Robert Rummer spoke with moderator Becca Cavell Wednesday night at Rejuvenation in SE Portland at a benefit for the Street of Eames, a non-profit which raises money for after school programs for homeless children.  Rummer, 82, fielded questions from a charming Cavell and the attendees about the 1950s to 1970s period of his building career, a period that produced ‘Rummer Homes’. After returning from WWII, graduating from college with a degree in Art, selling insurance, and his wife, Phyllis’, fateful & inspiring trip to Walnut Creek, California (home of houses by famed Joseph Eichler)  Rummer began to build houses. At the time that Rummer was building interest rates were at 18%, lenders were averse to lending for a modern style house- especially with a flat roof, and one could get a building permit in a day!  His homes are ranches, a style which grew from the hacienda ranch period of Southern California coupled with the modernist aesthetic of the Post War. They have a light-filled, open floor plan with abundant  floor to ceiling windows centered about an atrium that can be opened to the pleasant elements of summer, or closed providing an outdoor-like indoor space protected from the NW rain and cold. Radiant floor heat and a strong relationship to the outside provide comfortable respite ‘in nature’ during the winter months. Rummer homes are sought after collector’s items primarily clustered on the west side of town, and those that are lucky enough to own them are, without a doubt, enthusiasts of what Robert Rummer gave to Portland in the mid-century modern period. If you would like to see a Rummer Built home that we have just sold check out Rummer Lovin’ in Oak Hills. 

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