Historic neigborhoods in Portland area (Burns: rental, houses, neighborhoods)

[tg9999]

Assuming housing costs and jobs are not an issue,
what are the most beautiful HISTORIC RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOODS in the Portland area.
We are looking for neigborhoods with the highest concentrations of charming historic homes.
Thanks in advance for any replies.

[malachai23]

I've always loved Lair Hill! Lair Hill, Portland, Oregon (http://web.pdx.edu/~nac/lairhill/ - broken link)

[Minervah]

I live near Ladd's Addition in the Hawthorne area and it has some really great old homes. Then there is Eastmoreland, Laurelhurst and parts of NW Portland. NE has the Irvington District. I'm not familiar with the SW part of town.

[hummingbird3]

Just adding The Alameda and parts of NE near Grant HS to Minervah's list.

[lilypad]

Mt Tabor area has some beautiful old historic houses. My favorite is the Old Portland design! Not sure if that is same as the Salt Boxes. Lived there for a few years back in the 90s in a 1927 Craftsman house, when it was more affordable. Still beautiful and go over often to see friends. Love Mt Tabor Park with the reservoirs and leash free dog area. Is my favorite neighborhood area of Portland.

[h8n]

the Irvington area. There is a hit & miss of rental / beautiful property but it is worth it. The huge craftsman style homes surrounded by old trees still close enough in to walk everywhere are my favorite.

[hamellr]

Actually, the East side of Portland did not develop before the West Side.

West Portland, which was centered approximately on where Saturday Market is now and East Portland (along with Albina, St. Johns and several small cities that are now Portland Neighborhoods) consolidated in July 1891.

Before that time West Portland was the dominate city in the region as it was settled in 1843. Ladd's Addition for instance is a planned Community that was not platted until 1891 and indirectly led to the consolidation of the three major cities in the region. It's by far not the only Planned Community that dates from this era either, although planned communities were being created well into the 1900's - Laurelhurst for instance dates from 1906.

Before that East Portland lagged far behind West Portland in growth and size, well into the 1890's it was still extremely rural. 82nd for instance was mostly farmland especially south of Division which was the "dividing" line between rural Portland and urban Portland. 82nd didn't really get developed until after WWII and the wide spread use of the automobile made suburbanization possible.

It was not until the introduction of the multiple electric railways in Portland, and the building of the Stark Street, Hawthorne, and Burnside bridges between 1870 to mid 1880's that people actively started looking towards the East side as the West Hills were still a pretty major barrier to traffic.

The only caveat to this is that the North West Portland neighborhood was not created until about 1910. This was after the 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition which had brought fame and money to the area (and Portland in general.) The neighborhood was created by one intrepid investor who used high pressure hoses to wash major parts of the west hills down to fill in Lake Greely and the swamps and wet lands in the area.

[mack0174]

As you seen from others' posts, many of the first-tier neighborhoods close to downtown would fit the bill for you. I just moved to the Irvington neighborhood in NE Portland this summer, and we love it here. Many of the old homes in the neighborhood are on the National Register of Historic Places. See links below for more information about Irvington:

Irvington Home Tour - 2008 Virtual Tour Overview
Irvington Home Tour - National Register Buildings (http://www.irvingtonhometour.com/NationalRegister/NationalRegisterBuildings.shtml - broken link)
Portland Neighborhoods: Irvington

[philwithbeard]

Sullivan's Gulch, NE Broadway about NE 23rd or 24th.
Early 20th century homes..Big, large many bedroom houses.
And a few that need major remodeling, TLC, and lot of money to update.

Note, this area is just west of a major area hospital and is easy bicycle distance by medical professionals during mild weather, and easy bus ride during inclement weather. Don't even think, or believe, you will find lots of choices in that neighborhood for you to choose from if you are a buying old homes type of person.