History lesson

You’d think a man who builds houses for a living would know better than to fall in love with an old one. But John McCulloch is a sucker for a pretty place.

The object of his affection? A Dutch Colonial Revival circa 1912 in the Irvington neighborhood of Northeast Portland.

“The same year,” he notes, “that the Titanic sank.”

The house too was sinking, or at least sagging in the center. Its water pipes had rusted and leaked inside walls. Dry rot had invaded the wood. The wiring was shot. And the grounds were in such bad shape, they’d require 20 dumpsters to cart off the ivy alone.

But the owner of McCulloch Construction was smitten. He bought the house in August 2010.

McCulloch, who almost accepted a position as a writing professor before he turned to buying and renovating homes 19 years ago, drew on both his academic and building expertise for this particular project. He researched. He read. He made a study of the era, the building, the builder and the original owners of the home, before putting his team to work restoring the old house to her glory days and then some.

Elaborate ironwork railings were handwrought by Sol Creations. French doors on the second floor open to a balcony that leads to the old house.The chimney flue was split to make room for a window and small window seat, perfect for curling up with a book from the extensive library.	Books in the library are arranged in order of when they were written to show the evolution of literature.	The original Dutch Colonial Revival-style house built by Frederick Bowman has four large columns on the front porch. McCulloch gave the kitchen/library addition (left of the house) similar columns. The new garage resembles period carriage houses. Photos by John Valls click on photos to view larger

John McCulloch's remodeled Dutch Colonial Revival home in Irvington.The original house has four large columns on the front porch. The kitchen and library addition, to its left, and new garage with second floor office space in foreground, were designed to blend with the Dutch Colonial Revival style in Northeast Portland.PHOTO JOHN VALLS

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