Our record of finding the locations of these homes has not been so good lately; the last couple in Southeast Portland have still not been found. Here’s one more from the same year of 1929 and also in Southeast somewhere. Again this has a number displayed in front of it, evidently for some survey purpose. And again, not much to work with, no apparent house number or other identifier. Good luck!
(City of Portland Archives)
Vintage Portland 
A 1929 Pay for Parking lot in what appears to be a residential area?
Wow, this could be like finding a needle in a haystack. I’v seen a lot of similar Victorian period homes along SE 11th and 12th in the Hosford-Abernathy and Buckman neighborhoods. Regardless, I would definitely place this home somewhere in close-in SE or possibly Sellwood.
The Parking Space for rent seems to be for the lot next to the house. I would suspect that the lot next to the house is on a corner that faces a busy commercial street. Hence, the need for a parking space to rent. My guess is that the house is long gone.
I am also very curious about the vehicle in the middle of the three shown in the photo. I can’t figure out what it was used for. It has some kind of equipment on the back…for??
What a cool lookin’ house! I love the extra dormer window at middle top.
I wonder how far back DMV records go. LOL. If one could zoom-in further on that old car license plate…..
That piece of equipment in the background has a big wheel that looks like a saw blade. Possibly it is a portable sawmill? Portable sawmills were sometimes taken to the timber instead of taking the timber to a sawmill.
Based on the porch roof shadows, I’m pretty sure that this is on the north side of an east-west street. The sun was high in the sky, over the photographer’s left shoulder.
It appears there is a little bit of tree-fitti under the “parking space for rent” sign, carved into the bark.
Good grief. How many things are going on here with the design. The only two things that are consistent are the cloths line poles. Even the paint on the 4 boards half way down the entrance doesn’t appear to match. The chimneys differ, the 12 pane dormer window matches none of the other windows and check out the bay window and the dormer above. There must be 30-40 different wood carvings and both stair rails vary. I love it. Seems to be a metaphor for committee work.
Great photo.
Like all the photos with the man holding up the number, I think that the numbered photos show houses the city will demolish for a road widening (such as the SE Sandy Blvd extension to Morrison). The only hope of finding it is if it is a road project that didn’t materialize (like the much later Mt Hood Freeway).
Agreed
A similar house stands at 1210 S. E. Oak.
The primary source for these Oregonian citations is available on line to Multnomah County library card holders.
Oregonian 4/18/1929 p 1 “Thirty-nine property owners on the diagonal street will be paid for parcels of ground to be taken”
Oregonian 5/16/1929 p 1 article names property owners who sold to the United Development Syndicate, the group of business owners headed by George Weatherly to campaign for the extension of Sandy to SE Washington St.
Oregonian 5/19/1929 p 22 reports “purchase of more than a score of properties to expedite the extension of Sandy Boulevard”by the United Development Syndicate.
Oregonian 6/1/1930 p 23 classified ad “For Sale To Be Moved 20 Houses of (sic) Flats On Account of Sandy Extension Price $50 to $800” Given the context, I reckon “to be moved” means physically relocated, rather that “will go fast at these prices”.
What we may be looking at is one of the 20 houses that was offered for sale to be moved.
135 SE 12th Ave has a strikingly similar, if not identical, chimney, which can be seen with Google Streetview. The house across 12th on the NE corner has a slightly less ornate, but nonetheless distinctive chimney, too.
Unfortunately, in the Google Streetview image, shrubbery obscures most of the details of the house itself. The Portland Maps site has a less obscured (albeit smaller) view of the frontage, in color. http://portlandmaps.com/shared/cfm/frontage_photo.cfm?id=1483. Many of the architectural details in that image appear to match the house in this photo.
Whether it is or not, the classified ad from June 1930 suggests we might to be able to find the current location of at least some of the other buildings with numbered signs.
Similar but still not a good match to the 3 small Victorian at SE 17th and Salmon. I know the people that own the house on the corner and I did some house research for them years ago. Their home (and I believe the other 2 as well) were originally at the location of Hippo Hardware on Burnside and they were moved in the 1920’s. Maybe this is a photo of a house prior to moving?
that house is on NW 21st right behind the taco bell on W burnside.
Genevieve:
It sure doesn’t look like the same house. The one on NW 21st is only one story tall, and the front porch arrangement is mirrored.
http://goo.gl/maps/I2QzE
It looks like one of the houses between 28th and 30th and SE Stark, I used to deliver perscriptons for Leatons Pharmacy on 28th and Burnside, I use to drive by there all the time…..
Dan, you’re right about the NW 21st ave house.
Today’s house is in the vernacular Queen Anne style, but the 21st ave house is in the second empire style. Back in about 1972, it held a gift shop called The House of Crickets. I love that little house.
Why are we so sure this is in SE? I notice it’s next to a foursquare and you see the Queen Annes next to foursquares all around inner NE. San Rafael, Tillamook, Thompson, Mississippi to MLK. I still want to find this one!
been a while for attention on this, but there is a clue missed before:
above the cars, just above the power lines, is a ball; this ball is on top of a large obelisk. not a flagpole, more like something on a marquee or building front. one street over, and i’d wager it is a major street with a building as fancy as one having a marquee. so if anyone recognizes that obelisk, you have the location!