06.24.2024

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79º | 10% chance of precipitation
Sunrise 5:22 a.m. | Sunset 9:03 p.m.
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🚪 Opening a door to the past

Step inside Portland’s historic Johan Poulsen House

A Victorian-style house painted blue with white trim featuring a balcony-topped turret overlooks several freeway lanes next to the Willamette River.

Johan Poulsen’s business partner Robert Inman built an identical Queen Anne on the same bluff overlooking the Willamette River, but it was demolished in the 1950s to make room for a parking lot. | Photo by Cambrie Juarez, PDXtoday

Telling Portland’s stories often requires exploring neighborhoods on foot and bumping into people with stories to share. Such was the case when we were photographing local Queen Anne homes and caught the attention of the owner of one of Portland’s most recognizable landmarks.

“Would we like a personal tour of the Johan Poulsen House?” Our answer was a resounding yes.

Situated at the east end of the Ross Island Bridge on a rise overlooking Southeast McLoughlin Boulevard, the Poulsen House is, in true Victorian fashion, anything but inconspicuous. Its blue-and-white facade looms over commuters as they travel down the east bank of the Willamette River.

The home has a turbulent history, having never housed its namesake original owner after it was built in 1892. Today, it serves as an office for owner and wealth management advisor Charlene Quaresma.

A slideshow of images taken inside the Johan Poulsen House in Southeast Portland. — Johan Poulsen sold the home two years after its completion, possibly due to the Great Panic of 1893 or his wife simply not liking it.
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Photos by Cambrie Juarez, PDXtoday

After buying the home in 2021, Quaresma went to work renovating its many rooms and levels. Flooring needed to be reinforced, leaks needed to be fixed in the roof, city codes appeased, and so on.

But alongside the improvements, Quaresma unleashed her unique creativity, installing designer wallpaper, making Victorian-inspired lamps, and bringing in vintage furnishings, while respecting the home’s original features. You’ll still find intricate woodwork around doorways, fireplaces, and stairwells, a chandelier that rises and lowers via counterweight, stained glass window accents, and a 19th-century intercom system.

Walking through the Poulsen House is an interactive history lesson full of intrigues. The third floor once housed a ballroom; a narrow stairwell hidden behind a tiny door leads to nowhere. In the basement, a wine cellar from the 1920s speaks to Portland’s Prohibition-era past while kitchen infrastructure hints at the team of staff once employed to keep the house running.

Altogether, there’s plenty of room to reminisce about a time long past.

Asked

The Johan Poulsen House was once owned by a distant relative of which former US president?

Herbert Hoover
James K. Polk
Barack Obama
Grover Cleveland

Pick a president

Events

Monday, June 24

Letter Writing Social | Monday, June 24 | 4:30-6:30 p.m. | Literary Arts, 925 SW Washington St., Portland | Free | “Dear (insert your pen pal’s name), I’m writing to you from a borrowed typewriter while surrounded by others who share our love of snail mail.”

Tuesday, June 25

Viola Masterclass with Paul Neubauer | Tuesday, June 25 | 9 a.m. | University of Portland, Mago Hunt Recital Hall, 5000 N. Willamette Blvd., Portland | Free | Follow along as the master musician who was made principal violist of the New York Philharmonic at age 21 coaches four Young Artist Institute students.

Wednesday, June 26

Yes You Can Preserving Food Safely | Wednesday, June 26-Wednesday, Aug. 28 | Times vary | Heritage Farm, 1919 NE 78th St., Vancouver | Free | Learn how to freeze, preserve, and dry summer berries, from knowing what to look for in the field or at markets to making jams and jellies.
West End Wednesdays | Wednesday, June 26 | 5-8 p.m. | Locations vary, Portland | Free | Connect with neighbors and business owners in downtown Portland at this monthly event featuring discounts and specials at 20+ shops and restaurants.

Thursday, June 27

Last Thursday | Thursday, June 27 | 6-9 p.m. | Locations vary, Northeast Alberta Street, Portland | Free | Artists, art vendors, musicians, performers, and visitors will spill into a car-free Northeast Alberta Street for an evening of revelry.

Friday, June 28

Oregon Midsummer Festival | Friday, June 28-Saturday, June 29 | Times vary | Nordic Northwest, 8800 SW Oleson Rd., Portland | $5-$19 | Bring the whole family to experience Scandinavian festivities steeped in centuries-old traditions, like pole raising, flower crown making, and dancing ‘round a bonfire.

Events calendar here

Click here to have your event featured.

Festival

🎶 This Beethoven-inspired festival is a symphony of success

Grab single or subscription tickets to experience the work of chamber musicians from across the globe. | Photos provided by Chamber Music Northwest; GIF created by PDXtoday

Mark your calendars, Portland: The 54th annual Summer Festival: The Beethoven Effect returns this month.

This jam-packed event (happening Thursday, June 27-Sunday, July 28) features 70+ artists celebrating the composer’s modern impact on chamber music.

From piano and horn to percussion, attendees will be immersed in 60+ dynamic events, including:

Free community concerts
Violin, percussion + French horn masterclasses
Garden chamber parties

Pro tip: Don’t miss the picnics held before Reed College performances.

Snag single tickets or opt for a multi-concert subscription.

Start summer on a high note

News Notes

Traffic

All lanes of Interstate 5 will close this weekend in Southwest Portland for construction. The closure will impact a stretch of freeway between the Southwest Terwilliger Boulevard and OR 99W/Southwest Barbur Boulevard exits from 9 p.m. Friday, June 28 until 5 a.m. Monday, July 1. (The Oregonian/Oregon Live)

Community

If you’ve lived here long enough, you might remember riding the Washington Park and Zoo Railway along its original route, which included a second station and segment through Washington Park no longer in use. A nonprofit group wants to restore the route — an effort estimated to cost at least $2 million. (KGW)

Development

A forthcoming commerce and trade hub that seeks to “restore Native peoples’ connection to the Willamette River,” among other things, has its architecture team. Three Indigenous architects form the backbone of The Collaborative and will work to secure permits for the Center for Tribal Nations, located within the future OMSI District redevelopment. (OPB)

Award

A Columbia County man has found his true calling. This month, Tony Gilbertson of Vernonia won the 2024 World Elk Calling Championship after going pro just a few years ago. He’s already looking ahead to next year’s contest, but acknowledges there’s “a big target on my back now.” (KGW)

Watch

A new episode of “MasterChef” airs this Wednesday, June 26 — and two Portland contestants will be in the kitchen. Yoga instructor Sunshine Carlos passed the audition round with a dish she said was meant to honor her Indigenous heritage, advancing to join Jeet Kaur Sawant, a local senior human relations specialist. (The Oregonian/Oregon Live)

Concert

Sabrina Carpenter will pay Portland a visit on The Short n’ Sweet Tour. The “Please Please Please” singer, whose 2023 concert at Keller Auditorium was canceled over a bomb threat, will perform at the Moda Center on Thursday, Nov. 7. General ticket sales open at 10 a.m. this Friday. (KGW)

Sports

Shaedon Sharpe missed the train for Team Canada’s 2024 Summer Olympics campaign — but could any other Blazers be Paris-bound? Listen to Locked On Blazer’s daily podcast for an expert’s opinion.

Film

Off the page + onto the big screen

Hillsboro’s LAIKA Studios to adapt best-selling fantasy novel

Cover art from the book "Piranesi" featuring a faun playing a flute.

Piranesi won the 2021 Women’s Prize for Fiction. | Book art via Bloomsbury Publishing

The local stop-motion animation studio known for award-winning films like “Coraline” and “ParaNorman” will breathe life into a new project rooted in the literary world.

LAIKA said it recently acquired the rights to “Piranesi,” a 2020 fantasy novel by English author Susanna Clarke (who also wrote “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell”). The film adaptation is set to be directed by LAIKA President and CEO Travis Knight.

The story follows its namesake character as he searches for something hidden in a mysterious, parallel universe presented as a never-ending house where clouds occupy the upper level and an ocean fills the lower.

“Piranesi is a treasure, and very dear to me,” said Knight. “As a filmmaker, I can scarcely imagine a more joyful experience than wandering through the worlds Susanna dreamed into being.”

Knight is currently directing “Wildwood,” which still doesn’t have a release date, so “Piranesi” won’t be available for at least a few years.

The Buy

The Buy 6.24.24 (Affiliate + Six & Main)

Colorful margarita glasses that are shatterproof — aka, perfect for outdoor pool parties.

The Wrap

Today’s edition by:
Cambrie

From the editor

Strawberries are on my mind, and who can blame me? From seeing the full “strawberry moon” to discovering Southeast Portland’s Strawberry Museum, I can’t get enough of the summery treats (and the plants in my backyard can’t keep up with demand). Here’s a recipe from OPB for buttermilk cake topped with strawberry-linden blossom compote — sorry-not-sorry for making you hungry.

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