PORTLAND, Ore. – A 124-year-old home near Reed College will be demolished about eight months after a fire occurred inside the building.
Photo credit: Portland Chronicle contributor
Located at 3836 SE Knight St. and 5907 SE 39th Ave., the Queen Anne-style house was built in 1892. It sits on a 5,000-square-foot lot.
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The house was included on Portland’s historic resource inventory completed in 1984. The listing noted the building for its architectural significance, describing the “encircling porch supported by turned porch posts and decorative brackets,” as well as the “fish scale shingles” decorating the “pedimented gable and lower section of second story.”
Photo credit: Historic Resource Inventory
The property most recently sold to Reed College in 2007 for $515,000. As of early this year it was in use as faculty housing for the college, and was referred to as the Hedger House. Its current owner is listed as The Reed Institute.
Photo credit: Portland Chronicle contributor
On Feb. 22 Portland Fire & Rescue responded to a fire at the 124-year-old home. Crews arrived on scene and “saw smoke coming from the eaves of the house which indicated that the fire was in the attic.”
They battled the fire for about an hour before it was under control, PF&R said. There were no injuries and the building’s occupants, two people and two cats, got out safely.
Photo credit: Portland Fire & Rescue
According to the Sellwood Bee, the cause was later determined to be electrical failure “due to ‘knob and tube wiring’ – a type commonly used from about 1880 until the 1930s, in which single wires are held away from the structure by ceramic insulators.”
The Oregonian has more photos of the fire.
Photo credit: Portland Chronicle contributor
In late August the city received an application to demolish the 1892 home. The applicant and contractor was Reimers & Jolivette Inc. After waiting out its 35-day delay period the house was issued a demolition permit two weeks ago.
It’s not yet clear what will replace the home.
Photo credit: Portland Chronicle contributor