By Joanne Brody
“I was born to live in this house.” The owner of the Brainard House, at 54th & Morrison, is clearly fond of her old home. The house, which has been nominated for the National Register, has been looking better thanks to the owners, who have lived in and lovingly tended to the house since 1978.

The notable character of the Brainard House makes it a neighborhood trea-sure, and the owners feel a responsibility to keep the home in good condition. Although the house has been nothing but a challenge in the effort to keep ahead of maintenance and idiosyncrasies, all are accepted gladly for the joy of living in the house of their dreams and rescuing an old house from decay and demise.

The Queen Anne–style house was built in 1888 by the Brainard brothers, Portland merchants and nurserymen. They built this second home as a reflec-tion of their increasing wealth and outfitted the home with all the amenities available at the time: six bedrooms, fir floors, a fireplace, central air and heating systems, and a modern kitchen and butler’s pantry. The large living room boasts redwood pocket doors with delicate, floral-detailed brass hard-ware. A spacious front parlor was used for music playing and concerts.

Subsequent owners put their mark on the home, renovating and updating its amenities as building technology evolved. Two cottages were later added on the property, further down 54th, in order to house servants.

The exterior features of the home are much as they were in 1888, except for a missing tower roof and window shutters. The owners recently spent four years painting the wood clapboard exterior; they had researched the typical colors of a Victorian-era home, but ended up painting it the colors they liked—blue, cream, and burgundy.

The owners of the Brainard House have performed a public service with all their labors in preserving this home. We offer our thanks to them as we stroll past this magnificent structure and are reminded that beauty from another age still moves us today.