Those Places Thursday: 3615 E. Burnside, An Ewald Pape Design

This lovely home, at 3615 East Burnside in Portland, Oregon, on the corner of Laurelhurst, is one of the earlier designs of my architect first-cousin-twice-removed, Ewald Theodore Pape (1894-1976).

This house is listed in the Oregon Historic Sites Database as the "J. P. Griffin House."  The first mention I found of the home was in the March 28, 1926, Portland Oregonian, which stated, "Oscar Earlson will construct for J. P. Griffin a two-story $14,000 residence at 1111 East Burnside Street."  This was the address of the home prior to the 1932-1934 Portland street renumbering.

Below is the plumbing permit for the house, dated April 20, 1926, showing Griffin as the owner:

Griffin apparently did not own the house for very long.  The final plumbing inspection was September 1, 1926, and there is an ad in the April 17, 1927 Oregonian advertising the house as one of "3 of Portland's Beauties:

If you think you must look at the outside - drive by....These are fine corner homes, the outside of which may convey some impression of their enchanting interior.  Every latest modern new detail, priced at cost and down about as low as about half of replacement cost;" with a follow-up ad on April 21 adding "Large corners, up to 2-3 acre; new enchanting interiors, 2 and 3 baths, auto. heat and every latest modern new detail to mahogany floors."

The picture below is from the City of Portland Historic Resource Inventory, and is from around May 1980.  

The house was on the list for architectural significance, with a style called English Cottage, including such features as:

Steeply pitched hip roof with curvilinear gable forming hoods over second story windows.  Roof extends downward on west elevation [see the next two photos] to form porch.  Round-headed door with curvilinear hood and leaded glass sidelights.  Decorative recessed arches over ground-floor windows.  Decorative stucco molding on chimneys.  Exterior finish of smooth stucco.

It appears that Edwin Alvin Neupert (1887-1974), bought the house about 1927 - he is listed at this address in the 1928 Portland city directory.  In 1928, the Consolidated Supply Company started as a consolidation of four different supply houses operating in Portland, Oregon, employing E. A. Neupert as Vice-President and General Manager (Oregonian, March 11, 1928).  During the Depression, the Neupert family purchased ownership of the company, which remains a family operation to this day.

Neupert had three talented and successful children.  Oldest son Karl Frederic Neupert (1912-1978) was at the top of his graduating class at the U. S. Naval Academy (Oregonian, May 24, 1933), and served as a commander during World War II.  In the same war, youngest son Jack Granville Neupert (1921-1992) served in the Army's 65th Division and "was decorated for remaining at his observation post in a church steeple to direct enemy artillery fire in covering a patrol crossing the Saar river on March 12, 1945" (Oregonian, September 2, 1945).  Middle daughter Ruth Marion Neupert Olivera (born 1916) was also a top student, both in high school (Oregonian, May 26, 1933) and at Stanford (Oregonian, October 18, 1936).

Edwin and his wife Wilhelmina "Minnie" C. Heins Neupert (1885–1969)  were still living in the house when they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in December 1961 (Oregonian, December 22, 1961).  At that point, they had ten grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.  Minnie, active in the Rose City Park Community Presyterian Church (numerous mentions in the Oregonian), died in the house on June 5, 1969.  Her obituary in the June 7 Oregonian noted that "She resided at the same Portland address for more than 40 years."

Edwin continued to live in the house for a few more years before his death, putting on the market in June 1973.  An ad in the Oregonian on the 17th of that month described it as "English Elegance! ...Traditional 1 owner family home w-4-5 bdrms, 3 2-3 baths, lg living rm w-marble frplc, paneled study, w-frplc, formal dining, bsmnt, dbl gar, sprinklers."  A July 29 ad listed it for $49,000 and called it a "Laurelhurst [the subdivision] Tudor," adding that it had a breakfast room, "polished mahogany floors," and was on a 100-foot by 100-foot double lot (so not quite 2-3 acres).

The house has five bedrooms, five bathrooms (three full, one half, and one quarter), is 4,731 square feet, and last sold for $625,000 in February 2012.  Some 2010 photos of the interior are here.

The Portland Historic Resource Inventory states that the 1925 original plans by Ewald are in the City of Portland Bureau of Buildings (now Development Services) microfiche collection - I will *have* to check those out the next time I am in Portland!

© Amanda Pape - 2018 - click here to e-mail me.