Sven Miller built the house in 1892, on land he purchased from Mrs. Irving when she began to develop the Irving Land Claim. When he began to build, this was one of the first homes on all of 15th, all built the same year.
Several Irvington realtors described the house as ‘bull-dozer bait”, but with the McCulloch Foundation’s mission for preservation, we could not let this one go to the land-fill. The home was far enough gone that it could not be saved at a profit, so we saved it at a loss of $500,000, as a legacy gift to our beloved neighborhood! Enjoy, it is a house for the people!
A Tale of Two Trucks
When we began to cut through the 50 years of bamboo and undergrowth, we discovered a truck; a surprise gift from the former owner. Neighbors shared the local legend that a previous truck had been cut from the encroaching jungle a generation before. They donated that wreck to the Portland Opera for a production and bought the old owner a new truck. Over time the jungle overtook this one too!
Haunted House and Sherlock
Permitting in the historic district certainly proved tedious. After over a year of clearing, the house still looked eerily haunted. Making the most of the situation, we put together a fantastic haunted house for the whole neighborhood as a McCulloch Foundation benefit for preservation, affordable housing, and the homeless.
Our haunted house was literally themed on Frankenstein’s lab (featuring real Victorian glassware exhumed from the 1800’s city dump at Alameda Ridge), Nosferatu’s Crypt, and a Sherlock Holmes room where hundreds of visitors used clues to solve mysteries. For the kids of Irvington, we hope we created some life-long memories! John enjoyed being a part of the show, playing the part of Sherlock every night, and interacting with his fellow Irvingtonians.
After Completion
Now this home is restored with modern amenities and period detail, enjoying a second lease on life in celebration of community and architecture.
Gallery
This house is directly behind my dad’s house on 16th. We used to walk down 15th and look at the truck stuck in the bamboo. A man and his wife lived there. We could see through the slats of the fence. It really was a jungle with raccoons living back there. I used to watch them walk on the fence. Amazing transformation. My dad took pictures of the work as you did it from his back windows on the 2nd floor.