Robertson-McLaughlin House (1598 Court St NE) Salem, Marion County, Oregon, USA

National Register Description

The following text is courtesy of the National Register of Historic Places, a program of the National Parks Service. Minor transcription errors or changes in formatting may have occurred; please see the Nomination Form for official text. Some information may have become outdated since the property was nominated for the Register.

Assessor's Map 26BD 7-3W Tax Lot 55430-000 Owners: Richard and Paula Vial, 1598 Court Street, NE, Salem, OR 97301

Primary Contributing

This one-and-one-half-story, wood frame, clapboarded Vernacular house features a delicately scaled temple front porch with an open pediment and exposed rafters. In the main roof gable above, rafters extend to the outer edge of the overhanging roof. A cornice and corner boards frame the front of the house and contribute to the overall effect of carpentered, vernacular clarity. An oriel window on the east side marks the location of the dining room, and an oriel enclosing a stairwell landing is seen on the west side. The back third of the house was added later and probably originally included a sleeping porch, now enclosed on the east side.

National Register History

The following text is courtesy of the National Register of Historic Places, a program of the National Parks Service. Minor transcription errors or changes in formatting may have occurred; please see the Nomination Form for official text. Some information may have become outdated since the property was nominated for the Register.

The exact building date and the name of the original owners are unknown, but the house stands on land once owned by C. C. Stratton and bought, at auction, by Asahel Bush in 1895. He sold the property in 1905. Frederick and Helene Lafky purchased the property in 1910. The earliest known occupants were Oliver and Bertha Peoples, who rented the house before buying it in 1918.

It was sold the same year to J. N. and Mariah Robertson, who lived there with their daughter, Grace. The Robertsons rented a small apartment upstairs to Russell McLaughlin. After the death of her parents, Grace Robertson married McLaughlin in the 1940's. Grace McLaughlin lived on in the house until her death in 1982, the house having remained in the Robertson/McLaughlin family for 64 years.