Skip to Main Content
Wednesday May 23rd
Oregon City Planning Department
The Planning Division is responsible for all long range and current planning as well as the implementation of the Oregon City Comprehensive Plan and associated Municipal Ordinances.
707 Madison Street - Louisa C. Cole House

This Queen Anne house with Colonial details sits raised slightly off the street with its main gable facing the street. While drop siding covers most of the house, wood shingles fill the main gable and the gable end that extends to out from the north side of the building. Wood shingling also covers the three-sided bay that extends out on the main façade. An inset entrance porch leads to a front door on the south end of the main elevation. A singular decorative column holds this porch roof in place. Brackets detail a pent roof with a lunette window in of the main gable. A thick frieze details the point where wall meets roof. A water table with a vertical board skirt runs around the building. The windows with hoods are consistently 1/1 wood double-hung.

Statement of Significance: In 1901, J.W. and Louisa C. Cole purchased this property and proceeded to construct the residence. The couple owned a saloon in Oregon City. In 1911, J.M. Volkmar purchased the property and in turn sold to F.L. and Emma Rau in 1920. Four years later, the house was purchased by Henrietta Silva, who went by the name "Etta" and owned Silva's Variety Store. She was a widow and had a son, Dean Charles Silva, into whose name the property was transferred in 1961. He used the property as a rental until its sale in 1976.