Robert Rummer, who now in his nineties, is an important part of Oregon's midcentury architectural history. In the 1950s, as the story goes, Rummer was working in insurance and dabbling in design, when his wife Phyllis returned from a visit to her sister in Walnut Creek, California. She told her husband about the houses that developer Joseph Eichler was building, and Rummer saw an opportunity to create a modern home market in their home state.

While flat roofs are not the best design for the rainy Pacific Northwest, the light-filled atriums struck a chord—and the homes became wildly popular. Eventually, Rummer built over 700 homes in the Portland area—but only a few exist in the upscale suburb of Lake Oswego.