Del Mar Legacy
Research & citations

Sources

Numbered citations used throughout the site, followed by image credits and a list of open questions.

Citations

  1. “Delford Michael Smith” (obituary). The Oregonian / Legacy.com, published Nov. 11–13, 2014. obits.oregonlive.comFamily obituary: birth name, adoption, education, service, Evergreen history, awards, survivors.
  2. “Delford Smith, Founder of Aviation Company, Dies at 84.” The New York Times, Nov. 13, 2014. www.nytimes.com
  3. Chawkins, Steve. “Delford Smith dies at 84; aviation entrepreneur bought ‘Spruce Goose’.” Los Angeles Times, Nov. 9, 2014. www.latimes.com
  4. “Delford M. Smith.” Wikipedia (accessed Sept. 25, 2026). en.wikipedia.orgUsed only for points corroborated elsewhere, or flagged as such.
  5. “Del Smith, founder of Evergreen International Aviation, dies.” The Oregonian/OregonLive, Nov. 8, 2014. www.oregonlive.com
  6. “Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum.” The Oregon Encyclopedia, Oregon Historical Society. www.oregonencyclopedia.orgRead via search excerpt; the page itself was behind a bot check at research time.
  7. “CPT Michael King Smith (1966–1995).” Find a Grave memorial 206126545, including a transcription of his obituary from The Oregonian, Mar. 23, 1995. www.findagrave.com
  8. Fachet, Robert (comp.). “Auto Racing.” The Washington Post, Mar. 21, 1995. www.washingtonpost.comContemporary report of the March 18, 1995 crash near The Plains, Va.
  9. “Captain Michael King Smith – Major Rhory Roger Draeger Memorial, McMinnville, Oregon.” Waymarking.com (transcribed plaque text). waymarking.com
  10. “The Dusty Start: The 142nd Wing’s Early SW Asia Experience.” 142nd Wing, Oregon Air National Guard. www.142wg.ang.af.mil
  11. “North American Aerospace Museum” (formerly Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum). Wikipedia (accessed Sept. 25, 2026). en.wikipedia.orgCites Yamhill Valley News-Register and OregonLive reporting for dates.
  12. Godlewski, Meg. “‘Spruce Goose’ Home Rebrands as North American Aerospace Museum.” Flying, Aug. 13, 2026. www.flyingmag.com
  13. Laney, Scot. “A Word from Our CEO,” August 2026. North American Aerospace Museum. noramaerospace.org
  14. Eastman, Janet. “Getaway splurge: Evergreen Aviation founder Del Smith’s $18 million Dundee estate can be rented by the night.” The Oregonian/OregonLive, Sept. 25, 2021. www.oregonlive.com
  15. “Evergreen Aviation founder Del Smith’s $18-million Dundee estate: Going, going, gone.” The Oregonian/OregonLive, Aug. 2019. www.oregonlive.comRead via search excerpt.
  16. Sold listing (sold Dec. 16, 2019, $3,000,000). MORE Realty. www.morerealty.comRead via search excerpt. Link omitted here because its web address includes the villa's street address.
  17. Auction listing for the estate and its 1906 Victorian, Dundee, Ore. Premiere Estates International, 2019. premiereestates.comReal-estate marketing text; used for descriptive details only. Link omitted here because its web address includes the villa's street address.
  18. “Oregon’s $18M Del Mar Estate Sells for $3M, Includes c.1906 Victorian Guest House.” Pricey Pads, 2020. www.priceypads.comRead via search excerpt.
  19. Del Mar Villa, official website (accessed Sept. 25, 2026). www.delmarluxuryvilla.comHistorical citation: it describes the villa’s former rental operation. The villa is now closed to rentals and events.
  20. “Venue Spotlight: Del Mar Villa.” Songbird Floristry, Dec. 30, 2024. www.songbirdfloristry.com
  21. “Evergreen Museum.” Scott Edwards Architecture (project page). www.seallp.comRead via search excerpt.
  22. “Evergreen Space Aviation and Museums.” Interface Engineering (project page). www.interfaceengineering.comRead via search excerpt.
  23. “Evergreen Theater and Space Museum.” WDY Inc. (project page). wdyi.comRead via search excerpt.
  24. “Evergreen Space Museum.” Western Partitions Inc. (project page). wpibuilds.comRead via search excerpt.
  25. “Evergreen Aviation Museum.” Hoffman Construction (project page). www.hoffmancorp.comRead via search excerpt. The page lists the year as “2013,” which does not match the 2001 opening.
  26. “Delford M. Smith.” Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, member profile (Class of 2002). horatioalger.orgSource for his adoptive father’s death in an accident about three months after the adoption. No date is given.
  27. “Big Wooden Plane Gets Big Metal Roof: ‘Spruce Goose’ Sheltered in Oregon.” Metal Roofing Magazine, Sept. 2001; reprinted in the June/July 2022 edition (posted by Karen Knapstein). readmetalroofing.comSource for the June 6, 2001 opening, the official name “Captain Michael King Smith Evergreen Aviation Educational Institute,” and project architect Charlie Matschek of Ankrom Moisan Associated Architects. It does not mention Waterleaf.
  28. “Evergreen Aviation Museum, McMinnville, Oregon.” Mitch Darby Architect (portfolio page, accessed Sept. 27, 2026). mitchdarbyarchitect.comA former Ankrom Moisan architect’s account of the 2001 building, which he calls the “Captain Michael King Smith Educational Institute (a.k.a. Evergreen Aviation Museum).” He notes the design’s starts and stops while funds were raised, and that the later buildings were overseen by Scott | Edwards Architecture. It does not mention Waterleaf.
  29. “History.” The International Forest of Friendship, Atchison, Kansas (accessed Sept. 28, 2026). ifof.orgSource for the Forest’s founding in 1976 by the City of Atchison and The Ninety-Nines, Memory Lane as its original path, the granite honoree plaques, and co-chairmen Joe Carrigan and Fay Gillis Wells. Read via search excerpt. Michael’s name has not yet been checked against the Forest’s published honoree list.
  30. “Oregon’s Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum Features Spruce Goose and Titan II Missile.” Airport Journals, Aug. 1, 2008. airportjournals.comSource for the IMAX 3-D theater (six-story screen) added to the campus in March 2007. Read via search excerpt.
  31. Tyee 1953, University of Washington yearbook, p. 66 (senior listings). University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections. digitalcollections.lib.washington.eduLists “SMITH, DELFORD M.” as a senior in Psychology; Phi Gamma Delta; Arnold Air Society; Scabbard & Blade. Yearbook photographs are not reproduced on this site.
  32. Tyee 1952, University of Washington yearbook, pp. 306 and 391. University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections.Lists him in Phi Gamma Delta as “Smith, Bud, Jr.” (p. 391) and in the Arnold Air Society, the Air Force ROTC honor society (p. 306).

Image credits

  • H-4 Hercules (Spruce Goose), Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum, DSC00511. Photo by Daderot. CC0. Wikimedia Commons.
  • H-4 Hercules 2. SDASM Archives. Public domain. Wikimedia Commons.
  • Boeing 747-132 N481EV mounted on Evergreen Wings & Waves Waterpark. Photo by Clemens Vasters. CC BY 2.0. Wikimedia Commons.
  • Photographs of the residence and the collection come from two Google Photos albums shared by the site author (“Del Mar Villa,” May 2021–Oct. 2025, and a collection album, Apr. 2025–Aug. 2026). Most photographs were taken by April Dawn Buckner; a few were contributed by others to the shared albums.
  • Photographs of the museum drawings and of the 1984 and 1988 diaries on the Collection page were taken by April Dawn Buckner on Sept. 27, 2026, and sent directly (not from the shared albums). Only reduced web copies are published; full-resolution images of the architectural drawings are held back pending a rights check with the architect or the museum.
  • A second set of photographs by April Dawn Buckner, sent Sept. 28, 2026: more pages of the 1984 and 1988 diaries, the 1995 International Forest of Friendship certificate, the 2004 Scott Edwards Architecture theater drawings, the Yamhill County Cultural Resources Survey and Inventory, and new photographs of Brahm Vidya, Desert Warrior, Reason for Hope, Boone, and The American College Dictionary, plus the 1995 Flying Tigers reunion program. The same rule applies to the drawings: reduced web copies only.

Open questions

  • Delford Smith’s branch of service. The family obituary says Army, 82nd Airborne, Korean War; the LA Times and Wikipedia say U.S. Air Force.
  • When Del Smith bought the Dundee land, and when he married Maria.
  • When the villa was completed, and who designed it.
  • Whether Del Smith died at this residence. Sources say “at home in Yamhill County” or “Dundee.”
  • Who J. D. Gordon was, and the farmhouse’s entry in the Yamhill County Cultural Resource Inventory.
  • Whether Michael’s Carolyn Orchards in Dundee has any connection to this property.
  • What role Waterleaf Architecture played in the “Phase 1 / Evergreen Aviation Educational Institute” plans in the collection (Exhibits “A1” and “A2,” dated May 2001, last digit hard to read). No published source found yet names Waterleaf on the museum. (The author reports that all of the plans were left at Del Smith’s personal residence.)
  • Whether the collection holds any drawings for the Space Museum, and whether the 2004 “Second Floor Addition” by Scott Edwards Architecture was built as drawn.
  • How closely the IMAX theater that opened in 2007 follows the 2004 Scott Edwards “Evergreen Large Format Theater” drawings in the collection.
  • Who “Hong Kong Donna” was, who gave Del the copy of Boone in 1987, and what the last lines of her inscription say.
  • Whether the Brahm Vidya inscription date “6/4/87” means June 4 or 6 April 1987.