John Virginius Bennes

Bennes was born in Peru, Illinois on August 23, 1867, to Czech immigrants Jan Beneš and Petronila Hlaváčková, raised in Chicago. He was purportedly a cousin of Czechoslovak President Edvard Beneš though their surname is extremely common. and spent a year abroad at the School of Fine Arts at Prague University, graduating with a degree in architecture in 1890. After graduating from college, Bennes relocated from Chicago to Baker City, Oregon around 1900, where he invested in the region's gold mines. On July 1, 1900, he married Annice Smalley; born December 4, 1876). ==Career==

After relocating to Baker City, Bennes began his career in architecture, redesigning the Geiser Grand Hotel, as well as designing the Elks Building and several residences. He relocated to Portland in 1906 and partnered with architects Eric W. Hendricks and Willard F. Tobey. Bennes designed several Portland hotels, including the Broadway Hotel, the Hamilton Hotel, the Treves Hotel and the Cornelius Hotel. The Cornelius has been unoccupied since the 1980s, but has been the subject of various restoration plans, most recently in February 2015. Bennes was a contemporary of Frank Lloyd Wright and is said to have been "a product of the Chicago school of architecture." ==Later life and death==

Bennes relocated from Portland to Los Angeles, California, in 1943 after a bout of unnamed illness, where he died the same year. Some of his plans and drawings are held in the Cachot Therkelsen Collection with the University of Oregon Libraries. ==Projects==

in Portland, Oregon. in Portland, Oregon. in the Hollywood District of Portland, Oregon. at Eastern Oregon University. • John Virginius and Annice Bennes House (1911), Portland (NRHP) • Geiser Grand Hotel (1900 remodel), Baker City (NRHP contributing to the Baker Historic District) • Gray's West & Co. Pioneer Chapel (1910), Baker City, (NRHP contributing to the Baker Historic District as the Charles A. Johns House) • Hot Lake Hotel (1906), La Grande (NRHP) • Oregon State University buildings (1907–1941), part of the Oregon State University Historic District, Corvallis (NRHP) • Bexell Hall (1922) • Delta Zeta and Alpha Gamma sororities (1930 and 1928) (Bennes & Herzog) • Kidder Hall (1918) • McAlexander Fieldhouse (1911) • Weatherford Hall (1928) (Bennes & Herzog) • Women's Building (1926) • Poultry Building and Incubator House (1913 remodel and 1907 design), 800 SW Washington Ave, Corvallis (NRHP) • Treves Hotel (Joyce Hotel) (1912), 1035-1039 SW Stark St, Portland Independent (1914–1925) • Astoria City Hall (1923), 1095 Duane St, Astoria, originally Astoria Savings Bank, which closed in 1929; the building became Astoria's City Hall in 1939 • A. H. Maegly House (1914), 226 SW Kingston St, Portland (NRHP) • Abraham Tichner House (1918), 114 SW Kingston Ave, Portland (NRHP) • Hollywood Theatre (1923), 4122 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland (NRHP) • B'nai B'rith Summer Camp (1928), Grand Ronde • Parkway Manor (1931), 1609 SW Park Ave, Portland Independent (1933–1943) • Lieuallen Administration Building (1935), Western Oregon University, Monmouth ==References==