About Salem's Historic Salem

I love old homes.

I love the details and wondering what the owners were like 100 years ago. I like seeing the original water closet as it is reminiscent of our past and where we have come from. Salem has several designated historic districts, including one downtown. We have two residential historic districts Bush Park/Gaity Hill and Court-Chemeketa.

Last year I helped a local buyer purchase an old home. Completely neglected, this home was the blight of the historic district. Inside the original wood floors, window panes, and trim screamed for someone to restore the home. The claw foot tub would eagerly await a new owner.

Buying in a historic district comes with some rules. Currently Fairmount Hills has an application for the National historic Register. Even if the home is not on the national register, in can be a local landmark.



If you want to purchase an historic home you need to be aware of these rules. They do make remodeling and updating the exterior of a historic home more difficult. The goal of the historic district is to preserve a piece of our past. Maintaining the essence of these homes is part of agreeing to live there. This is also important to research if you want to purchase a home. It is possible that the previous homeowner made some changes that would make it be a non-contributing property.

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While it sounds difficult, living in the Historic Districts has some benefits. The property and homeowner may be eligible for City of Salem rehabilitation funds, or low interest, and no interest loans as well. There are also some tax advantages to owning one of these homes. All I ask is that if you remodel the interior of the home, please keep it in character with the home. I've seen many remodels that were better described as remuddles.

Many new construction homes here in Salem Oregon are referred to as Craftsman. Some have elements of the Arts and Crafts movement (AKA Craftsman), but most are not Craftsman homes.

When talking about Crafstman homes, most people think of the Craftsman Bungalow, but a Craftsman doesn't have to be a bungalow and not all bungalows are craftsmans.

The first bungalows were designed by William Gibbons Preston in 1879 on Cade Cod. Bungalows were built in the early 20th century, and have the following features:

•· Low pitched roof

•· One and a half stories

•· Living room is in the center of the house. This is a hallmark feature.

•· Rooms that connect to each other without hallways

•· Built-ins (cabinets, hutches, window seats,etc).

A bungalow is about the efficiency of the floor plan.


The turn of the century saw a shift from the more ornate Victorian homes and Greek Revival homes to a simpler and basic home. That shift was the basis for the Arts and Crafts movement. A home that is considered to be of the Arts and Crafts movement, or Craftsman will have many of the following features:

• A low pitched roof
• A natural siding such as wood, stone or stucco
• A front porch with thick, usually square but can be round, columns
• Exposed roof rafters
• Wide eaves
• Stone elements on the porch supports
• An exterior chimney made with stone rather than brick
• A lot of windows
• Open floor plans
• Ceilings with beams
• Darker woods and wainscoting
• Built-ins.

Many newer construction homes here in Salem are inspired by that movement, but don't have enough characteristics to be called a Craftsman.

Here locally, you can see examples of Craftsman homes located in Fairmount Hills, Bush Park, Englewood, Richmond, Highland, and of course the Historic District.

You can't help but think of England and Robin Hood when you see a Tudor style home. Bows and arrows, long rustling skirts, and lavish feasts invade my imagination when I see these homes.

Based on Medieval architecture, Tudor homes have a distinct style. The large exterior beams are false half-beams for decoration, but in medieval times, those beams actually supported the weight of the building.

Our Tudor homes were built in the time period of 1890-1940, which makes them part of the Tudor Revival time period. They have many or all of these features.

1. Half-timbers. In medieval times, these timbers were part of the support structure, now they are purely decorative in nature.
2. Steep pitched roofs, usually an 8-12 slope.
3. Tall and narrow windows.
4. Small window panes
5. Large chimneys sometimes with decorative chimney tops called chimney pots.
6. Cross gables (meaning it has a front and a side gable)
7. Stucco, or masonry exterior

In Salem we have a few examples of this architecture around town. Most of these homes are located in the Fairmount, Bush Park, and Englewood neighborhoods.

Tea and crumpets anyone?

I recently had a gentleman call me about two lots I have listed for sale for a client. There are some restrictions on the type of home that can be built. As the man was talking about what he wanted to build, I stated "that sounds like a Cape Cod style home." Unfortunately, he did not know what that was and so I started to try and describe the features to him.

Cape Cod styles homes were built by English Colonists who arrived in America in the late 1600's. They were modeled after homes in England, but had to be modified for the storms of New England. What emerged is what we refer to as Cape Cod.

Cape Cod Homes have the following features:

• A steep pitch roof (8-12) that has side gables. When you look at this roof, you think "I need to hire someone to blow my leaves off. I'm NOT getting on that." When that thought jumps into your head you are looking at an 8-12 slope roof.
• The homes are 1 to 1 ½ stories. When you walk into an upstairs that has lower, angled roofs that feels cozy, you might be in a cape cod.
• They originally had a large CENTRAL chimney for more effective heating, but revival homes tend to have the chimney on the end.
• They have symmetrical appearance to the exterior. Windows are evenly spaced. The door is in the center.
• They were originally made of clapboard siding or shingles.
• The windows have grids/multi-paned glass.
• They have shutters which were originally used to protect the glass during storms. In revival homes they are strictly decorative.
• Very basic with little ornamentation.

Salem is fortunate to have some of these examples here locally. They are especially stunning when homeowners have been able to preserve the original hardwood floors. You can't help but walk into one of these homes and feel like curling up with a good book.

For examples of the Cape Cod style, you can walk around the Bush Park neighborhood, Englewood, and Fairmount Hills for some wonderfully maintained homes.