On Feb. 10, the National Park Service listed Southeast Portland’s Juniper House on the National Register of Historic Places for the property’s exceptional significance in the areas of LGBTQ+ and health history. Operating as a human immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) end-of-life care facility from 1987 to 1989, Juniper House was the first facility of its kind in Oregon and influenced the development of similar facilities across the Pacific Northwest during the height of the HIV and AIDS epidemic. The City of Portland’s LGBTQ+ Historic Sites Project sponsored the National Register nomination. Ernestina Fuenmayor of Salazar Architect authored the nomination with input from community historians, surviving Juniper House staff, and current property owners.
View the Juniper House Listing
Juniper House is Oregon’s fourth property listed in the National Register for LGBTQ+ history, following Darcelle XV’s 2020 designation and the Crystal Hotel and Normandale Field’s 2024 designations.
In Portland, listing an individual property as a National Register Landmark automatically results in the application of a land use demolition protection known as demolition review. Historic landmarks may also receive preservation and rehabilitation incentives if owners choose to participate in these programs. Additional incentives are provided to properties that achieve a separate City Historic or Conservation Landmark designation. In Oregon, owner consent is required for landmark designation.
"HIV and AIDS history is vital to our history, not just for LGBTQ+ communities, but also for health and organizing. Juniper House reflects a piece of this story by centering community activism, mutual aid, and resilience. This new nomination proudly elevates these experiences within the National Register of Historic Places." - Cayla McGrail, LGBTQ+ Historic Sites Project Associate Project Manager
About Portland’s HIV and AIDS History
HIV and AIDS first broke significant headlines in the summer of 1981, with Portland reporting its first case shortly after. Local activists and medical institutions began to rally together by late 1983 to better understand and respond to the developing health crisis. For instance, in the fall that year, the former LGBTQ+ counseling center Phoenix Rising coordinated an HIV and AIDS seminar with Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital to inform both hospital staff and Portland’s LGBTQ+ communities.
The number of people with HIV and AIDS locally and nationally grew during the mid 1980s; by 1988 it was estimated that between 13,000 and 18,000 Oregonians were living with HIV and AIDS. Despite earlier attempts to organize care in mainstream medical settings, hospitals, hospices, and other venues were under-resourced and unskilled to care for the comprehensive needs of people with HIV and AIDS. Further, intense, widespread social and medical stigmas steeped in misinformation and homophobia influenced many mainstream institutions to refuse and deny services to people with HIV and AIDS during the 1980s and into the 1990s. Individuals in Portland and across the country lost their income, security, health, and lives with often little support from medical providers and government agencies.
About Juniper House
Located in Southeast Portland’s Buckman neighborhood from 1987 to 1989, Juniper House filled a critical void in compassionate end-of-life care for Portlanders with HIV and AIDS. As described in detail in the National Register nomination, Juniper House’s opening marked the establishment of the first such center in the Pacific Northwest. Despite only existing for a little over two years, Juniper House broke the mold in local HIV and AIDS care by offering a compassionate home-styled facility centered on support, comfort, connection, and education. The facility’s dedication to supporting individuals with HIV and AIDS influenced the opening of additional centers in the Willamette Valley and Southern Oregon in the early 1990s, including Portland’s Our House which continues to provide integrated health and housing services to Portlanders with HIV and AIDS.
"Seeing the headline in the Willamette Week 'Living with AIDS. With no place to Live' was an eye-opening event. AIDS was an unknown disease and was presenting a new and challenging health crisis." - Doug Foland, Juniper House co-founder
The beginnings of Juniper House
In 1987, Portlanders Doug Foland, Jan Weyeneth, and John Trevitts banded together to respond to the rapidly increasing need for personalized support and care for people with HIV and AIDS. Trevitts secured an early 1900s Craftsman home in the Buckman neighborhood with the intention to provide housing for people with HIV and AIDS. Known as Juniper House, the facility was envisioned by Foland, Weyeneth, and Trevitts to provide a sense of normalcy for residents while providing intentional privacy, discretion, and safety. Staff and residents described Juniper House as a place of life and community, with individuals contributing to household chores, producing a newspaper, and making an AIDS quilt panel.
Within four months, Juniper House opened the door to documentary crews who broadcasted the experiences of seven residents with HIV and AIDS. The documentaries countered much of the mainstream HIV and AIDS reporting by elevating personal stories to combat fear and raise awareness to the medical and social epidemic.
About the National Register of Historic Places Nomination
The National Register nomination was informed by Cascade AIDS Project’sarchival records housed at Oregon Historical Society, people significantly associated with the property, and HIV and AIDS scholarship. Juniper House co-founders Doug Foland and Jan Weyeneth and Juniper House volunteer Jaime Morrocoo provided key insights. Foland also provided materials from his personal collection to be referenced in the nomination.
"By honoring the physical edifice of Juniper House as a highly significant landmark, we are not only honoring the lives of those who were so lovingly cared for there, we are honoring the true spirit of Oregon." - Joe E. Doherty MSW, PhD, property owner
The National Register of Historic Places is the nation’s official list of historic places and is maintained by the National Park Service. To be eligible for National Register listing, a property must demonstrate historic significance and maintain physical characteristics from its historic period. National Register nominations are reviewed by local, state, and federal agency experts against long-established eligibility criteria.
The nomination was made possible, in part, through grant funding and technical support provided by Oregon Heritage, a division of the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.