At the end of a long driveway through a natural woodland, is a 1911 vernacular version of Craftsman residential architecture, the retirement home of Edward St. Pierre. A native of Illinois and former missionary to Persia, he served as a clergyman in Portland before becoming the first permanent chaplain at at Salem's Oregon State Penitentiary. At the prison, he instituted progressive reforms including rehabilitation and parole. The original 80 acre property was known as Elkirk Ranch, a contraction of his wife's name, Mary Ella Kirkpatrick.
Mr. St. Pierre died in 1917, but his widow continued to occupy the house until 1935. In 1938, the ranch was purchased by Fred and Marie Kubin, prosperous fruit farmers in the area. That family occupied the property until 1978. The present owners allowed the property to be successfully nominated for the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
Below is a handsome, undated photograph of the house that appears on the internet under the source www.waymarking.com.
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