Architectural historian Eric Wheeler was speaking April 19 about one of his favorite subjects: Portland’s past, and the significant architects and developers who played an early role in the city.
Wheeler was inside the 1916 English Arts & Crafts mansion built for developer Paul Cole Murphy on a former dairy farm Murphy transformed into the exclusive residential Laurelhurst neighborhood.
Murphy hired prolific architect Ellis F. Lawrence to design Murphy’s three-story residence, which earned a listing in the National Register of Historic Places…