Baker, Sophenia Ish, House - Medford, Oregon
Posted by: 
ddtfamily
N 42° 19.871 W 122° 53.578
10T E 508817 N 4686554
Pioneering Ish family house, built in 1895, now the office for the Ish Ranch Estates development
Waymark Code: WMFZP3
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 12/24/2012
Views: 5
The Sophenia Ish Baker House is a two-story wood-frame Victorian era house built in 1895 in the Stick/Eastlake style. The house was designed by one of Medford's earliest architects, W.J. Bennet. For most of its existence the house could have been described as "the lonely farmhouse at the intersection of Jackson and West McAndrews."
The house is located on land that was originally part of the Samuel E. Stearns Donation Land Claim, a 320-acre parcel. In 1861, Stearns sold a portion of the land to J.A. Brunner (see the J.A. Brunner Building in historic Jacksonville). Brunner then sold the property to Jacob Ish, a Virginia-born settler who moved to Southern Oregon with his four brothers in 1861. This partial, in addition to Ish's adjacent land, made his ranch one of the largest in Southern Oregon. When Ish died in 1881, his land passed to his second wife Sallie, who married Jacob, her brother-in-law, following the death of her sister, Jacob's first wife. Sallie in turn, gave 50 acres of the property to her niece, Sophrenia (Ish) Baker, daughter of Jacob's older brother William.
The house was likely built while the property was still owned by Sallie Ish. Sophrenia Ish Baker lived at the house for more than 50 years, until her death in 1945. At that time, the house and property passed to Sophrenia's youngest son Matthew Baker.
Around 2002, the Ish property became the Ish Ranch Estates development, containing a number of rental houses. The Sophenia Ish Baker House now serves as the management office for the development.