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![[photograph] [photograph]](buildings/per_new.jpg)
View of Domingo Perozzi House
from street
Photograph by Terry Skibby |
Domingo Perozzi established his Ashland Creamery in 1896--the only creamery in
Jackson County--and soon was distributing dairy products over a large
area of Southern Oregon and Northern California. Perozzi was born
on February 18, 1871, in Switzerland. His father moved to California
when Domingo was small and he grew up there with his family. The Domingo
Perozzi House was constructed in 1902 with prominent Italianate features
that suggest the simpler approach to architectural detail common after
1900. The property surrounding the house was originally large, extending
down a bank to what is now Lithia Park. The
Perozzi House was constructed during one of Ashland's most economically
healthy periods. At the close of the 19th century, the railroad was
bringing many new residents, and enabling farms and businesses to
ship their products out of the valley. Perozzi was well aware of the
economic importance of the railroad when he began his creamery in
Ashland in the autumn of 1896. By 1905 the Ashland Creamery was distributing
milk, butter, and other items to a large area in Southern Oregon and
Northern California.
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![[photograph] [photograph]](buildings/per_old2.jpg)
Historic photograph of Domingo
Perozzi House,
c.1905
From the National Register collection |
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During the last years of his life, Domingo Perozzi contributed
to the dairy industry in Oregon, working to improve dairy stock
and possessing one of the finest herds of registered Brown Swiss
cattle in the state at his farm near Eugene, Oregon. The Perozzis'
influence in Ashland is linked both to the Park and to education.
Before his death, Mr. Perozzi and his wife deeded three acres of
his land to the city for park use. He also was instrumental in purchasing
the Italian marble fountain from the 1915 Pan-American Exposition
in San Francisco and donating it to the park where it is now known
as the Butler-Perozzi Fountain. The Perozzis' gift of 40 acres of
land helped determine the site for constructing the campus of the
college now known as Southern Oregon University. The original house,
owned by the Perozzi family for nearly half a century, has been
extensively enlarged.
The Domingo Perozzi House is located at 88 Granite St. It is
a private residence and is not open to the public.
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