2356 NW Hoyt, Portland Oregon is registered with the National Register of Historic Places as the G. & G. C. House. It is a contributing property in the Historic Alphabet District in Northwest Portland. When we purchased the house in May of 2008, that was the known history of the 1906 home.

Two events have filled in a lot of the history and brought some of the “known” history into question. We acquired the original Abstract of Title by Title and Trust Company through an Ebay auction in late July. The report outlines the property’s ownership history since it was platted in the 1800s. The two deed transfers of note are the April 3, 1906 transfer from the King Estate to Elnathan Sweet (consideration $5500 for lots 11 & 14) and the deed transfer recorded on August 4, 1906: “Elnathan Sweet and Genevieve Chapman Sweet, his wife –to—Robert F. Hall.” The consideration was $3000 for lot 11 (2356 NW Hoyt). Is Elnathan the “G.” of the G. & G.C. House? Elnathan was a know real estate developer.

The second event was a visit to the property by Robert Mercer and James Heuer of Portland State University last Saturday. They are working on a project detailing the works of Portland architect Joseph Jacobberger. We now know that Jaccoberger designed the house and that the nine pages of drawings are housed at the University of Oregon. Jaccoberger was commissioned to draw the plans by Robert Hall. Both names appear on the plans and Hall’s in 1907 Oregonian photograph of the house.

The Abstract shows the list of company stockholders and within the list is Josesh [sic] Jaccoberger, architect. The other stockholders on the list is a who’s who of Portland street names and landmarks: Ainsworth, Corbett, Honeyman, Ladd, and Glisan to name a few.

Think foreclosures are new to the market? Nope. Before the Sweets and Halls became involved in the property the Kings (think King’s Heights and King’s Addition), foreclosed on the sale of a piece of land which included the future 2356 NW Hoyt lot.