Meet Robert Rummer

About Robert Rummer

Robert Rummer, now a fixture of Oregon’s mid-century architectural landscape, was not immediately moved by modern design. It wasn’t until 1959 that Rummer, a man in his 30s with a successful insurance business, turned his attention to building modern tract housing. The credit for his change of mind belongs to Phyllis Rummer who, after visiting a Joseph Eichler-designed home in California, announced to her husband that she would trade their brand-ne traditional dream home in Newberg for a modern one. Phyllis was awestruck by Eichler’s open layout and clean lines, but her husband was resistant to her newfound passion for modernist architecture. After visiting a friend’s Eichler-esque home with Phyllis, Robert was finally convinced and extolled the practicality of the floor plan and the indoor-outdoor connections throughout the house. The rest is Oregon modernist history.

Robert left his stable job in the insurance industry to become a developer. He enlisted the help of architect A. Quincy Jones, who had previously worked for Eichler, to draw up similar designs suited to the Pacific Northwest. Our colder winters necessitated extra insulation, so Rummer homes were built using a method Robert referred to as “double construction,” which added an extra layer of framing and insulation. Differing from Eichler's use of copper pipes, most Rummer houses incorporated radiant-floor heating through the use of a PVC technology developed for Boeing for extra warmth. To provide further insulation, the houses were clad with custom-made redwood siding manufactured by Georgia Pacific.

Between 1959 and 1975, Rummer’s company built a total of 750 homes in the Portland metro area, about 300 of which were in modernist style, before being forced by market and building code pressures into constructing more standard ranch-style homes. Rummer built 29 of the 650 dwellings in the Oak Hills district, listed in the National Historic Register of Historic Places for its groundbreaking nontraditional master planning and self-governance, and freely integrated shared outdoor spaces and community buildings within the development. Enclaves of mid-century modern Rummers can also be found in Gresham, Lake Oswego, and Garden Home, where Robert and Phyllis Rummer built their personal residence in the Bohmann Park Neighborhood in 1966.

Architecture and housing experts credit Bob Rummer with creating modern homes for middle-class families. He built many of them on spec, without having a down payment from buyers, believing they would sell. He survived good and bad economies; at times, he says he practically gave houses away. In the late 1970s, Rummer responded again to buying trends and constructed classic revival-style homes for a decade before moving to San Bernardino, California, then Medford, and concentrating his efforts on his mortgage business. His modern homes are known today as delightful time-capsules that still offer functionality for life today along with the indoor-outdoor aesthetics of living in the Pacific Northwest. Rummer homes, perhaps thanks entirely to Phyllis’ persistence over 60 years ago, are now a permanent fixture of Oregon’s mid-century architectural landscape–lovingly preserved, restored, and enjoyed by many generations.

On May 13th, 2023, Restore Oregon Modernism will host its signature mid-century modern home tour and highlight the work of Robert Rummer.

All the homes included in May’s Mr. Rummer’s Neighborhoodtour are located within a walkable block in Bohmann Park, a mid-century enclave built in the mid-1960s, which is experiencing a renaissance. The tour is intended to bring attention to the historic nature of the neighborhood, which has been determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.