JQA Young House update

As we celebrate fall and our local bounty with the Cedar Mill Cider Festival, our thoughts turn to the condition and future of the community’s historic site. The former home of John Quincy Adams Young, the unassuming saltbox-style house on Cornell embodies both the founding and progression of Cedar Mill community. Young was the second owner of the mill, and the man who named the community. The house became the area’s first general store and post office.

The iconic photo of the house shows a group of women and girls standing on the dirt track that was Cornell Road in those days. The proximity of the road to the house presents one of the several challenges to restoring the house to community use. The Washington County right-of-way comes within a few feet of the front door. If and when the county decides to widen the road, the location will be an obvious problem.

A second major challenge is that the foundation of the house is in terrible shape. The present structure was probably built on the foundation of a small cabin, so there are several sections to the basement, none of them structurally sound or useful. A new foundation will have to be constructed no matter what.

Brian Jackson, an architect who has been working as a consultant with the Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation District on plans to restore the house, has recommended that the house be moved south and east a little when the new foundation is built. That way, it will be far enough from the eventual roadway to satisfy Beaverton and Washington County setback standards, as well as being better situated for disability access.

The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008. Although that designation usually severely limits alterations to a building, in this case the Oregon State Historical Preservation Office has written a letter to the US Park Service recommending that the move should not impact the status. They expect a favorable ruling.

The basement is a jumble of materials, discarded furniture and junk. The latest master plan calls for using some of the stones for low walls around the grounds.

Early this year, Jackson did a detailed survey of the existing condition of the house (see March 2011 CM News). From that study, he worked with THPRD planners to produce an updated site plan, floor plans, exterior elevation, and building sections.

With a clearer picture of the needs for the new foundation work, the park district has submitted a Preserving Oregon Heritage Grant application to the SHPO office. If they award that grant, it should pay for the engineering plans and the construction work to move the house.

Once that work is done, we can begin to look for in-kind donations from the community to do the really exciting work of developing the house into the resource we all want to see.

A large poster of the site plan will be available at the History Tent at the Cider Festival. Stop by and learn more about our historic resource.

NEWS HOME