Pittock Mansion Tour - Part Two

Cold storage room in the Pittock Mansion.

This type of refrigerator room, with a thick door and three layers of insulating window glass, was more common in hotels than in private homes.  A water-pipe system kept the room cool to preserve fruits ad vegetables.  A separate refrigerator, with machinery in the basement below, provided even colder temperatures for milk, butter, and meat.  The Pittocks installed the current 1928 Westinghouse refrigerator when they refurbished the kitchen in the late 1920s or early 1930s.

Pantry for the mansion.

The Pittocks purchased most of their food and relied on deliveries.  Consumers viewed canned goods as modern, healthy, and convenient.  By 1914, Portland had many fruit and vegetable canneries, and the Columbia River was the world's salmon canning capital.  The Swift Meat Packing Company developed Portland's Kenton neighborhood as a company town, and it was the Northwest's beef processing center.

The Pittock's also had a vegetable patch.  A greenhouse helped provide fresh vegetables but at a high cost.  Henry Pittock once commented, "This tomato costs $50."  They canned fruits and jam, especially during WWII when food was rationed.

A simulation of their original 8,000-piece rubber floor!

I mean, who wouldn't want to work in the kitchen with this view!

Such a view!

Part of the original flooring in their home.  They tried to simulate it as best as they could.  A rubber floor!

While many Portland area servants were of European descent, one of the Pittocks' cooks was an Asian man named Himmi.  In the 1880s, Henry Pittock's Oregonian newspaper supported Portland's Chinese residents in the face of widespread prejudice.  Henry recalled, "...during the Chinese riots here (in 1886)...we opposed the driving out of the Chinese, and I had a long list of names of persons who signed statements supporting us in our contentions...threats of burning us out were made."

I love this farmhouse table.

In 1914, urban women increasingly found jobs in offices, shops, and factories.  It was challenging to find good staff, so a modern kitchen helped attract a cook.  The 8,000-piece rubber floor was easy on the feet.  The remnant (at right) of the original kitchen floor was discovered beneath two layers of linoleum when cabinets dating to the 1930s were removed.  The latest gas and electric appliances made cooking easier.  A streetcar, stopping several steep blocks from the mansion, made travel convenient.  Streetcars, trolleys, and interurban rail lines had a huge impact on increasing the size of Portland, allowing increasing the size of Portland, allowing workers to commute greater distances.

The Pittocks' cook and maid used this space to plate food and to clean and store china, glassware, and silver.  The Pittocks never employed a butler.  The sink is Monel Metal or "German silver", both alloys of nickel and copper.  The alloys were softer than steel or porcelain, which was helpful if dishes were dropped.  The drains lift up and down to plug the sinks.  The warming oven kept food ready until it was time to serve a course.

Video of the kitchen.

Video of the pantry.

Video of the cold storage room.