228 Monroe Street

OTTO AND MATILDA DEUTE HOUSE -- Statement of Significance: Otto and Matilda Deute purchased this property in 1890. The Deutes were merchants in Oregon City and operated a store at 707 7th Street. Although the Deutes were most likely the house's original occupants, by 1897, Arthur Deute, a weaver at Oregon City Manufacturing Company, was its resident. Over the next twenty years, the house was deeded back and forth between two couples, the Reils and Giesys, and it is unclear whether either couple ever occupied it. In 1920 George Galahan bought the house and his widow Kate sold it in 1931 to Dan and Nellie Lyons. Gerald and Ruby Fidler bought the house in 1937 and lived there until they sold in 1948. The new owners were Joe Larson, an employee of Publisher's Paper Company, and his wife Helen. The couple resided here with their children lived here from 1948 to at least 1967.

This is a front gabled vernacular house with a south side addition. The rake and corner boards clearly define the original dimensions of the east elevation. The roof was extended to the south and the area underneath filled in with channel siding at the top and vertical grooved plywood under the metal slider window. The house sits on a very sloped lot so that the there is a daylight basement with metal windows on the west side and almost no basement on the back side of the house. The original façade has original one over one double-hung wood windows with a hood and lambs tongues, and a pair of the same below it. The north side has a window with gothic tracery and one multi-light window. There is a detached flat roof garage in front of the house at the street. The house sits at the top of a lot that slopes down towards the street on the west side. There are retaining walls around the yard on the north and west side. Concrete steps along the retaining wall at the north side of the house provide access. There is a detached flat roof garage in front of the house at the street.

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