Lost Portland, Oregon Outtake: The Bickel Family House

Bickel Family House c.1971. Photo by George McMath. Courtesy of the Architectural Heritage Center.

Located at Southwest Vista Avenue and Park Place, the 1890 Bickel Family House is one of three lost buildings from that intersection.

Frederick Bickel made his fortune in partnership with Frank Dekum. Their Portland confectionery business began around 1853, when the pair arrived in the young city. They had first worked together as apprentices in a similar business in St. Louis, Missouri before heading west. Bickel & Dekum provided baked goods, many made with locally sourced fruit. Bickel & Dekum remained in partnership until the end of 1878, when Frank Dekum retired.

By the 1880s, Bickel was dabbling in real estate investment and development. He had at least two different buildings built in downtown during this time, including the 1888 Bickel Block, still standing at the corner of Northwest Naito Parkway and Couch. That building is now part of the University of Oregon’s White Stag Block campus.

Built for a cost of $14,000, the Bickel house was unique for the variety of architectural elements it displayed, perhaps most of all its onion-domed dormers. Members of the Bickel family lived in the house until 1969. The last resident was Carolyn Bickel, Frederick Bickel’s daughter. She lived in the house until she died at the age of 104. The following year, the house was sold to developers who demolished it in May 1971, much to the dismay of local preservationists.