PORTLAND, Ore. – A house built 108 years ago in the Montavilla neighborhood of Southeast Portland will be torn down by a Beaverton-based developer after a sale last year to a Tualatin-based company, although a petition is gathering signatures to preserve rather than demolish the house.
Located at 7707 SE Alder St., the farmhouse was built in 1908 and totals nearly 2,000 square feet in size. It sits on a 10,500-square-foot lot.
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The house was listed for sale in November. The real estate listing described it as a “great fixer opportunity on (a) double lot,” noting that the “bones and drywall are there” but also referencing the “development potential” of the property.
A number of interior pictures are also included with the listing.
Just under two months after the property was listed, the county recorded a sale to Eden Enterprises LLC for $443,500, slightly less than the asking price.
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Eden Enterprises LLC is registered to Charles Thomas and Dean Reynolds at a business address in Tualatin. This company has been associated with several Renaissance Homes demolition and redevelopment projects in the past.
On Feb. 8 the city received an application for demolition of the 108-year-old farmhouse. The contractor is listed as Everett Custom Homes Inc., registered to Vic Remmers in Beaverton, while the applicant is Dan Williams of permit fast-tracking business Faster Permits.
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The demolition is subject to the 35-day demolition delay required of all residential demolitions in residential zones.
Although there are no construction permits yet under review, the property’s zoning offers some clues as to what could be built in place of the 1908 house.
The 10,500-square-foot property is zoned R1, a “medium density residential” zone that allows for one residence per 1,000 square feet of land, suggesting there could be as many as 10 new units built on the site.
The property is also located in an “alternative design density” zone which lists among its goals “to focus development on vacant sites, preserve existing housing and encourage new development that is compatible with and supportive of the positive qualities of residential neighborhoods.”
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The demolition delay will likely expire March 14.
A neighbor of the house offered some recent history of the structure.
“The previous owner was Jim Culbertson who died rather suddenly,” the neighbor said. “He was in the midst of a remodel on the house when he died which may have made the house more difficult to sell because it wouldn’t qualify for a standard mortgage. So his executor sold the house to Eden Enterprises. Some of Jim’s neighbors and friends say that he would have been devastated to know that his home was going to be demolished.”
The property includes a number of trees. A demolition plan is not yet available in public records, so their fate is unconfirmed.
“As a boy, Jim planted a Christmas tree, a large Douglas Fir, at the SW corner of the lot,” the neighbor said. “That tree is now over forty feet tall. There are five other large trees on the lot, making up a substantial portion of the tree canopy on that block.”
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As of Feb. 16 the petition to preserve the building had garnered more than 1,300 signatures, and petitioners say they have an interested buyer and are hoping to rally the Montavilla Neighborhood Association to seek an extended demolition delay for the house.