Charles and Fae Olson House

The Charles and Fae Olson House is a historic house in Gresham, Oregon, United States. Designed and hand-built by the novice owner-occupant as his version of the "dream house" that sustained many men and women overseas during World War II, its modern styling embodies the breaks with tradition embraced by the generation returning from the war. The main outlines of the plan were developed during mail correspondence between Charles Olson and his wife Fae while he was serving in the Pacific, and many features are patterned on the books and magazines available to him. The Olsons' willingness to devote their own labor to its construction allowed them to avoid the constraints of commercial and government financing, which favored standardized suburban tract construction during the immediate postwar period, and to flexibly adapt to the material shortages of the time.[1][2]

Charles and Fae Olson House
Photograph of a flat-roofed house elevated on a slope in a wooded setting
The Olson House in 2015
Locator map
Locator map
Location in Gresham, Oregon
Location765 SW Walters Road
Gresham, Oregon
Coordinates45°29′30″N 122°26′02″W
Area1.5 acres (0.61 ha) (approx.)[1]
Built1946 (begun)
1957 (finished)[1]
Built byCharles Olson
ArchitectCharles Olson
Architectural styleModern
NRHP reference No.07000921
Added to NRHPSeptember 7, 2007

The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.[3]

See also

References
  1. Olson, Gregg (April 29, 2007), National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Olson, Charles and Fae, House (PDF), retrieved September 26, 2014.
  2. Franzen, Robin (May 26, 2008), "Building their American dream in a time of war", The Oregonian, Portland, retrieved September 26, 2014.
  3. National Park Service (September 14, 2007). "Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 9/04/07 through 9/07/07". Retrieved September 26, 2014.
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