Demolition Nears for 111-Year-Old Northwest Home

PORTLAND, Ore. – Nearly a year after plans were first submitted to replace a 1904 house in the Northwest district with a three-story modern single family residence, demolition is nearing for the 111-year-old home and the size of the proposed replacement house has increased to four stories.

The house, located at 2486 NW Raleigh St., totals 2,256 square feet on a 3,700-square-foot lot. In June 2014 the house sold for $665,000 to James F. Baldwin and David A. Carter.

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

When reported on by the Portland Chronicle last December the house was the most expensive house to be purchased for demolition and replacement by a single new residence that this publication had reported on. Almost a year later, it retains that distinction.

Last fall the city received plans from applicant Trevor Lewis of William Kaven Architecture, who was “working with the property owner to demolish the existing house at 2486 NW Raleigh Street, and construct a new house with internal accessory dwelling unit (ADU) at the site.”

To construct the new house the applicant needed approval of several adjustments to required setbacks. Because of that process neighbor input was sought and the city received 10 letters of opposition and two in support.

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Opposition to the project focused on the design of the new structure, with neighbors stating the “looming nature would be far oversized and honestly quite invasive,” and that the proposal “makes no attempt to blend into the neighborhood with its modern use of glass, steel and Dryvit which completely lacks any of the charm and historical look and feel of the neighborhood.”

Other neighbors submitted studies of how the new building would affect sunlight on neighboring properties and noted that approving this project would lead to more demolitions in the area.

Support for the project highlighted the “architectural diversity” the project would bring to the neighborhood, noted the owners’ right to demolish the 1904 house given the lack of historic designation, and explained that the new design “comports with the shifting urban aesthetic of the neighborhood.”

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

In the end city staff allowed the setbacks, noting that the proposed structure was somewhat out of scale in relation to other single-family homes in the area but that it was “in keeping with the nearby red brick apartment buildings.” Still, staff found that denying the adjustments would not create a dramatically different design for the building and would not address those neighbor concerns, so the adjustments were approved.

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Plans for the originally proposed house.

The city approved those plans February, allowing the adjustment for lesser setbacks from the sidewalk, but shortly after that the case was updated to note “decision void/withdrawn,” suggesting a change of plans on the part of the owners.

Then on May 27 the applicant submitted a new early assistance application, listing a “proposal to build new single family residence,” starting the process over again.

On Oct. 21 the city received an application for demolition of the 111-year-old house. Then, two days ago, the applicant submitted a new construction application. The intake lists a new, four-story single-family residence with an attached garage. This is one story higher than the structure proposed in the previous application.

With the additional listed story, one of the letters of support received by the city in the previous process when only three stories were proposed, stands out: “The design will offer more privacy and solar access to the neighbors than would a taller and cruder structure that could be built outside the setbacks.”

The demolition delay is likely to expire Nov. 25. In the meantime some dismantling work has begun.