Italianate House

The Alonzo F. Brown Italianate House built in 1888 in Oakland, Oregon.

This is a historic house built in 1888 by Oakland’s founder, Alonzo F. Brown, a farmer from the East Coast who sold the land that would become the town about 15 miles north of Roseburg along Interstate 5. The Victorian house is a four-bedroom, three-bathroom Italianate house that has seen additions, including one in a gazebo style.

Victorian Porch - Front Porch of Italianate house featuring huge white columns.

Front porch view through front window.

Rococo decoration in early Italianate architecture was in the form of ornamental, cast-plaster ceiling medallions, rosettes, and more. As a rule, Italianate windows were large, using double hung sash with two large panes of glass set one over one. Moreover, bay windows and oriels were common. Porches were a nearly universal feature of the Italianate house.

Bright Red Door

Back view of Victorian House

In 1986, photographer Kenneth Naversen visited the house while working on a book, West Coast Victorians. Naversen said he found during research that Brown had sold 6,000 acres in the Oakland vicinity to the Oregon and California Railroad, money used to construct this grand home. The house is one of 95 historic residences in Oakland, which itself consists mainly of a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

White gazebo decorates large landscaped garden.

Italianate style house features large rooms and bedrooms.

Interior staircase to front door.