What is it like living in Eastmoreland, and what are the houses like?
English Cottages, Colonial Revivals and a historic listing that took years to land. Here's what the houses are, and what the listing means if you own one.
By Jake Goodson and Tony Le · Updated October 19, 2026
The short answer: Eastmoreland is a streetcar-era neighborhood platted in 1909, mostly period-revival houses built between 1910 and 1961, and it has been on the National Register since December 2022. Here's what that listing does and doesn't change for an owner, and what to ask the city before you bid.
If you love an old house with a steep roof and a door you'd want to knock on, somebody has probably already told you about Eastmoreland. Somebody has probably also told you there was a fight over it becoming historic. Both are true. Here's what we can tell you about the houses, and about what the fight left behind for a buyer.
The houses
Eastmoreland was platted in 1909, in the streetcar era. Most of its houses went up between 1910 and 1961, and the bulk of them between 1921 and 1952, according to the district's National Register nomination.
The nomination calls Period Revival the most popular style in the district, with English Cottage, Tudor, Mediterranean and American Colonial houses, and fewer Craftsman bungalows, Minimal Traditional and Ranch houses. Colonial Revival is the second most common grouping, with 269 properties surveyed.
In plain words, the English Cottage is the storybook one, the house you'd draw if someone asked you for a cottage. The Colonial Revival is the tidy one, with a front door in the middle and windows lined up on either side, the house that combed its hair for the photo. If you've been calling the storybook ones Tudors, the nomination does too for the ones with decorative half-timbering in the front gable. Same family, different house.
The district covers about 475 acres. The nomination counts 1,016 contributing buildings, 264 noncontributing buildings and 4 contributing sites. A contributing building was built between 1910 and 1961 and still reads as that house. A noncontributing one is inside the district but was built outside those years or has been altered past recognition.
The Springwater Corridor is part of the neighborhood's story too. Portland Parks names Eastmoreland among the communities that grew up along the old rail line the trail follows.
Look at the roof edge before you look at the kitchen. The nomination describes rolled eaves that droop over the main floor, flared and hipped roofs, and cedar shingles. That's where these builders spent their effort, and it's the first thing to check when you ask how old the roof is and whether the last owner who re-roofed kept the shape.
Our pick is the Tudor, the one with the half-timbered gable. The nomination says Tudors tend to have the bigger plans and the attached garage, so they come with the more interesting roof and the more usable house. The Colonial is tidy, and knows it.
What the historic listing means
The National Park Service listed the Eastmoreland Historic District on the National Register in December 2022.
It took years to get there. In 2018 the State Historic Preservation Office said opponents had filed enough objections to block the listing. The nomination was returned in 2019. By September 2022 the office counted 640 objections from 2,151 owners, or 29.75 percent, and a district can't be listed if more than half of its owners object. Owner counts were disputed along the way, largely because of properties that had been transferred to trusts. The neighborhood association said the listing would limit "oversized" houses and multifamily units without parking, according to Willamette Week.
Here's what the listing means for an owner, as far as we can source it. The city lists Eastmoreland as a National Register district that it has not designated as a city Historic or Conservation District, and the city's Historic Resource Review, which covers alterations and new development, applies to those city districts. What does apply to every contributing house is Demolition Review: Portland requires it to tear down a contributing resource in a National Register-listed historic district. For a window, a porch or an addition, ask Portland Permitting & Development (503-823-7300) about the project before you bid. This isn't legal advice.
If you're buying here, ask whether the house is contributing before you plan anything exterior, and ask the city about the project, not the neighborhood.
Financing an older or unusual house
Once you're under contract, your lender orders an appraisal, and the appraiser values the house from the best recent sales they can find. An older house, or one that doesn't look like its neighbors, can take more care to compare. We go into how that works in design-forward houses and appraisals. Questions about your own loan go to your lender.
What you're looking at, and what to check
| What you see | What it is | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| A cross-gable roof, a prominent brick chimney, arched openings and small-paned casement windows | Likely an English Cottage | Whether it's a contributing building in the nomination |
| A centered front door with windows lined up on both sides | Likely an American Colonial Revival | Whether it's a contributing building in the nomination |
| A lower, longer house from later on | Possibly Minimal Traditional or a Ranch, both named in the nomination | Its build year, and whether the nomination counts it as contributing |
| A house that's clearly newer than its neighbors | Possibly noncontributing | Its status in the nomination |
| Anything you'd want to change on the outside | Ask Portland Permitting & Development about the project; demolition review applies to contributing houses |
Reading the woodwork and the bones of an older house is its own skill. We wrote about it in how to read a 1920s Craftsman before you bid.
Quick FAQ
When did Eastmoreland become a historic district?
The National Park Service listed it on the National Register of Historic Places in December 2022.
What kinds of houses are in Eastmoreland?
Mostly houses built between 1910 and 1961. The nomination calls Period Revival the most popular style, with English Cottage, Tudor, Mediterranean and American Colonial houses, and fewer Craftsman bungalows, Minimal Traditional and Ranch houses. Colonial Revival is the second most common grouping.
Can you tear down a house in Eastmoreland?
Portland requires Demolition Review to demolish a contributing resource in a National Register-listed historic district. The nomination's property list marks each address as contributing or not, and PortlandMaps is the city's lookup.
Does the National Register listing mean the city reviews changes to my house?
The city lists Eastmoreland as a National Register district it has not designated as a city Historic or Conservation District. Demolition Review applies to contributing houses. For an exterior project, ask Portland Permitting & Development (503-823-7300).
Keep reading
- —Eastmoreland neighborhood guide
- —Nearby guides: Woodstock, Sellwood
- —How to read a 1920s Craftsman before you bid
- —Design-forward houses and appraisals
Curious about an Eastmoreland house?
Send it to us! We'll tell you what style we think it is, what we'd check on it, and what we know about its place in the district. Get in touch here.
The Houselab Team @ Like Kind Realty
Sources
All retrieved 2026-10-19.
- —Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, National Register nominations: https://www.oregon.gov/oprd/OH/Pages/nomination.aspx
- —Eastmoreland Historic District nomination form (read in full): https://www.oregon.gov/oprd/OH/Documents/OR_MultnomahCounty_EastmorelandHistoricDistrict.pdf
- —Eastmoreland evaluation sheet (NPS reference MP100008367): https://www.oregon.gov/oprd/OH/Documents/MP100008367_OR_Eastmoreland%20HD.ERSheet.pdf
- —Oregon State Historic Preservation Office, resubmitted Eastmoreland nomination: https://apps.oregon.gov/oregon-newsroom/OR/OPRD/Posts/Post/oregon-state-historic-preservation-office-resubmitted-proposed-eastmoreland-historic-district-to-the-federal-national-park-service-30819
- —Willamette Week, nomination rejected again (July 24, 2019): https://www.wweek.com/news/city/2019/07/24/eastmoreland-historic-district-nomination-rejected-by-national-parks-service-again
- —Willamette Week, Eastmoreland makes it into the National Register (December 14, 2022): https://www.wweek.com/news/city/2022/12/14/after-years-of-attempts-eastmoreland-neighborhood-makes-it-into-the-national-register-of-historic-places/
- —City of Portland, historic and conservation districts: https://www.portland.gov/bps/planning/historic-resources/historic-and-conservation-districts
- —City of Portland, Permitting & Development, historic resource reviews: https://www.portland.gov/ppd/zoning-land-use/land-use-review-fees-and-types/historic-resource-reviews (no page date)
- —City of Portland, new state rules and National Register districts (February 6, 2017): https://www.portland.gov/bps/planning/historic-resources/news/2017/2/6/new-state-rules-will-prompt-changes-portlands
- —City of Portland, making changes to historic resources: https://www.portland.gov/bps/planning/historic-resources/making-changes
- —City of Portland, Permitting & Development contact (phone 503-823-7300, answered Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.), retrieved 2026-10-19: https://www.portland.gov/ppd/contact
- —Portland Parks & Recreation, Springwater Corridor: https://www.portland.gov/parks/springwater-corridor (no page date)
Related
Is Alameda or Irvington better for buying an older home in Portland?
Two Northeast Portland neighborhoods full of houses from the 1910s and 1920s, side by side. Here's the difference that matters once you own one, and what we'd check on each before you bid.
Is buying a house near the Springwater Corridor a good idea in Portland?
It depends on the block. Here's what we check first, starting with the flood map, and how a house near the trail compares with the inner Southeast blocks you may have started with.