(Photo: Gary Halvorson, Oregon State Archives)
Name: Our Lady of Angels Convent Chapel (original); Lewis and Clark College South Chapel (current)
Address: S Palatine Hill Road
City: Portland
Year of Construction: 1956
Architect: John W. Maloney
Original Use: Religious (Chapel)
Status: In Use
National Register of Historic Places: Not Listed
Description: The South Chapel on the campus of Lewis and Clark College stands on the original estate of Harriet and Hamilton Corbett, who purchased the property in 1927 before hiring Pietro Belluschi to design a 40-room residence for their family. The Corbetts’ estate neighbored the manor house and grounds belonging to Lloyd Frank, and both the Corbett and Frank families sold their respective properties in the early 1940s. The Frank estate became the new campus of Lewis and Clark College, while the Corbett estate was acquired by the Sisters of St. Francis for the Our Lady of Angels Convent and a retreat center (ultimately known as the Franciscan Renewal Center). Over time, several new buildings were constructed on the former Corbett estate, including the imposing chapel that flanks the east side of a central courtyard. The chapel’s artful composition of window bands, arranged within solid areas of brick and stone, is a departure from the adjoining Georgian-style residence by Belluschi—although the chapel displays a similar level of refinement. Stained glass with an abstract design runs along the breezeways that connect the buildings flanking the courtyard.
Lewis and Clark acquired the convent and retreat center from the Sisters of St. Francis in 2000, adding more than 18 acres to the college’s campus in southwest Portland. It is now occupied by the Lewis and Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling.
Further Information
• John W. Maloney, Washington Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation [new window]
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