Six stately, restored houses, including one recently saved from bulldozers, will be on the 4th Annual Walking Tour of Historic Homes in Northwest Portland from 11 a.m.- 4 p.m. on Sunday, June 21.

Tickets ($25) benefit the Northwest Children's Theater & School and are available at www.nwcts.org in advance or on the day of the event at the tour's starting place, the Northwest Neighborhood Cultural Center at 1819 NW Everett St.

The theme for the tour, Restored City Homes of the Historic Goldsmith Addition, was inspired by the Goldsmith Home, which was built in 1892. A demolition permit had been issued to raze the deteriorated landmark.

"It was saved from near imminent demolition when neighbors pooled resources to buy it from the developer," says Dan Volkmer, one of the event organizers. "We now have a young family who bought it and are restoring it."

Volkmer says that there have been a half dozen demolitions, proposed or near misses this year in the area north of Northwest Lovejoy Street alone. "This tour shows the public that north of Lovejoy is rich with historic resources and possesses criteria to merit special designation just like the Alphabet District south of Lovejoy," he says.

The Goldsmith Home was built by Portland Mayor Bernard Goldsmith and designed by architect Edgar Lazarus, who also was responsible for the U.S. Customs House, Vista House at Crown Point and Pioneer Courthouse.

Proceeds from the tour, presented by Northwest Children's Theater & School and the Northwest Neighborhood Cultural Center, will fund a project to make the cultural center -- the theater's home -- accessible to people with physical disabilities.



Here are highlights of the six houses, as researched by historian Tanya March:

1892 Bernard Goldsmith House: Architect Edgar Lazarus, known for Queen Anne, shingle-style homes, designed this house for Portland's first Jewish mayor.

1896 Jeff and Lori Sackett House: The architect of this Queen Anne is unknown. Current owners have restored and sensitively renovated it.

1898 Eric Ladd House: Beaux Arts architecture firm Whidden and Lewis designed this elegant, high-style house and Eric Ladd, a preservationist starting in the 1950s, purchased it from Cathy Block of Cathy's Antiques and Austrian Consulate. Ladd installed stained glass, fireplace mantels, tile and decorative wood elements he salvaged from Portland mansions and buildings before they were demolished.

1904 Wilson House: Architect David Williams designed this Colonial Revival-style house with an eight-columned porch and entablatures over the windows. Social agencies used many of the large homes in the northwest flats starting in the 1950s. This house was the Boys and Girls Aid Society. It was later purchased by a family that restored it.

1906 Kyer House: This Craftsman was designed by architect Emil Schacht, recognized for contributing to Portland's style of Arts and Crafts. Schacht designed the Tudor next door for William Gadsby. Gadsby then gave his son, Walter, and daughter-in-law the smaller house as a wedding gift. The butterfly medallions in the home's interior -- a Schacht signature piece -- are also on the bargeboards of the Tudor. Current owners are finishing a complete restoration and renovation.

1911 George T. Willett House: Architect Josef Jacobberger sited this classic mansion on a rare large, level lot. There are scrolled brackets, an iron balcony and a portico under a Palladian arch. First owner George Willett served as lieutenant colonel in Oregon National Guard and as chief clerk for passenger service for the Northern Pacific Railroad.

Stay in the loop. Sign up to receive a free weekly Homes & Gardens of the Northwest newsletter and join the conversation at the Homes & Gardens of the Northwest on Facebook page.