{{Short description|Historic building in Portland, Oregon, U.S.}} {{Use American English|date=September 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}} {{update|date=December 2025}} {{Infobox building | name = Bitar Mansion | former_names = Harry A. Green House, Harry A. and Ada Green House | image = File:Green House - Portland Oregon.jpg | image_alt = | image_size = | caption = The house in 2013 | pushpin_map_alt = | map_caption = | building_type = House | architectural_style = Byzantine-Romanesque, Mediterranean Revival | location = Portland, Oregon, U.S. | coordinates = {{coord|45.5218|-122.6293|region:US-OR|display=inline,title}} | pushpin_map = Portland | construction_start_date = 1927 | completion_date = | demolished_date = | height = | top_floor = | floor_count = | floor_area = c. {{convert|12000|sqft|sqm|abbr=on}} | number_of_rooms = 17 {{Infobox NRHP | embed = yes | name = Harry A. and Ada Green House | nrhp_type = | location = 3316 SE Ankeny Street<br>Portland, Oregon | area = | added = September 30, 2013<ref name="WeeklyList">{{cite web | last = National Park Service | authorlink = National Park Service | title = National Register of Historic Places Program: Weekly List | date = October 18, 2013 | url = https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/weekly-list-2013-national-register-of-historic-places.pdf | access-date = October 18, 2013 | archive-date = March 12, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160312121947/http://www.nps.gov/nr/listings/20131018.htm | url-status = live }}</ref> | refnum = 13000805 }} | architect = Herman Brookman | architecture_firm = | awards = | designations = | url = | references = }} '''Bitar Mansion''', also known as '''Harry A. Green House''' or the '''Harry A. and Ada Green House''', is a mansion in the Laurelhurst neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, United States. The {{convert|12000|sqft|sqm|adj=on}} and 17-room structure was designed by architect Herman Brookman and built in 1927 for $410,000, equivalent to ${{Formatprice|{{Inflation|US|410000|1927|r=-3}}}} today.{{Inflation-fn|US}} The Mediterranean-style house contains a grand ballroom and many elaborate details. The mansion has views of the Tualatin Mountains and adjacent Laurelhurst Park.
Robert and Mable Bitar purchased the house in 1951. Robert later became an honorary consul to Lebanon and lived in the mansion until his death in 2000. The house went on the real estate market for the first time in 55 years in 2006 and was purchased in December 2006 for $1.825{{nbsp}}million. As of 2011, the house remains the most expensive home sold in southeast Portland. The house was put on the market again and is up for auction in August 2011.
==Features== The Mediterranean-style mansion is on a property "the equivalent of seven standard city lots" adjacent to Laurelhurst Park and offers views of the Tualatin Mountains.<ref name=Jaquiss>{{cite news |url=http://wweek.com/portland/article-17757-bad_neighbor.html |title=Bad Neighbor |date=July 20, 2011 |accessdate=July 22, 2011 |work=Willamette Week |first=Nigel |last=Jaquiss |authorlink=Nigel Jaquiss |publisher=City of Roses Newspapers |location=Portland, Oregon |archive-date=July 23, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723103433/http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-17757-bad_neighbor.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Otto>{{cite news |url=http://www.oregonlive.com/hg/index.ssf/2010/07/the_heritage_home_tour_opens_t_1.html |title=The Heritage Home Tour opens the door to a range of Portland architecture |first=Bridget A. |last=Otto |work=The Oregonian |publisher=Advance Publications |location=Portland, Oregon |date=July 29, 2010 |accessdate=July 24, 2011 |archive-date=October 11, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101011183747/http://www.oregonlive.com/hg/index.ssf/2010/07/the_heritage_home_tour_opens_t_1.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The house contains a round tower, multiple chimneys, a red-tiled roof, bronzed iron gates, and Art Deco accents with a peacock motif.<ref name=King>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=49NPAAAAMAAJ|title=An Architectural Guide to Portland|year=2001|publisher=Gibbs Smith|first=Bart|last=King|pages=244–245|isbn=9780879059910|accessdate=August 1, 2011|archive-date=October 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018130712/https://books.google.com/books?id=49NPAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Classic>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cee5WVmIzy8C&pg=PA343 |title=Classic Houses of Portland, Oregon: 1850–1950 |first1=William John |last1=Hawkins |first2=William F. |last2=Willingham |pages=328, 343–346 |publisher=Timber Press |year=1999 |isbn=9780881924336 |accessdate=July 28, 2011 |archive-date=May 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220515234619/https://books.google.com/books?id=Cee5WVmIzy8C&pg=PA343 |url-status=live }}</ref> A bell-cast entrance tower, which contains a curved stairway and a vestibule, anchors "sweeping and curved low-pitched roofs".<ref name=Classic/> Next to the tower is the living room's fireplace chimney. To the right of the entrance hall is the formal living room that opens to the parterre overlooking Laurelhurst Park.<ref name=Classic/> To the entrance hall's left is the dining room, followed by a curved wing housing the kitchen, service areas and garages.<ref name=Classic/> The interior features a marble-floored ballroom, heated pool, servants wing, and elaborate woodwork, tile, metalwork and sculpture.<ref name=Jaquiss/> Surrounding the French doors leading outside from the entrance hall are columns supporting paired peacocks cast in stone.<ref name=Classic/>
The house plan is influenced by English Arts and Crafts tradition.<ref name=Classic/> Italian influences are evidenced by the garden parterre in the backyard as well as the "medieval style" columns and arches at the breakfast room windows. Decorative embellishments along the main garden door suggest Art Deco and Spanish Plasteresque styles.<ref name=Classic/> Stuccoed walls, tiled roofs and metal-framed windows showcase Mediterranean style. The windows are three-paned vertically within each casement; feature windows have columns supporting Moorish-arched openings. The living and dining rooms contain large bay windows.<ref name=Classic/> Outside, an arcade leads to the swimming pool, where privacy from the street is provided by a pyramid-roofed bath house and garden walls. According to William J. Hawkins, III and William F. Willingham, these elements "add to the unity of the entire architectural composition, giving a handsome facade to the public street, yet providing a great variety of private spaces behind the house and walled gardens to the rear."<ref name=Classic/> The architect, Herman Brookman, also designed the Congregation Beth Israel and Fir Acres, the M. Lloyd Frank Estate that became Lewis & Clark College, both in Portland.<ref name=Jaquiss/><ref name=Walks>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cSw2FC270nwC&pg=PA108|title=Portland City Walks: Twenty Explorations in and Around Town|page=108|first=Laura O.|last=Foster|year=2008|publisher=Timber Press|isbn=9780881928853|accessdate=July 24, 2011|archive-date=May 15, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220515234619/https://books.google.com/books?id=cSw2FC270nwC&pg=PA108|url-status=live}}</ref> Brookman mixed architectural styles, as evidenced by the many influences seen in Bitar Mansion.<ref name=Classic/>
==History== [[File:Bitar Mansion, Portland, Oregon, April 2012.JPG|thumb|The mansion following foreclosure, April 2012]]
Robert and Mable Bitar purchased the house in 1951.<ref name=Walks/> Robert recalled that as a young boy he vowed to one day own the house. A grocery store owner and real estate investor, Robert later became an honorary consul to Lebanon and lived in the mansion until his death in 2000. While owned by the Bitar family, the home hosted First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, pianist Van Cliburn and many state governors and U.S. senators.<ref name=Jaquiss/>
The house was placed on the real estate market in 2006, the first time in 55 years,<ref name=Walks/> and sold for $1.825 million after being valued at $3.99 million by an assessor for Multnomah County.<ref name=Best>{{cite news|url=http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-19463-best_of_portland_2012_best_sights.html|title=Best of Portland 2012: Best Sights|work=Willamette Week|location=Portland, Oregon|date=July 25, 2012|accessdate=July 28, 2012|page=18|volume=38|issue=38|first=Nigel|last=Jacquiss|publisher=City of Roses Newspapers|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304054249/http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-19463-best_of_portland_2012_best_sights.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The new owners began to restore the mansion to its original condition with building renovations and searching for furnishings in the original Doernbecher style. Since 2010, the house has fallen into disrepair and been foreclosed. On August 22, 2011, the house was auctioned off at the Multnomah County Courthouse.<ref name=Jaquiss/> The property was purchased by ReconTrust Company, an affiliate of Bank of America, for $1.605 million.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-18013-murmurs_condoleezzas_speaking_fee_and_illegal_wastewater_dumping.html|title=Murmurs: Condoleezza's Speaking Fee and Illegal Wastewater Dumping|date=September 28, 2011|accessdate=September 29, 2011|work=Willamette Week|publisher=City of Roses Newspapers|location=Portland, Oregon|archive-date=October 1, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001014846/http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-18013-murmurs_condoleezzas_speaking_fee_and_illegal_wastewater_dumping.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In December 2011 the home sold for $870,000.<ref name=Best/> ''Willamette Week'' included the house on their "Best of Portland 2012" list as the "Best Barometer of the Real Estate Market", signifying the bottom of the economic market.<ref name=Best/>
As of 2011, the house remains the most expensive sold in Southeast Portland.<ref name=Jaquiss/>
==See also== * Architecture of Portland, Oregon * National Register of Historic Places listings in Southeast Portland, Oregon * Pittock Mansion, a 1909 Portland mansion {{Clear}}
==References== {{reflist|2}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Bitar Mansion}} * [http://nwda.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv85397 Harry A. Green Residence Photographic Collection circa 1928-1951], Northwest Digital Archives * [https://web.archive.org/web/20120401180457/http://boundless.uoregon.edu/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=exact&CISOFIELD1=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOROOT=%2Farchpnw&CISOBOX1=Green%2C+Harry+A.%2C+House+%28Portland%2C+Oregon%29 Historic images of the Harry A. Green House] from the University of Oregon digital collections * [https://www.flickr.com/photos/bartking/sets/72157627001337868/ Images of the Harry A. Green House] from author Bart King via Flickr
{{Laurelhurst, Portland, Oregon}} {{Portal bar|Architecture|National Register of Historic Places|Oregon}}
Category:1927 establishments in Oregon Category:Houses completed in 1927 Category:Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Portland, Oregon Category:Buildings and structures in Laurelhurst, Portland, Oregon Category:Mediterranean Revival architecture in Oregon Category:Buildings and structures in Southeast Portland, Oregon