when Portland broke ground on a jewel of the national City Beautiful Movement: Laurelhurst Park.  With 30 acres of undulating hills and a romantic spring-fed pond, Laurelhurst Park was named the most beautiful park on the West Coast by the Pacific Coast Parks Association in 1919.  How could Portland, one of the smaller cities on the West Coast, achieve such an honor?  Portland had the perfect climate for trees, flowering bushes, and roses.  This was a reason that horticulturalist Emanuel Mische settled in Portland to become Portland’s first Park Superintendent.  Mische, who had previously served as the horticultural expert in the Olmstead Brothers’ landscape architectural firm, was a proponent of natural landscaping. This design philosophy resulted in renowned parks such as New York City’s Central Park, the National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C., and our own Laurelhurst Park. Learn more about the park >

The Laurelhurst Club was established in 1912, with meetings regularly at neighbors homes. The four lots upon which the building sits were deeded to the Club in 1913. Thirty-two neighbors each donated $100 to build the Clubhouse, facing the Park from Ankeny Street, in 1914. From its outset, the non-profit Laurelhurst Club was both a neighborhood and a city-wide treasure. Made for hosting galas and dances, the Club also boasted tennis courts, a 30-member symphonic orchestra, and served as a voting location. During World War I, the Women of Laurelhurst gathered regularly there to roll and package bandages for the “boys” overseas.

The walls of The Laurelhurst Club have echoed with music and laughter for over 100 years. From 1995 until 2020, the venue was operated by The Laurelhurst Dance Club, popular for its monthly ballroom dances and seasonal community sing-alongs.

In January 2021, the Club was donated to the Laurelhurst Neighborhood Association (LNA). Today, The Laurelhurst Club is ready to host events of all types. Its understated elegance is matched by its welcoming spirit, nurtured through long years of service to the community.  When you enter the doors of the Club, you immediately feel the warmth. The Laurelhurst Club provides a home for a renewed sense of community to blossom through hosting a myriad of special events, celebrations, classes, workshops, business retreats, rites of passage, and more.