914 12th Street

WILLIAM STOEVER HOUSE -- Statement of Significance: A native of Germany, William Stoever (1839-1922) sold insurance and real estate. His wife Louise was a cook in the Oregon City Hospital. Stoever purchased the property in 1887, but the house was not built until approximately 1903. The couple retained the property until 1930, when the Zion Lutheran Church of Oregon City took ownership. After the church transferred the property in 1943, it changed hands every few years for the rest of the 1940s and into the 1950s. In 1954 the house was bought by Martha Stokes, an employee of the Oregon City Hospital. Stokes occupied the residence for the remainder of the historic period, selling the property in 1971.

This one story house is a modest interpretation of the Queen Anne style, sitting under a front gable roof with a shallow hip over the front porch on the north façade. This porch runs almost the full width of the house, with chamfered posts supporting the hip roof. A stick balustrade runs between the posts, which also feature scroll cut brackets just below the blank frieze. The house rests on a concrete foundation, with a full water table providing a transition from the foundation to the channel drop siding that is finished with cornerboards. The eaves on the main gable are enclosed above wide frieze and rake boards. The windows are primarily 1/1 double-hung wood sash with wide board surrounds, but three windows on the north and west side of the house have been replaced and enlarged, now containing fixed wood sashes. The original windows typically feature wide trim with decorative hood molding and narrow projecting sills with a 1/4 round apron molding, but the new windows have wide trim with decorative edge molding and a wide apron board. A shed roof addition has been made to the south end of the west side, covering a rear entry to the house and providing a little more interior space.

This property is a locally designated historic site located within the McLoughlin Conservation District. Contact ocplanning@orcity.org for more information.