This Tudor style residence was built for J. Frank Hughes in 1933 on this several acre view lot in South Salem. After his death in 1944, the house was owned and occupied by the the son, John Hughes and his family. Upon the death of John in 1956, the house was owned by Robert and Fay Nelson and a nursery was located there in the grounds that had formerly been an extensive garden.The builder's 1944 obituary recalls much about him and his prominent Salem family:
"Long interested in wildlife projects, Mr. Hughes was, in 1912, appointed to the first game commission by Governor Oswald West. He was for many years a member of the First Methodist Church choir. He attended Salem schools and Willamette University.
“Mr. Hughes father [John] was an early merchant of the city and one of the first painters of the vicinity, the son being associated with him in a store which stood on the present site of the Sears and Roebuck Store. His father-in-law, Virgil K. Pringle, was a pioneer shoemaker, later settling on a donation claim in the vicinity of the present Pringle School. Considerable downtown property was acquired by the elder Hughes during his business career, including holdings on South High Street and in the area where the old Chinatown was once located. Extensive tracks of farmland were also held on the South River Road, one track being the site of the present Salem Golf Club."
The interior of the house, except for a family room addition on the rear, still retains the original hardware and wood trim at doors and french windows. It is not hard to image the gracious entertaining that two generations of the Hughes family hosted here.
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