Portland’s Pittock Mansion

Many residents and tourists drive up the hill to this historic Oregon mansion. Its front gardens offer a beautiful panoramic view of the city.

View of Portland from Pittock Mansion.

This 16, 000 square foot sandstone mansion was completed in 1914. It was built using all local materials.

Architect Edward T. Foulkes designed it. Foulkes esthetic was unusual for the time.

Pittock Mansion

The mansion is an interesting mix of square stonewalls and a circular interior. The mansion’s rooms are built off a central grand staircase like spokes from a wheel.

Foulkes included many of the most up to date features in the mansion. He added a dumbwaiter to lift food to the upstairs bedrooms.

Instead of bells to call servants Foulkes had an internal phone system installed, and he situated the house so the airflow would cool the interior without the use of ceiling fans.

A powerful central vacuum system was also installed throughout the home.

One unique feature on the entryway ceiling was placed there at the request of Mrs. Georgiana Pittock. The visitor can still see foil lining this ceiling—this foil reflects Mrs. Pittock’s frugal pioneer beginnings--she had saved the foil from her tea containers for years.

Georgiana Pittock

Henry and Georgiana Pittock were not the typical upper-class, wealthy couple of the time. They believed in public service.

Georgiana helped found the Ladies Relief Society in 1867. This group established a Children’s Home, which helped Portland’s needy children. She also helped establish the Martha Washington Home for single working women.

Her love of flowers was the birth of Portland’s annual Rose Festival. Her husband often led the parade.

Henry Pittock

Henry Pittock was responsible for bringing modern innovations to several industries in the Pacific Northwest. He was a newspaper editor, publisher, and wood/paper magnet. He made The Oregonian a daily newspaper.

He founded the Mazamas climbing club and was a member of the first expedition to climb Mt. Hood.

The Pittock Mansion was completed after the couple’s 58^th wedding anniversary. Georgiana lived in the home for only four years until her death in 1918. Henry died a year later in 1919.

It stayed in the family for the next three generations until 1958. It then fell into disrepair.

The mansion was bought by the city of Portland in 1964 and restored to its original glory by public funds and public labor.

In 1965, the mansion was opened to the public—tours are offered—it wasn’t long before people began to believe that Georgiana and Henry haunt their beloved home.

Unusual activity has been noted throughout the mansion.

A boyhood picture of Henry seems to move from place to place. It is kept on a bedroom mantle but witnesses’ state that after seeing it in this spot, it moved to a different location, within minutes.

Tour guides have seen a figure standing in various ground floor rooms as they open the mansion in the mornings.

Many visitors have reported smelling fresh roses—Georgiana’s favorite flower—when there are no fresh flowers in the mansion.

Others have heard boot footfalls walking in and out of the rear entrance. Yet another volunteer found a large window on the first stair landing shut and latched when it had been opened earlier that day to cool the mansion.

One woman was viewing a selection of pictures in the basement when she felt someone watching her. She turned to see the figure of an elderly woman wearing outdated clothes, standing next to her.

This woman then vanished as she watched.