The Sellwood Kitchen Building

by Allen Kabanuk

The Sellwood Kitchen Building is a true gem tucked within the trees of Sellwood Park. Built in 1923, its style is from the height of Tudor revival in this area. The steeply pitched roof, mock half-timbering (stucco gable ends with exposed timber edges), and lack of roof eves typify the style. Interestingly enough, this is the first time that this former concession stand has ever had a new roof applied to it. We have had the pleasure of working with Portland Parks and Recreation to re-roof this building so that is set to last for many more years.

There were several custom details that really took some thought to get right. One was the gutters and collection boxes. The old boxes had deteriorated to the point of needing replacement. Plus, we needed to find a way to keep all of the needles and branches from clogging the collection boxes. We believe that we found a good solution with a box that closely resembles the original, while adding a couple layers of wire mesh to filter out the branches. Another detail that required extra attention involved replacing the rotten timber columns to match the originals. While not complex, it was important to keep the character of the columns and their decorative brackets based on the original architects design.