Last updated: August 8, 2020
Place
Domingo Perozzi
Photo by Visitor7, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17283939
Quick Facts
Location:
88 Granite St. Ashland, OR
Designation:
National Register of Historic Places
OPEN TO PUBLIC:
No
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.
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.
Discover more Oregon history by visiting the Ashland, OR travel itinerary.