The Fried Durkheimer

THE FRIED-DURKHEIMER HOUSE

Built in 1880, the Fried-Durkheimer House (also known as the 1st Morris Marks House) served as a single family home for two decades. For 100 years after, it was operated as a boarding house and apartments. ARCIFORM helped to save it from demolition and moved to its new site in 2017. It is one of the last Italianate town homes still standing in Portland and is now on the National Register of Historic Places, listed as the Fried-Durkheimer House.


HISTORY

This beautiful Italianate town home was built for Polish shoe merchant Morris Marks and his wife Annie in 1880. The Marks family sold the property to Moses and Fanny Fried, and it remained in their family from 1882-1901, passed down to daughter Delia and her husband Julius Durkheimer. Subsequent owners ran the house as a boarding home or apartments, and it later fell into disrepair, vacant with evidence of squatters, in the early 2000s.


Invested in by passionate local preservationists Karen Karlsson, Rich Michaelson and Richard De Wolf, the house went through a complex process to be relocated and restored the house. In 2017, the house was carefully sawn into two pieces, mounted on wheels, and began the journey to its new site on SW Broadway Dr at SW Grant St.

PRESERVATION AND RELOCATION CHALLENGES

Despite strong support for saving the house, numerous challenges stood in the way of progress on this project. Negotiations over deadlines, working with Portland State University and utility service providers, and navigating city ordinances were collectively managed to bring the project to fruition. Thanks to the expertise of Karen and Rick, and with strong backing from the mayor’s office, Nick Fish’s office, and city council, the project shifted into full gear.


ARCIFORM was the design/build firm managing the project, from recording existing conditions to prepping it for dis- and re-assembly, then reassembling and rehabilitating the house, we preserved as much of the original materials as possible and transformed it into commercial spaces. This beautiful architectural treasure is now visible from all sides to the many passers-by.


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2020 DeMuro Award Winning Project


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