On Sept. 27 Doris Odell and Brad Perkins of the Eugene City Housing and Community
Conservation lifted, separated and transported two 50 and 70-year-old homes from
Photo by Bob Baker
their foundations at 10th Avenue and Ferry Street to a site five blocks south in the West
University Neighborhood.
Moving up -
moving out
The HCC renovates,
relocates 3 houses
By BARBARA SELBY
OMtaEiiwnM
Taking three houses and dividing them into seven
apartments sounds like the familiar landlord game, but
try to move them 10 blocks, renovate them according to
housing-code standards and then create "a harmon
ious structure of seven living units "
The above project currently is being undertaken in
the West University Neighborhood by Doris Odell and
Brad Perkins, of the Eugene City Housing and Com
munity Conservation Perkins also designs and super
vises Oregonized Design Renovate, the firm that will
coordinate where the houses will go on their new lot
Two of the houses, a white prairie-style structure
built in 1910 and a brown bunglaow built in 1930, were
moved Sept 27 from a lot at 1035 Ferry St to join a third
house at 1561 Ferry St
Odell, owner of the lot at 1561 Ferry St., purchased
two of the houses prior to the move She says she is
pleased with the project plans
“It's the idea of saving something instead of des
troying it and starting over," she says
"Inside, some of the things are just beautiful It's
going to turn out really nice — the plans and the
intentions are good
"The buildings should be an asset to the neigh
borhoods," she adds
Robert Thomas, director of Neighborhood
Development of HCC shares Odell's enthusiasm about
the rehabilitation
"It preserves the quality of the neighborhood and
brings the neighborhood density up," Thomas says
"This project is preserving three structures It costs
more money and energy to replace them."
But along with enthusiasm comes hard work
"It has been a real battle all the way," Perkins says
“It was just a tremendous task to pull all the strings and
have all this happen together Timing, plans, money,
support Neighborhood committees Getting the build
ings to move, the right property, right owners, and doing
it all to beat the rain "
His work has just begun
Foundations need to be poured and roofs rebuilt A
garden and lawn will replace the current mess of mud
and boards
The houses' interiors look no better — more
boards, thread-bare carpets, a fireplace or two. a
claw-foot bathtub and many empty rooms
Come this summer, the disorder will be replaced by
Oreaon Daily Emerald
Photo by Bob Baker
A 1910 prairie-style structure and a 1930 bungalow have headed south for the winter — and probably forever
a small forest, a brick courtyard connecting the three
homes and seven parking spots They will be seven
apartments, ranging in size from one to three be
drooms, all completely redecorated
The houses will be united in design, window style and
paint color, Perkins says He estimates the buildings,
now about 60 years old, will last for 100 more
Perkins likes to emphasize the value of older
structures, which society ignores
“Older buildings are built very well,” he says
“There's beauty in age no matter how old it is."
After graduating from Oregon's School of Archi
tecture in 1975, Perkins travelled through Europe His
time abroad left its mark
"People in other countries respect buildings," he
says. "What I'm trying to do is to bring a little bit of
Europe to Eugene In Europe the texture is so much
different The structure pattern, the design of the
brick "
He says they "fashion it all in a way that helps being
people together informally Making places for people, to
get people closer togetherThere's lots of places to
hide, and not enough to let people say hellb' more
readily.”
Part of that European concept will be incorporated
throughout the courtyard design, including windows,
the front door color scheme, the trellis (a lattice used as
a support for growing vines) and the roof material, he
says The complex "will reflect the European attitude of
beauty and unity ."
While trying to follow traditional styles, Perkin also
plans to include some modern attachments The roofs
will be designed to accommodate future solar-panels
The bottom apartments may be adapted to wheel
chair living Children may live here, and play in the
courtyard, he says
"Right now, people aren't building,” Thomas says
"Projects like this use local supply, local labor. The
loans are local, due to the revolving' account and the
local lender's task force
“We’d like to do more projects like this,” he adds
"The overall goal of HCC is to improve the quality of
living for the residents of the city."
Dana 1