After retiring to Portland in 1953, corporate leader Ira Keller engaged architect Roscoe Hemenway to construct an elevated trophy home and became a major figure in the urban development of the city.
Since then, generations of his family have resided in the 6,000-square-foot estate in the Hillsdale neighborhood of southwest Portland, which is also the namesake of the Keller Auditorium, Keller Fountain, and Keller Foundation.
For the first time, the four-acre property is up for sale. The price tag is $4.25 million.
Listing broker Patrick Clark of Inhabit Real Estate stated that the adjacent 4.12-acre buildable lot, which is for sale at $1 million, can be purchased to extend the property at 4700 S.W. Northwood Ave., which consists of two tax lots of 3.65 and 0.24 acres.
A broader land trust that stretches to Terwilliger Boulevard includes an extra 26 acres of the original estate that were given to the Nature Conservancy.
Constructed in 1955, the mansion overlooks the city and provides views of the Willamette River, the Portland cityscape, Mount Adams, and Mounts Hood.
Hemenway was a well-respected and well-known architect from Portland who was well-known for his majestic designs, meticulous details, and the elegant way he placed a home on the property. He created English Tudors and other traditional home types, particularly Colonial Revival homes, during his 1923–1959 career.
The Keller home, which can host a party with over 100 guests, is filled with vibrant, energizing hues, Clark added.
On the second floor are the main suite and two more suites. The lower family level has two additional bedrooms, a bathroom, and storage spaces.
According to Clark, the separate guest house features a kitchen, bathroom, and laundry room that may accommodate visitors or multigenerational living for either short-term or long-term stays.
There is a swimming pool among the outside entertainment areas.
The buyer of the historic Portland view estate, which has been meticulously cared for for 70 years, enjoys vintage buildings, Clark told The Oregonian/OregonLive.
Clark told The Oregonian/OregonLive that the property’s history, views, roomy accommodations, and indoor and outdoor entertainment choices would also appeal to the second owner.
Ira Keller in Portland
Portland businessman Ira Keller in 1969.The person from Oregon
Ira Keller was the controversial, dedicated, and authoritarian chair of the Portland Development Commission from 1958 to 1972, according to the Oregon Historical Society’s online Oregon Encyclopedia.
Prior to his arrival in Oregon, Keller was already successful. During World War I, he served in the U.S. Army after being born in Portland, Maine, in 1899. Following his graduation from New York’s Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, he advanced through the ranks of national companies such as Union Carbide and Westinghouse Electric Co.
He began working for Container Corporation of America in Chicago in 1926, and by 1946, he was the executive vice president of the company that made corrugated boxes.
In order to slow down, Keller and his wife, Lauretta, moved to Portland after he resigned from the company in 1953. However, he didn’t.
He had a lumber mill in Albany the next year and was one of the founders of the Western Kraft paper products company. The Oregonian reports that the company, which was the first in the US to use waste wood chips as a raw material, eventually became a crucial component of Willamette Industries, which has 100 industrial sites.
Keller was appointed the inaugural chair of the Portland Development Commission in 1958 by then-Mayor Terry Schrunk in an effort to revive run-down areas.
50 downtown blocks of residences, businesses, churches, and synagogues were demolished as part of the 110-acre South Auditorium Urban Renewal project to provide room for high-rises and other structures close to the city center. Keller Fountain replaced Forecourt Fountain as its new name.
Keller remained a business and civic leader after leaving the Portland Development Commission in 1972.
He served as the first chairman of the advisory council of the University of Oregon Health Sciences Center, the founder and chairman emeritus of the Foundation of Oregon Research and Education, the chairman of the Oregon Graduate Center for Study and Research, and the chairman of the board of Western Sales Co.
He was a member of the Portland Citizens Committee, Portland Metropolitan Steering Committee, Oregon Department of Development, and Committee on Race and Education advisory committees.
In addition, he was a trustee of the Oregon State University Foundation and the director of the Western Forestry Association.
died in 1978 at the age of 79.
During swim hours, Lauretta Taylor Keller, a Presbyterian minister’s daughter, would invite neighbors to their pool. At age 79, she passed away in 1983.
The house was occupied by Richard Dick Keller, the son of Ira and Lauretta. In recognition of Dick and his family’s contributions, the Portland Municipal Auditorium was renamed Keller Auditorium in 2000.
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Janet Eastman writes on trends and design. You can follow her on X@janeteastman and contact her at 503-294-4072 and [email protected].
