Here at Property Watch, we like to say that some houses come with a little mystery, and so it is for this early modern home on NE 17th Avenue in the Sabin neighborhood. Architectural historian Thomas Hubka would call it one of Portland’s everyday houses—its tidy brick, blue clapboard siding, and big front windows don’t scream for attention. But we are of the mind that it is just such stalwarts that make our city’s housing stock so delightful. As for the mystery, that happened at the recent open house, when a neighbor attended and suggested to the listing agent that it might have been built by Kenneth Birkemeier because it was identical to their own.
Birkemeier designed and built houses in Portland for several decades, yet he has flown somewhat under the radar for architectural historians, probably because he was not a licensed architect. That said, he studied architecture at the University of Oregon in the early 1920s before becoming a builder of custom and speculative houses throughout Portland from the 1930s to the 1970s.
His work embodied a range of popular styles, including colonial revivals, English cottages, and midcentury moderns. For the last he would later become well-known; an interest in his legacy sparked in the late aughts. Per testimony to the Portland Landmarks Commission and the State Advisory Commission on Historic Preservation, “While individual Birkemeier home owners had noticed something special about their homes, there was nothing written about his work in the standard architectural history literature up until that point.” Independent historian Jack Bookwalter started compiling research, and he now puts the number of Birkemeier homes and apartments at 700, though we understand there is no definitive list. Birkemeier died in 1996 at age 90.
Most interestingly, he was very hands-on in his projects. He called himself a designer and builder in his Oregonian ads in the 1940s, and others recalled him always doodling. Not only did he draw the plans for his own designs, he was active on the jobsite, doing everything from pouring foundations to cutting ceiling supports and building custom cabinetry. He purportedly said, “I used the best materials I could find because I wanted it to be right,” and having a house built by him was the thing. These days, for those who know the history and count themselves as fans of his work, it still is…