Historic Walking Tour - H. S. Pernot House

Significance

"Stephen Dow Beckham, 1976 

The H.S. Pernot house is a one and one-half story, wood frame building in the Queen Anne Style which stands at the northwest corner of S.W. 5th and S.W. Jefferson in Corvallis, Oregon. This building has an exterior with many textures: shiplap, imbricated shingles, and vertical, milled boards set at an angle. An open porch with a balcony is located on the southeast corner on the east (front) elevation. The porch is decorated with spools. The roof is a hip-on-gable. The windows are mostly one-over-one double hung sash set in wood surrounds. 

The house was built in 1890 by Dr. H.S. Pernot who married Ocie Avery. Mrs. Pernot's father, Joseph Avery, was one of the founders of Corvallis This house stands on what was once part of the Avery Donation Land Claim. Dr. Pernot died in 1923, and in 1924 the house was purchased by Lou Traver. Traver erected a garage on the site of the former carriage house. He also remodeled the kitchen and converted the pantry into a bathroom. The Gathercoals purchased this house from the Traver estate in 1969. 

Dr. H.S. Pernot was a graduate of Cincinnati Medical College and from Bellevue Hospital in New York. He was a son of A.D. Pernot who was born in Montbeliard, France. 

Rankin, Virginia. "Gathercoals Plan to Give House" Gazette-Times, 9 March 19761, p. 3, photo. 

"Prof. Emile Francis Pernot." Portrait and Biographical Record of Willamette Valley, Oregon. Chicago: Chapman Publishing Co., 1903, pp. 1258-59. 

Addendum to Statewide Inventory and National Register Forms 

The 198l National Register form concerning the Dr. H. S. Pernot house clears up misconceptions stated in the 1976 Statewide Inventory form. There is a need to add, however, that the home was indeed built in 1896, as newspaper articles attest, and that the architect was S. G. McFadden. The home was completed by January of 1897 when Bowman and Underwood, paperers, put the finishing touches to the house. 

Sources Consulted

• Corvallis Gazette, July 9, 1896.
• Corvallis Times, January 23, 1897, p. 3.
• Corvallis Times: February 15, 1896, July 11, 1896, December 5, 1896.