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WATZEK HOUSE

COMPLETED WITH
Jeremy Ebersole, Brandon Geiger, Branden Gunn, Alicia Sanhueza, Erin Swicegood
AAAP 510 |   WINTER  2019

The Watzek House, designed by Jeon Yeon, was gifted to the University of Oregon’s College of Design in 1996 and has hosted tours, research, field school, and housed faculty and students of the Historic Preservation program. It is in the west hills of Portland, Oregon located on Skyline Boulevard. In winter 2019, students from the Historic Preservation and Architecture programs at the University of Oregon – Portland developed a Building Preservation Plan (BPP) for the Watzek House. It was created to bring awareness to the lack of scheduled and planned maintenance of the house. The goal of the BPP report is to guide restorations and stewardship plans for the College of Design. The report outlines the historical significance of the property, current condition assessment and treatment recommendations. Case studies with similar ownership histories were found to guide stewardship proposals. Proposed uses and
funding strategies were evaluated to help utilize the Watzek House as an asset for the College of Design.

This Building Preservation Plan was developed to summarize the conditions of the building, bring attention to a lack of scheduled and planned maintenance, and stewardship plans for the house. This BPP will help guide the College of Design in making decisions pertaining to the longevity of the house. This report aims to put the Watzek House back to its original condition and create stable funding strategies that it will continue to be an asset to the city of Portland and the University of Oregon.

This report includes the Watzek House’s historical background, an assessment of its current condition, treatment recommendations and maintenance, and a stewardship model. The condition assessment was completed using visual inspections and field recording.
Photographs were taken, as well as descriptive summaries were used to record the conditions. Treatment recommendations were determined from previous recommendations from the original agreement with the addition of occurring maintenance issues that have arisen. Stewardship strategies explores potential pathways to better utilize the house for the College of Design.

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