A waste of time, and these...

What a great experience! This was a cool place to visit on our visit to Portland. Reasonable price (stay in Silverton if you want a discount), make a reservation, and arrive to the house 15 minutes before your tour so you don't miss anything! Knowledgeable staff and the guide will give a great backstory to the house as well as other Wright houses designed. The tour lasts about an hour so make sure you eat lunch beforehand!

Note that the house only has minimal original furnishings, such as kitchen appliances and the dining and coffee table. Otherwise, the non-profit that runs the facility uses the house as a place to run it's buisness. This was a little unexpected compared to other historic homes that we have visited and seemed a little awkward.

That said, everything else in the house is original (bathrooms, kitchen, wood, glass.) It's totally worth a visit if you're in Portland. Stop in Silverton and grab lunch before you go! Highly...

The Gordon House is the only Frank Lloyd Wright designed building in Oregon. A Mid Century modern gem of the Willamette valley. Originally commissioned by middle-class farmers Ed & Evelyn Gordon, the 3 bed, 3 bath Usonian home was completed in 1964 and was originally located in Wilsonville, OR (it was deconstructed and moved to Silverton in 2000). Usonian is a term Wright used to describe a philosophy of living in harmony with the land, every design element is intentionally made to make you feel one with nature. For many Usonian houses, FLW included a wood cutout window pattern unique to each design in perforated boards known as fretwork. The cedar plywood fretwork, floor to ceiling windows and retro kitchen were some of my favorite details of this charming home. The house is on the Historic register and operates as a museum where you pay $20pp for a 45-minute guideed tour. When I visited, our docent was knowledgeable and...