Laurelwood Academy
Built in 1904, this property just west of Portland operated as a private religious boarding high school for almost a century before the school moved away. The property has since been operated as Ananda Laurelwood, a spiritual retreat center, and is now the focus of our project.
The campus includes 130 dorm rooms, 20 bedrooms in houses, apartments, and dorm suites, 54 acres of land, and over 130,000 square feet of workshops, labs, classrooms, offices, gym, auditorium, and many other functional spaces and amenities. Another 150 acres of mixed agricultural and unimproved land was previously optionally attached, but is not likely to be available again.
Harmony Hall ("Girls Dorm", Kitchen, Dining)
Science Building (Labs, Kitchens, Auditorium)
Administration Building (Office, Theater)
Harmony Hall
Originally the Laurelwood Academy Girls Dorm, this building was in active use by Ananda Laurelwood as residence and function space. The ground floor includes the kitchen and dining area, laundry facility, and some office and functional space. The upper floors (1-3)Â contain approximately 60 dorm rooms, a few apartments, common restrooms on every floor, and additional kitchens on the top floor. One of the two Deans' Houses is attached by enclosed elevated walkway. Most of this building was renovated 10-20 years ago.
This building will be immediately usable when we launch, and would be the home to most of the residents in the first 1-3 years.
Kitchen Cook Area
Prep surfaces, huge gas stove, ventilation
Kitchen Prep Area
Prep surfaces, one of many fridges
Buffet
Foreground serving area
Background dining area
Third Floor Kitchen
Some rooms/pods will have access to these smaller shared kitchens
Lobby
First floor entrance
Stairs behind, rooms left and right
Laundry
Washers and dryers on the ground floor
Single Room
Many of the dorm rooms are made up for single occupancy
Double Room
Double occupancy will be optional
Bathroom
Each common bathroom has toilet stalls, sink(s), and shower stalls
Administration Building
Both Laurelwood Academy and Ananda Laurelwood used this building for their main offices, its classrooms, social, and functional space, and the theater.
This building will be almost entirely usable when we launch, with minor plumbing work needed to bring it up to full speed.
Front
The main entrance to the Campus
Social Space
Baby grand piano just out of frame
Conversation Pits
CoDwell organizer Xander pictured relaxing mid-tour
Music Classroom
Tiered floor for band seating
Theater
200 seats here, 100 on the balcony above, 100 more in storage.
Dance Classroom
Another large space with great natural light
Gym
The gym was used for sports, including basketball, volleyball, and recreation including roller skating. More recently for large indoor gatherings. Additional amenities include the locker rooms, a large balcony, and halls of small functional rooms.
The gym and music rooms will be immediately usable when we launch. The locker rooms will require significant rehab.
Gymnasium
Beautiful hardwood floor
Two basketball courts
Over 100x100ft clear span
Stage and Curtains
60x30ft stage with additional back and side stage areas
Balcony
90x36ft with hardwood floor
Industrial Building
A wonderful find for our makers and builders, this building previously housed auto, wood, and welding shops. Although the portable and semi-portable equipment is gone, the infrastructure remains. The wood shop has dust collection. The welding shop has power distribution, plumbed oxygen and acetylene, and fume extraction. The auto shop has in-floor lifts. Every shop has one or more roll-up doors. The classrooms shown on the floor plan will be converted to additional shops, including machining, high tech fabrication, and others.
The main shops will be accessible on day one and usable as we bring in equipment, which will progress over the span of weeks to years. Refitting the classrooms as additional shops will take months.
Auto Shop
Lifts in the floor have their arms temporarily removed
5 roll-up doors and vehicle bays
Wood Shop
Central dust collection visible overhead, with air return on the far wall
Roll-up door allows material delivery and project extraction
Welding Bay
8 bays as pictured, with ventilation and plumbed oxygen+acetylene
8 more with power distribution for electric welding processes
And that's not even half the shop!
Science Building
This building houses chem and bio labs, micro kitchens for home ec classes, a large auditorium, and various classroom spaces, The facilities here have a lot of functional potential, although some rehab will be required.
This building has significant water damage on the lower library floor which may require significant remediation or, unfortunately, partial demolition.
Class Auditorum
Vintage seating on a sloped floor
Years of dust since it was last used
Chem/Bio Labs
Work surfaces with water, drain, and propane plumbing
Mini Kitchens
Six small "home" kitchens from the Home Ec area
Boys' Dorm
Three floors. Approximately 70 dorm rooms, a few apartments, some additional office and recreation space.
This building requires, and is already in the middle of, significant rehab, including replacement of plumbing, drywall, and flooring, installation of insulation and new appliances, likely entirely replacing the bathrooms, and installing some kitchen facilities.
Additional indoor spaces not pictured above:
Kiln craft area under the Gymnasium, with small kiln, many existing student-made molds, and a large supply of crushed glass
Steam works containing defunct central boiler and misc maintenance facilities
Small outbuildings, some functional, some recreational or spiritual
Outdoor
The ~50 acre campus is the top right outlined area of this map. Sadly the remaining ~150 acres was purchased by a real estate developer and most is unlikely to become available, although this could lead to opportunities to buy new homes adjacent to our project some years from now. There is a small chance to get some land back at a reasonable price on the eastern edge, across the stream from the bulk of their land.
All of the buildings described above are in the campus area. Also visible here are the jogging track and a few gravel roads. Smaller details not obvious at this scale are the creek, gardens, orchard, wastewater treatment, and fresh water holding tanks.
Apples
The operating orchard has a few hundred trees, mostly apple but also some pear and plum
Vineyard
The property is part of the Chehalem Mountains AVA and is surrounded by vineyards and wineries. On site there are just a few hundred feet of grape vine plantings, but room for many more!
Gardens
About one acre is currently or recently gardened with a mix of vegetables and some existing fencing and structures
Fire Suppression Tank
The sprinklers and fire hoses on the property are fed from this huge (300k gal?) pool located uphill from the campus and refilled with natural spring water
Wastewater Treatment
A close up view of a few of the many stages of the on-site wastewater treatment facilities
Shed
An outdoor storage building for tractors and such