Say Goodnight, Gracie! The last days of the Caldwell Funeral Home

August 13, 2017

Located on SE 14th, snug between Burnside and Sandy, the Caldwell Funeral home stood elegantly from 1929 until 2017. Hippo had the privilege of salvaging some of the architectural gems from this incredible place. We were able to be one of the last few people to walk through the building. We would like to use this blog post to pay tribute to a gorgeous building with a long history in our city.

The building was stately:

 Photos above credit: http://www.portlandchronicle.com/funeral-home-86-years-old-faces-demolition-190-units/

The inside however, was just stunning:

 The images above are from the ground floor. Our first trip in, we were taken through the basement where all the mortuary work took place including an autopsy room and a cremation room. Unfortunately, when we came back with the camera, the entire floor was closed off for hazardous waste disposal so dear readers, we can only try to sketch the beautiful austerity of these rooms.

Most of the salvage we handled went directly to a large restaurant client but we did end up with this remarkable bronze fountain:

and we still have one of three steel gates:

We also nabbed a kitchen sink, iron driveway gates, and walnut inlayed light switch plates which have all sold before we had a chance to sit down and write about it.

Although it's a little sad, here is a final shot of the last day of such a grand old lady. It took an army to bring you down, you tough broad!

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