Ladd’s Addition is a neighborhood on Portland’s Eastside. The neighborhood is surrounded by roads with restaurants and cafes. The neighborhood is also the home of a rose garden test site and interesting architecture.
Ladd’s Addition Activities
Ladd’s Addition has many attractions. Its plan uses a diagonal design that makes for interesting walks. The neighborhood also has 4 rose gardens in the neighborhood. These gardens are part of Portland’s rose test gardens.
Hawthorne Boulevard is on the northern edge of the neighborhood and Division Street on the southern edge. Both streets have lots of restaurants, cafes and stores.
Interesting places to see on Hawthorne and Division are:
- Food truck lot at Hawthorne Blvd. and 12th Ave.
- Cinemagic at Hawthorne Blvd. and 20th Ave.
- New Seasons Market at Division St. and 20th Ave.
- Speilman Bagels and Coffee Roasters at Division and 21st Ave.
- Palio Desert and Espresso on the Ladd Circle round about at the center of Ladd’s Addition
History of Ladd’s Addition
Ladd’s Addition is named for William S. Ladd. He subdivided the land for Ladd’s Addition in 1891. Most houses in the neighborhood are from 1905 forward.
The houses are designed in a variety of designs. The design types include Craftsman, Bungalow, Tudor and others. This makes the neighborhood a great place to see many different architectural types.
Design of Ladd’s Addition
William S. Ladd gave Ladd’s Addition a diagonal plan. This is very different from the rest of Portland, which uses rectangle based plan. Ladd choose this plan because he L’Enfant’s use of diagonal roads in the plan for Washington DC.
L’Enfant was a Frenchman who came to the United States to fight in the revolutionary war. After the war he became a designer and was hired to layout Washington D.C. His plan was based on European cities and French Formal Gardens.
French Formal Gardens became popular in the 1600s and 1700s in France. They used geometric plans to show order and reason. The most famous french formal garden is the Gardens of Versailles.
Sketchy Traveler 