California has its Eichler homes, Oregon has its Rummers.
Developed by Pacific Northwest builder Robert Rummer, the midcentury modern homes take a similar approach to the thousands that 20th-century California developer Joseph Eichler built. Often completed in clusters, the post-and-beam Rummer homes sometimes feel like “a little California neighborhood, but … in the middle of Portland,” said Modern Homes Collective broker Marisa Swenson.
The Rummers also boast tell-tale midcentury traits: They are single-story, have open floor plans, and prioritize outdoor access, vaulted ceilings, and big windows. Those expansive panes of glass can draw homebuyers to the style, explained Swenson, especially in cloudy Portland. “A lot of it is the light. I mean, that’s what I hear from my clients.”
Other buyers are “specifically looking for Rummer,” she continued. And while there are a couple hundred Rummers scattered around the Pacific Northwest, some buyers “would go with something Rummer-esque, just to get those details — the wood ceilings … the connection to nature.”
Rarity aside, Rummers can come with the requisite drawbacks of many midcentury homes — aging mechanical systems, outdated insulation, well-worn finishes — so finding one that’s extensively renovated and ushered into the 21st century remains unusual.
“We just don’t see a whole lot of that come to the market,” she said. “I know there are a whole lot of people who do this to their own and then live in them for a very long time, but we just don’t get a lot that we get to resell.”
When the do resell, the homes attract interest. Case in point: Swenson listed a 1966 Rummer at 8475 SW Bohmann Parkway for $1.42 million, and it got a now-pending offer within days.
Seller updated the Rummer home but kept original quirks
With its original design inspired by architect Claude Oakland’s Eichler “Gallery Model,” the Bohmann Parkway Rummer has its original four bedrooms and two bathrooms arranged on one story. At 2,537 square feet, it’s one of the largest Rummer floor plans, meaning that its seller had plenty of canvas to work with when she overhauled the home after purchasing it in 2021 for $873,000.
Using a sensitive touch, the seller, who is the studio director at locally based Jessica Helgerson Interior Design, updated systems, swapped out appliances, and selected materials that, while period-appropriate, helped bounce daylight around the interior.
The space “feels really light and bright even without lights on during the day in our gray climate,” Swenson said.
The seller kept the home’s defining features, Swenson noted, particularly its vaulted ceiling with exposed tongue-and-groove slats and skylights. In some areas, she also utilized modern technology to enhance the midcentury design features, such as installing a folding NanaWall glass door that opens onto the backyard patio, thereby strengthening the connection to nature.
One of the home’s bathrooms features a quirky design element: an expansive glass window that looks out into the yard. Even Swenson had questions when she first toured the property, but fencing that wraps the yard ensures privacy, she explained — plus, the home’s original builders sited the house with the feature in mind.
“The way that they put these homes into the lots was designed for privacy,” the agent said. The neighboring property “is a step down … so you can have that privacy.”
It was a rare, quick sell in a slower market
When Swenson listed the Bohmann Parkway Rummer on Oct. 3, she prepared its sellers for at least a few weeks on the market.
Portland’s market “is moving quite a bit slower,” Swenson said, and homes priced over $1 million are moving “a lot slower.” Sometimes the wait is worth it: The agent listed a different Rummer, and it took about three weeks before the offers trickled in — but then the home sold over the list price.
This Bohmann Parkway listing is moving much more quickly, Swenson said. The home had a pending offer in six days, according to the Homes.com listing.
“People understand it and appreciate it,” she said. Still, seeing it “move quickly, which is kind of rare for this market over $1 million,” that’s heartening.