Most Beautiful Historic Residential Neighborhood in Oregon (Portland, Salem: houses, neighborhoods)

[tg9999]

We are fortunate enough to be retiring in our early 50's in 2011.

Question: What is the most beautiful historic residential neigborhood in Oregon?
We are only interested in 2 criteria:
1) a high concentration of beautiful, historic homes;
2) decent weather for most of the year.

(Assume emloyment , housing costs, and all other factors irrelevant.) Feel free to post any photos if you have them.
Thanks in advance.

[Steve97415]

The West Hills of Portland between Goose Hollow and Washington Park.

[Silverfall]

Originally Posted by Steve97415

The West Hills of Portland between Goose Hollow and Washington Park.

I agree but decent weather most of the year rules out Portland. Laurelhurst is also really nice in Portland.

There is that historic neighborhood right by Drake Park in Bend. That is really pretty in there.

Fairmount Hills in Salem is beautiful as well but we have only slightly better weather than Portland.

I guess maybe we need some clarification of what you mean by decent weather? Lots of sun, or lack of snow?

[skypros]

Originally Posted by Silverfall

There is that historic neighborhood right by Drake Park in Bend. That is really pretty in there.

That area is Beautiful !!

[sarahkate_m]

I've put some links in Silverfall's post to help illustrate points given:

Originally Posted by Silverfall

I agree but decent weather most of the year rules out Portland. Laurelhurst is also really nice in Portland. http://www.laurelhursttheater.com/home.html
http://www.portlandneighborhood.com/laurelhurst.html :
"Laurelhurst is a beautiful area full of charming homes in all shapes and sizes, from the cute bungalow with a covered front porch, to sprawling stone and brick homes with grand lawns. Located near the Laurelhurst park, this is a great neighborhood for families and taking a strol along beautiful tree-lined streets."

There is that historic neighborhood right by Drake Park in Bend. That is really pretty in there. http://www.city-data.com/picfilesc/picc5585.php

Fairmount Hills in Salem is beautiful as well but we have only slightly better weather than Portland. http://activerain.com/blogsview/373391/fairmount-neighborhood-salem-oregon

I guess maybe we need some clarification of what you mean by decent weather? Lots of sun, or lack of snow?

[DavePautsch]

Albany has one of the nicest selections of historic homes in the state...the Monteith district has some amazing architectural examples - the Hackelman District is a little bit distressed at the moment, but there are some amazing opportunities there for someone with a little vision (and the patience for those neighborhoods to "come back" as the city's revitalization projects continue).

[malachai23]

Astoria has some awesome historic houses. It rains a lot there, but snows very rarely. Here is a link I found that shows a handful of the great old houses there: Historic Homes Gallery - Lakeside Lumber - Portland, Oregon - Bend, Oregon (this link says "Portland" and "Bend" but it goes to a page that shows Astoria houses!)

[tg9999]

[SIZE=4][SIZE=4]Thanks for the great reply posts.
In response to some of the questions raised by the posts, by "decent weather" we mean moderate/mild temperatures for most of the year. We do not like extremely hot summers. Cooler weather in winter is fine. Gray/clouds fine, moderate rain fine, moderate snow fine. For example, Portland or Salem rainfall is OK with us, but Astoria would be way too much rain for us. (Of course, if you could have Portland temperatures, with half the rain, that would be absolutely perfect --- but I don't know if any such place exists in Oregon.)
Doesn't matter whether its a small town or big city, we are just looking for a neighborhood with a high concentration of charming, historic homes. For example, we have visited Portland for business and pleasure and we like the look of the residential areas on the west side around Washington Park + Irvington on the east side.
We're historic preservationists. We like all architectural styles from 1800's - 1930.
Any additional posts would be appreciated. Thanks.
[SIZE=4][/SIZE]
[/SIZE][/SIZE]

[Silverfall]

Since you are okay with the weather in the valley...

In the Salem area there is Fairmount Hills, Bush Park and the Courth-Chemeketa Historic District which has gorgeous homes, but I'm not sure I'd call it a high concentration since the historic district is only a few blocks, but those are gorgeous homes. I tried to link to some photos of these houses on flickr, but it's not working. I'm not sure how to insert a picture in this forum.http://www.flickr.com/photos/27087573@N02/3541525400/in/set-72157618304987509/ (broken link)http://www.flickr.com/photos/27087573@N02/3541525400/in/set-72157618304987509/ (broken link)http://www.flickr.com/photos/27087573@N02/3540718115/in/set-72157618304987509/ (broken link)

[Silverfall]

Okay still can't get the Flickr images to work on the forum...BUT you get the idea. Silverton also has a lot of historic homes if you don't mind small town (9,000 people).