We’re over a week behind on the Preservation Roundup, so that means…

HPLO staff returned from Baker City late last night, after spending a couple of days in the wonderfully rehabilitated Geiser Grand Hotel (our newest league business member, btw). Why Baker City? Well, this week the Oregon Main Street Program held their annual conference in the right side of the state,…

On this last day of September, things are abuzz at the HPLO office and in preservation circles around the state. We’re putting the finishing touches on a special synopsis report of the 2011…

As a member of the Historic Preservation League of Oregon, I have a favor to ask. The following may be a bit long-winded, but should be somewhat comprehensive.

I am also a member of the planning committee for the Association for Preservation Technology's upcoming symposium on sustainable preservation, (a mouthful?)

 The committee has put together a Decision-Making Matrix relating to sustainable retrofits of historic buildings. We are looking for a good example…

Drew and I are still on the storm window trail, just took a brief detour to attend to appliance and electronics malfunctions. Why do these things always happen in bunches?

Our second estimate came in. This one is from a local contractor whom we've never used before. They came very well recommended, so we had high hopes, but the estimate came in at $25,000!  Remember, the first estimate was around $5,000 and that included cool storms with screen inserts.

This extreme variance in…

Well, this week we’ve decided to do it again. Because of the volume of preservation activities happening around the state (not to mention the 70-some people who visited last week’s post), we wanted to put it…

A couple of  weeks ago Mark Bell of Classic Sash & Door came out to give Drew and I an estimate on traditional wood storm windows. Well, not all traditional. We asked him to include an estimate for the Marvin wood storms that have a metal insert with a screen, allowing for full ventilation without removing the storm windows. We are in a big old foursquare and intend to stay here, so as we get older we may not want to be scrambling up and down ladders with storm windows and when we do get…

What little summer we're getting this year is not going to last much longer. Soon, the familiar drizzle will be back and our focus will turn to keeping warm. The fleece, packed up not all that long ago, will come out along with the throw blankets as we cozy down with a good book or our favorite tv program and try to keep warm. …

Late last week we received the good news that the HPLO was awarded a $6000 grant from the Oregon Cultural Trust to support the preservation of Oregon’s Most Endangered Places! The timing couldn’t be more appropriate, as August marks the kick-off of the HPLO’s strategic efforts to see the ten…

16 SW Abernathy

Hello fellow HPLO members -- I'm an interior designer in Portland. We must relocate to CA for work... and so have listed our wonderful home for sale.

We have renovated a 1937 Art Moderne/Streamline home adjacent to downtown in Southwest Portland. We purchased the home about 5-1/2 years ago, and have conducted extensive improvements, including removing the layers of tar on the roof and installing a…

Several months back, the HPLO received a phone call from one of our league members in Linn County who had been alerted to a verbal decision by the City of Tangent to demolish the “Big Red Barn.” Also known as the “Bass Barn” or “Tangent Barn,” the Big Red Barn was built in the early 1920s by poultry farmers Herbert and Jane Borden in the small grass seed farming community south of Albany. Although a number of buildings in the Tangent vicinity date to the much earlier settlement era of the…

We celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary by attending the Oak Hills Rummer Home Tour. Yep, that is how we show our love for each other, looking at houses... Probably not an anomaly in this crowd though!

We enjoyed the tour immensely, and the lecture really added value for us. The tour was well done, well managed. We're grateful to all of the homeowners who opened their wonderful homes for us to view. HPLO did a marvelous job. Next time would be super to add a refreshments component…

Its been most gratifying to see the enthusiastic response to our announcement of Oregon's Most Endangered Places.  At least a dozen print and broadcast stories have generated many conversations and calls for action as people focus on these significant cultural and economic assets.  Already there are fresh ideas starting to percolate up that may contribute to preserving our MEPs. 

And the benefits extend to other historic resources in need of support.  Lisa Christopher, Executive…

We are currently hiring for a project manager and tradesmen who are experienced in historic preservation.

Below are the two positions:

Construction Project Manager (with 5 or more years experience)

Arciform LLC is a design/build company specializing in the restoration and remodel of historic and vintage structures. We are looking for a professional project manager. Only reliable professionals with a strong work ethic…

On April 27, 2011, the A-Engrossed version of House Bill 3516 was published with a legislative recommendation to pass a bill that includes amendments for the protection of federally and locally designated historic properties and districts. Earlier posts on the progress of the bill and the HPLO’s concerns with the initial text…

Good infill, bad infill; surface lots, parking garages; condos, skinny houses. With 120 National Register historic districts across Oregon, new construction provides both opportunities and challenges to the continuity and health of our state’s most historic areas.  While some historic districts have seen almost no change in building stock since their periods of historic significance, others have seen drastic infilling of lots and wholesale replacement of contributing historic buildings in…

For those following the permit request to demolish the National Register listed Dr. Pierce Barn, the application was heard at the Cottage Grove Historic Landmark Commission on Monday, April 18. With a staff report urging the delay of demolition, the Landmark Commission followed suit by unanimously voting to stay the granting of a demolition permit for 90 days.…