| STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
The 1924 Edward H. and Bertha R. Keller House is significant under Criterion C, Architecture, as an extraordinary example of the English Cottage Revival style and the work of a master designer Elmer E. Feig. At the time of construction, Feig was quickly building a reputation as a skilled designer of residential apartment buildings in revival styles. This building includes many of the characteristics used in his later large apartment buildings, and therefore is significant as an early example of his developing aesthetic. The Keller House is also important as the most notable of his few known single-family residential commissions. The residence is also the best representation of the English Cottage Revival style inside the Alameda Neighborhood of NE Portland.
THE HISTORY OF THE ALAMEDA NEIGHBORHOOD
Located on the east side of the city, Portland’s Alameda district evolved from farm pastures, orchards, and forested tracts. The original land on both sides of present day NE Fremont and bounded on the east and west by today’s NE 24th and NE 33rd Avenues, was part of the 1859 Domain Land Claim of William and Isabelle Bowering. In subsequent years, it was parceled out into several tracts, especially on the south side of NE Fremont. Samuel and Adeline Pearson purchased a large parcel on the south side of NE Fremont in 1875 and a dairy farm was soon established. They built a farmhouse on the west side of NE 27th near Fremont and also planted a Ponderosa pine at the southwest corner of NE 29th and Fremont. The farmhouse burned in a fire in 1902 but the pine tree remains today. In 1908, Henry L. Hamblet bought an L-shaped 40-acre portion of land on the north side of NE Fremont $37,500. Soon, it was deeded to Edward Z. Ferguson, a leading businessman and banker of Astoria, Oregon. Very soon after, the remaining square parcel at the southeast corner of the tract was sold to Benjamin M. Lombard. Lombard was an active developer as well and affiliated with the Columbia Trust Company, a large firm in Portland. Early in 1909, the Alameda Land Company received financial backing from William H. Dunckley, a banker with Ladd and Tilton Bank. Edward Ferguson was the president of Alameda Land Company, Henry Hamblet was the vice-president, and John Bryce, who was Ferguson’s father-in-law, became the accountant and assistant secretary. With the exception of Ferguson, the other names associated with the development were assigned to some of the east-west streets.
On 17 February 1909, the Alameda Land Company filed the Alameda Park plat with Multnomah County. It was planned to target the upper middle-class residential market, which was booming at this time due to the influence of the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition. It is believed that the firm hired John Charles and Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. to lay out the subdivision. John Olmsted was the adopted son of Frederick Law Olmsted, a nationally well-known landscape architect most noted for his design of Central Park in New York City. Frederick Law Jr. was his younger natural son. Both men were based in Brookline, Mass. and initially invited to Portland in 1903 by Thomas Lamb Eliot, Portland’s first park commissioner, to aid in new planning of city streets and parks and the layout of the planned 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition. Unfortunately, city planners did not implement most of the systems of parks and boulevards recommended by the Olmsteds, as the city was exploding in growth over the next decade and the fairground’s park-like setting did not become permanent either. In November 1909, the City Beautiful fund was created under pressure by Thomas Eliot. Some of the Olmsted work was incorporated into new city parks such as a parkway built between South Portland and Hillsdale. It is known that several private developers utilized the services of the Olmsted brothers and there were return visits to Portland in the later part of the 1900s. In 1910, the Alameda streets were built and utilities were laid due to the strong demand for housing as lots were being sold here at a fast pace. At this time, the developers were able to get the East Broadway streetcar line extended from Irvington on NE 22nd to the uphill grade of NE Regents Drive terminating at NE 29th and Mason.
On 26 April 1909, Benjamin M. Lombard filed the plat of Olmsted Park with the county that filled in his square parcel southeast of Alameda Park. It is conceivable that the design of this subdivision was also under direction of John and Frederick (Jr.) Olmsted due to the name. The property was developed simultaneously with Alameda Park as the similar connecting streets were well aligned. Columbia Trust Company, the firm affiliated with Benjamin Lombard and founded in 1907, executed development with improvements. They backed the subdivisions of Hancock Street Addition and Brazee Street Addition, previously built east of Irvington, and soon after, developed Beaumont, a large subdivision east of the Alameda neighborhood. Otho L. Ferris, a primary executive, had his own home of the Craftsman Foursquare style finished in 1910 at 3128 NE Alameda, two doors down from the subject house. The development firm did build some homes on speculation inside their developing subdivisions including the large Craftsman-style home behind the subject property, which was one of the demonstration houses. Initial lot sales and building activity was strong in both subdivisions until recession set in before World War I. In 1919, the local economy rebounded and most of the unsold lots in the upper Alameda area were sold by the mid-1920s during a strong upswing of building activity. Architect-designed European revival-style homes were especially popular in this area as more affluent families moved in to take advantage of the views of the city and nearby mountains. Some of the larger lots remained vacant, gradually being built on through the 1930s depression. Some were later purchased and developed during the 1940s and ‘50s. Nearly all lots were built on by the middle of the twentieth century and some of the last homes to rise were of the mid-century modern design. Smaller, simpler homes were built in the flat area close to the northern boundary near NE Prescott. The popular East Broadway streetcar serviced the upper neighborhood until 1948, when diesel buses, which still operate on nearly the same route today, replaced the line. Due to low turnover in its residents, the neighborhood has remained stable and intact throughout the decades. Today, it still remains as one of the most desirable neighborhoods on the east side of Portland.
HISTORY OF THE PROPERTY
On 10 April 1924, Edward H. and Bertha R. Keller purchased the property for about $7,000 with immediate plans to build a grand new home. The family previously lived in Irvington, at 3015 NE 17th, since about 1920. Edward H. Keller was born 13 December 1881 in Decatur, Illinois. He had an operating farm there. While living in Portland, he acquired a larger farm in Iowa. He married Bertha around 1904 and moved to Portland in 1907, drawn by the big building boom. During the 1910s, he was a salesman for Braly Auto Company and remained with the firm until 1923 or early 1924. On 15 July 1909, son George E. Keller was born. On 30 May 1914, the couple’s second son Richard B. was born, and in about 1919, daughter Marijane was born.
On 28 April 1924, a building permit was filed for construction of the new Keller home estimated to cost $23,000. The plans were drawn by Elmer E. Feig, who was apparently designing homes “on the side” as he was employed by the City at this time as a plans examiner. Feig oversaw the building contractor who was hired by Keller. The contractor’s name was Clement W. Clark. The last inspection, dated 17 October 1924, noted that the house was already occupied. At the time the subject house was built, Edward Keller got involved in building houses and subsequent directories list him as a builder or building contractor. After the early 1930s, it appears he left the home building trade but continued managing his Mid-West farming operations from Portland. He and his wife remained living in the home with his family until moving out in 1948. He was well-known among local businessmen for being involved in various community activities. An excellent trap shooter, he was an active member of the Portland Gun Club for many decades. He won several championships in regional competitions. The obituary of his wife Bertha (1886-1962) is found in the 24 November 1962 issue of the Oregonian. Edward Keller lived to the age of 85 and his obituary was posted on 22 March 1967 on page 2 of the Oregon Journal and in the Oregonian. His two sons and daughter were listed as survivors. George Keller remained in Portland until his death in 1993. Richard Keller became a doctor or dentist and died in Wilsonville in 1989. Daughter Marijane married a Mr. Banks and later moved to Honolulu, Hawaii.
In 1949, the house was purchased by George L. and Harriet B. Ray. George Ray was a physician. In 1954, the house was sold again. Yet another two owners possessed it before Joseph R. and Winnifred M. Keys became the new owners in 1960 and remained in the home until 1984. Joseph Keys was the president and manager for Rader Pneumatics Inc. The roof of the residence may have been neglected and so in July 1960, a building permit for major roofing repairs was filed and survived in city archives. The cost of roof repair was estimated at $1,100 due to the complexity of the roof and eaves. The integrity of the roof design was retained. In 1993, Steven K. and Lizabeth A. Morse purchased the house and lived there until 2007. They restored and updated landscape features, the kitchen, and the bedrooms. In 2008, Mark V. Santangelo, the current owner, purchased the house.
ELMER E. FEIG, DESIGNER
Elmer Feig was a very ambitious and creative designer of apartment buildings and homes in the Portland area. He was born 9 May 1897 in Atwater, Minnesota. His father, George H. Feig, was born around 1863, the son of German immigrants. In the early 1900s, the family moved to Barnes, North Dakota, where he worked as a clerk in a hardware store. Around the end of 1910, the family moved to Portland and the father had work as a well driller. In 1913, the Feigs purchased a house in the Eliot neighborhood at 22 NE Monroe. In 1914, at the age of 17, Elmer Feig started work as a draftsman for a mail order construction firm based in Portland named Fenner Redicut Homes and remained there until 1916. Between 1916 and 1919, he worked as a draftsman in the engineering department at G. M. Standifer Construction Company, located in the shipyards. In 1917, Elmer Feig did register for the draft for World War I, but was not involved in active service. His draftsman job in the shipyards may have been a substitute for direct military service. Sometime after the war ended, he attended and graduated from the University of Oregon in architecture. In 1920, he returned to Fenner Redicut Homes as a draftsman, remaining until 1923, when he began employment with the City of Portland Buildings Bureau as a plans examiner clerk. On 30 June 1920, Elmer married Gladys V. Kunich. He designed and built an American Bungalow-styled home next to his parents’ home in 1921at 28 NE Monroe. Daughter Audrey Jean (1924) and son Wilard G. Feig (1929) were both born in this home. In 1926, Elmer Feig designed a simple brick version of the English Cottage style for his father George. The home is located in the Alameda neighborhood at 3744 NE 24th. Elmer’s family was listed as living in his father’s home during the early 1930s.
Elmer Feig, while still employed as the city plans examiner, obtained a building contractor license in 1921 and designed the homes he built. His employment with Fenner during the two periods and involvement with the Portland Building Bureau were steps along the way to his becoming a prominent architect. In 1922, he designed and built a house of the American Bungalow style for Adam C. Vogel in the Walnut Park neighborhood at 5134 NE Mallory. Feig met with Edward Keller early in 1924 to discuss the construction of the subject house in the upper Alameda neighborhood. In 1927, he started his own design practice in Portland after leaving his job as a city plans examiner. He was posted in directories through 1933 as an architect and a “residence designer” after that, but apparently never licensed as an architect. He kept his office at 1109 SW Morrison in downtown Portland through 1936. When there was a major downturn of new construction, he served as secretary and treasurer for Automatic Transmission Corporation.
In the late 1920s, Feig focused mainly on apartment buildings, and by 1936 it was reported that he designed 81 of them. It is apparent that his apartment buildings got larger and more complex in the later years. Many of his buildings were built during the second half of the 1920s when Portland experienced a large boom in apartment building construction, nearly the largest in the city’s history. Feig’s work was in demand and designing apartment buildings proved to be profitable for him. He got a few large building commissions even after the 1929 Stock Market Crash. He became known for adapting styles usually applied to single-family residences for his apartment buildings. Front courtyards with “U” and “L” shaped forms and interior layout for good flow also characterized his buildings. These building patterns allowed more natural light to come inside the main rooms inside the units eliminating interior light shafts or atriums. Other notable elements in Feig designed buildings are decorative elements such as medallions, garlands, ornamental panels, urns, pilasters and spiral columns.
In April 1929, Feig’s contractor’s license was suspended by order of the Portland Building Bureau. According to a lengthy Oregonian article, the bureau charged that Feig was renting his license to other builders in the trade on a percentage basis and work was halted on two apartment buildings under construction. Feig claimed that bureau chief H. E. Plummer, his former superior, made false accusations against him. Construction did resume on the buildings and so he may have received his license back later. Numerous other apartment buildings designed by Feig were built in 1930, and 31 of these are listed on the Portland Historic Resource Inventory.
The Historic Resource Inventory, conducted by the City of Portland in 1980-84, listed 24 apartment buildings with plans by Feig, which are filed in the city archives, as having high architectural merit. All of the identified buildings are quite flamboyant in character and 13 of them are located in NW Portland in the neighborhood formerly known as Nob Hill. Twenty-one apartment buildings designed by Feig were identified in the National Register nomination for the Alphabet Historic District which was finished in 2000 for that area. Most of them are creative mixes of European revival styles such as Tudor, Spanish Colonial, Mediterranean, and California Mission. Some others have interesting Egyptian Revival features. Many others labeled as “streetcar-era” or “garden” apartments include strong decorative elements of these revival styles. There is a concentration of Feig buildings on the block bounded by NW 19th, Irving, 20th, and Johnson. Good examples from this group include two Mediterranean-styled buildings built in 1928 at 1943 and 1953 NW Irving for developer S. E. Hendersen. They are similar in style and size but appear different on the front façades with different arrangements of ornament on the parapet, around the windows and front entrance. Another unique building by Feig is in the Tudor style with courtyard gardens in front and adjacent garages on the other side. This building was built in 1929 for E. M. Rasmussen at 2509 NE Flanders, and the Tudor-arched entry is especially noteworthy. Three notable buildings that Feig incorporated Egyptian features into are the Blackstone Apartments (1930), built for Harry Mittleman at 1831 SW Park, the Fred Lindquist Building built in 1930 at 2209 NW Everett, and a large apartment building built in 1931 for G. A. Weston near the Lloyd Center at 1530 NE 10th Avenue. The Blackstone building is unique in its use of variegated brickwork and cast-stone elements of pharaohs around the entrance and motifs at the tops of the pilasters. Today, it is inside the campus of Portland State University. The Lindquist Building has less exterior ornament but still has pharaoh motifs at the entrance and pyramid patterns on the pilasters. The Weston Building, near the Lloyd Center, is decorated by varying brickwork and terra cotta trim around the pylon-like corner bays that have pharaohs and other Egyptian symbols. This beautiful building also retains much of its integrity today, but nearly all of the original windows have been recently replaced by vinyl counterparts. Four Feig-designed apartment buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places, and three of them are in the Alphabet Historic District in NW Portland. The fourth building is the Santa Barbara Apartments, built in 1928 at 2052 SE Hawthorne. The building was listed on the National Register in 1989. The Spanish Colonial Revival styled building is within an east side Portland ensemble of apartment buildings and is notable with the use of mock bell towers and cast-stone corner quoins and entrance surrounds. A similar distinctive building of the same style is the Zenabe Court Apartments, built in 1929 for developer S. E. Hendersen at 708 NW 20th Avenue.
Three other building types designed by Feig were listed in the Historic Resources Inventory including the Volunteers of America Building and Hall, a brick utilitarian commercial structure finished in 1927 at 524-38 SE Ash. Although simple, this structure stands out when compared to others of the type due to the red-colored brick and decorative-patterned belt course as most utilitarian structures were constructed of ordinary brick, concrete-cinder blocks, or formed-concrete walls. He also designed a decorative garage structure in the Spanish Colonial revival style, built in 1928, at 1801-17 NW Irving. This garage with its parapet and stylistic motifs is quite distinctive, differing much from nearby others of the era that are strictly utilitarian in style and void of exterior ornament. Only one church is known, a twentieth-century Romanesque sanctuary, built in 1928 for the Laurelhurst Christian Church at 1244 NE 39th Avenue.
There are only seven known single-family residences designed by Feig including Feig’s own 1921 house, his father’s new home, the Adam Vogel House in Walnut Park, and the subject house for Edward Keller. A brick Dutch Colonial Revival was built in 1928 for Harry Mittleman at 1631 NE Klickitat in the Irvington neighborhood. Mittleman was the owner of three larger apartment buildings Feig designed that were built in 1930 on the west side of Portland. A simple English Cottage styled house was built at 1912 SE Elliot for Ben and Ida Phillips in 1925. Another smaller house with a bungalow form was also built for Phillips on speculation in 1926 at 1422 SE Palm. Both of these houses are in the Ladd National Register Historic District and included in the district inventory.
Little is known about the life of Elmer Feig after 1937. It appears he left the Portland area, as his name was no longer posted in Portland directories. He may have settled in Yamhill County, Oregon, where perhaps he continued his design practice. By the 1950s, his son Willard G. Feig moved to San Mateo County, California. Elmer G. Feig passed away in Newberg, Oregon on 20 October 1968 at the age of 71. No spouse was mentioned on his death certificate.
THE ENGLISH COTTAGE STYLE
The English Cottage revival style evolved from the renewed interest in smaller romantic country dwellings or inns built in England during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It rose in popularity along with other European Revival styles such as the English Tudor, French Renaissance, Spanish Colonial, and Mediterranean. Early in the twentieth century, the American public became more aware of European architecture because of published photographs of the designs and increased travel by Americans to Europe. Architects noted the interest and incorporated aspects of these designs in commissions, primarily for wealthy clients. During World War I, soldiers often brought back photographs of houses they had seen while fighting in Europe. Once back in the United States after the war, they desired the design elements in homes geared for the middle-class. Architects, builders, and mail order firms reproduced scaled down versions of European Revival-styled homes during a building boom that took shape across the country. Some of the more simple houses had blends of two or more revival styles. These styles remained popular but the elements were scaled down on smaller homes during the Depression.
Original versions of the English Cottage (subsequently popularized by framed prints hung in middle-class American homes) include the home of William Shakespeare in Stratford-Avon and the romantic farmhouse of Anne Hathaway, courted by Shakespeare during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Sir Banister Fletcher published a compendium of views of the historic style in 1896. The work made its way to the libraries of professional architects in America. In 1898, John L. Stoddard published a ten-volume set full of illustrations of smaller English Cottages found in England. He stated, “What can be prettier and more picturesque than one of the quaint old English inns?” English architect Sir Edwin Lutyens had a profound influence on the British architectural scene as a strong proponent of the revival style. He published illustrated volumes of his work that became popular among prominent architects throughout the United States. One such architect was Albert E. Doyle of Portland. He purchased a set for his collection and was influenced enough by what he saw to use some of the elements in local commissions. He designed the first residence built in this style for Edward Ehrman. The home was completed on the cliffs of the Columbia River Gorge near Crown Point in 1915. The house was featured in the July 1919 issue of Architect and Engineer. The porch had a rounded roof (later altered) similar in appearance to the Keller House porch. Architect Ellis Lawrence designed a residence in this style for Paul F. Murphy, the developer of Laurelhurst, built in 1918 at 3574 E Burnside, the first in Portland.
A scaled down version of the English Cottage style, but one which retained its steep roof pitch and ground-hugging appearance, grew in popularity exponentially during the 1920s. The style was also often mixed with elements of other styles such as the Arts and Crafts and Craftsman bungalows. Style defining characteristics of the English Cottage include sloping rooflines that sweep towards the ground, rounded roof ridges and shoulders, eyebrow dormers, and a rolled roof effect at the eaves to imitate thatching were often mixed with elements of other styles such as the Arts and Crafts and Craftsman bungalows. Open verandas on the ground level are enclosed under extensions of the main roof or covered automobile garages. Albert E. Doyle designed a grand English Cottage-styled home, one of Portland’s earliest examples, for Bert C. Ball. This high-style home was built in 1921 at 2040 SW Laurel in Portland Heights. It has two dominant gables in the front and rear with a central entrance. It also has a strong rolled roof effect, a detail often left off on many of these revival style homes. The rounded roof over the front porch closely resembles that of the Keller House. Other homes in the English Cottage style can be found in the west hills of Portland and in Irvington, Alameda, Laurelhurst, and Eastmoreland.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE KELLER HOUSE AND CONCLUSION
The Keller House is significant primarily because it is the work of a master of design. Feig distinguished himself as a designer of homes and apartments because of his proficiency in using decorative elements of popular revival styles in unique ways. The interior and the exterior of his designs stand apart from other buildings of the era in that other examples are more utilitarian in their appearance. For instance, many comparable apartment buildings designed by other architects are simply categorized as “Streetcar-era commercial” due to their lack of ornamentation. In contrast, Feig boldly incorporated aspects of the Spanish Colonial, English Tudor, English Cottage, Mediterranean, Mission Revival, and Egyptian styles into the buildings he designed. Other architect-designed buildings of that time usually lacked the creative use of elements from these designs that would define the styles so prominently detailed by Feig’s work. In addition, some of Feig’s buildings built for the same client at the same time are similar, but no two are alike. The large number of commissions Feig received is attributed to his unique revival style elements and building configurations. It is believed that he dominated the apartment designing business during the late 1920s. Other designers/architects of apartment buildings include Ewald T. Pape and Carl Linde; although, neither likely had as many commission as Feig. Linde was well established as an architect by the early 1920s and designed many apartment structures throughout Portland. Pape was a rival in the industry and likely had over 30 apartment commissions between 1925 and 1933. Like Feig, he also practiced without a license and was very busy during the apartment building boom.
Elmer Feig’s generous incorporation of elements of the English Cottage style for the subject house makes it the most outstanding of Feig’s known single-family residential work illustrating that he was mastering designs at this time. The other six Feig designed houses are more simple and smaller without the graceful curves. In the design of the Keller House, Feig held close to the principles of the English Cottage Revival style. The house is distinctive with the use of a long sloping roofline that sweeps towards the ground, rounded roof ridges and shoulders, and the rolled roof effect in the eaves. Additional style elements used are roughcast stucco walls, eyebrow dormer openings for some second floor windows, large dominating chimneys, many casement windows, and a rounded front entrance porch roof. Patio spaces bring to mind the informal hidden gardens of English cottages, evoking thoughts of “natural landscape.” All of these characteristics mimic the old English country cottages and inns. The rounded roof ridges and rolled effect at the eaves in the Keller House imitate the thatched roof design of the original English cottages. The eyebrow dormers in front are close in design to the ones in photographs of those cottages in the 1898 publication “England” by John L. Stoddard.
In the upper Alameda neighborhood, there are three other prominent houses of the English Cottage Revival style at 2834 NE Alameda, 2871 NE Alameda, and 2924 NE Regents Drive built between 1920 and 1926. All these three houses appear to be architect designed, but none demonstrate the same level of craftsmanship, such as the distinctive rounded-roof ridges and rolled eaves present on the Keller House. A rounded porch roof and front door / sidelight configuration is original to the Frank B. Upshaw House, which is a relatively simple house designed by Morris Whitehouse and built in 1921 in Eastmoreland at 2923 SE Tolman. The porch and sidelights of the Keller House look like those of the Upshaw house, but the subject house differs from the Upshaw house in that it has more curves on the coved-eave treatment and eyebrow dormers.
The design of Keller house has many of Feig’s signature elements that he later incorporated into his signature style seen on his well-designed apartment buildings, such as curves in the eave treatments, interior coves, and walls, as well as the use of stucco. His use of curves was not typical of buildings of the era. The large radius curved corners found on the second floor of Keller house are also found in the Santa Barbara Apartment building on 2052 SE Hawthorne and the Rasmussen Building at 2509 NE Flanders. Other apartment buildings he designed, which are found in the Alphabet District in NW Portland, also display this feature.
Feig used cast iron with curved or spiral designs in balusters, rails for stairs, and balconies. The ironwork is abundant in the Keller House and present in most of his apartment buildings. The iron designs on his Spanish Colonial and Mediterranean styled apartment buildings in the Alphabet Historic District of NW Portland is especially notable and also used on entrance gates.
Nearly all of the primary rooms on both levels in the subject house have windows on two or three sides to allow more natural light, not typical of the English Cottage style room configuration. This facility for designing buildings which let in natural light was later crafted by Feig in designing courtyards and gardens around his apartment buildings. The open spaces around an “L”, “U”, or “H” shape within his buildings allowed more fresh air and natural light into the rooms, eliminating the need of interior atrium spaces. In comparing his open space designs to those of Pape, Pape’s buildings often had one level with a garden space in the center and individual entrances to each unit in front of the building. Examples include a Mediterranean styled complex built in 1925 at 1330 SE 24th and a stucco derivative of the English Cottage style built in 1928 at 1411 SE 30th. Pape also used revival styles on many of his buildings, but usually left off style defining details on the exterior and did not use curves like Feig. A close comparison of Pape’s work is a two-storied apartment complex built of brick at 2904 SE Washington (1930) of the English Cottage style. The gable ends for the second level do resemble the style, but only have bell-cast curves in the rooflines and not the distinctive rounded eaves.
CONCLUSION
Since construction, the Keller House has retained its integrity over the years with few alterations inside and out. The rounded roof ridges and rolled eaves remain well defined that resemble the country inns and cottages of England. Feig used curves to bring out the English Cottage style along the roofline. All facades on the outside have distinctive features of the English Cottage Revival style that retain all of the original integrity. On the inside, all the original floor plans and built-ins remain intact including moldings and nearly all of the original doors. The curved walls and unusual location of the main staircase makes this house unique when compared to other homes by other architects of this vintage. The decorative ironwork on the stairs and landing is distinctive and intact.
In summary, the Keller House is eligible for the Register under Criterion C, Architecture, as an example of the early residential work of designer Elmer Fieg, who later became a well-known designer of Portland apartment buildings in the 1920s and 1930s. The subject building is the best example of the single-family residential work of architect Elmer Feig found in Portland, and the property illustrates the features that Feig later used in his notable apartment buildings. |
