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Biography
Elmer Feig (May 9, 1897 - October 20, 1968) was an American unlicensed architect credited with designing over 81 apartment buildings between 1925 and 1931 in Portland, Oregon. Feig also designed single-family residences. Many of Feig's designs survived urban renewal and have become a central feature of Portland neighborhoods. Some of Feig's buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Early years
Elmer Edward Feig was born May 9, 1897, in Atwater, Minnesota. Within a few years, the family moved to Barnes County, North Dakota, where Elmer's father worked as a hardware store clerk. The family settled in Portland in 1910.
Feig's first job was as a draftsperson with the Portland firm of Fenner Redicut Homes in 1914. He began working as a structural and mechanical architect in Vancouver, Washington, for G. M. Standifer Construction Company in 1916 where he remained for three years. From 1919 to 1927, Feig worked as an inspector and plans examiner at the Portland City Bureau of Buildings, a forerunner of the Planning and Sustainability Commission. Feig designed the Keller House while working for the Bureau of Buildings.
Elmer Feig's first wife was Gladys Kunich, and they had two children. The Feigs divorced in the 1930s. Feig married his second wife, Dora, later in the 1930s.
Architecture
In 1928, Feig started the Architectural Services Bureau and began working as a full-time architect, although he referred to himself as a building designer. One of his first commercial clients was Harry Mittleman, who constructed several apartment buildings from designs provided by Feig, including Blackstone Apartments. Blackstone is an Egyptian Revival structure cited as a key example of Feig's work. A typical Feig design included a raised basement, three to five stories, a flat roof, and parapets raised higher at the middle and the corners. Feig experimented with various revival styles where exotic motifs were applied to ordinary apartment structures, often including relief panels and cast stone decorations. The building form was also important to Feig, and he experimented with courtyards and gardens attached to U-shapes and L-shaped forms.
From the late-1920s to the early-1930s, Feig designed over 81 apartment buildings and at least seven houses. Normally working alone, Feig collaborated with Harry Herzog of the firm Bennes & Herzog on at least one design but at separate times.
Later years
Little else is known of Elmer Feig. His work in Florida has not been documented, and his legacy will remain in the Portland neighborhoods where his buildings are cherished.
He returned to Oregon in 1965 and retired in Newberg. Elmer Feig died October 20, 1968.
List of buildings
Many of Elmer Feig's designs have been demolished, but the following list from the Oregon Historic Sites Database and other sources includes at least most of those left standing.
| Photograph | Year | Name | Address |
|---|---|---|---|
 | 1931 | Morland Apartments | 1530 NE 10th Ave Portland, Oregon |
 | 1930 | Marquam Manor | 3211 SW 10th Ave Portland, Oregon |
 | 1928 | Olympic Apartments | 707 NW 19th Ave Portland, Oregon |
 | 1929 | Worthington Apartments | 708 NW 19th Ave Portland, Oregon |
 | 1929 | Zenabe Court Apartments | 708 NW 20th Ave Portland, Oregon |
 | 1928 | Estelle Court Apartments | 730 NW 20th Ave Portland, Oregon |
 | 1930 | El Capitan Apartments | 1620 NE 24th Ave Portland, Oregon |
 | 1932 | Mt Tabor Park Apartments | 911 SE 60th Ave Portland, Oregon |
 | 1930 | Maravilla Apartments | 2310 NE 8th Ave Portland, Oregon |
 | 1930 | Blackstone Apartments | 1831 SW 9th Ave Portland, Oregon |
 | 1924 | Edward Keller House | 3028 NE Alameda St Portland, Oregon |
 | 1927 | Volunteers Of America Building | 538 SE Ash St Portland, Oregon |
 | 1929 | Laurelhurst Christian Church | 1244 NE Cesar E Chavez Blvd Portland, Oregon |
 | 1931 | Manhattan Apartments | 2209 NW Everett St Portland, Oregon |
 | 1930 | Premier Apartments | 1983 NW Flanders St Portland, Oregon |
 | 1930 | Eugene Apartments | 2030 NW Flanders St Portland, Oregon |
 | 1929 | The Rasmussen on Flanders | 2509 NE Flanders St Portland, Oregon |
 | 1928 | McKinney Apartments | 2125 NW Glisan St Portland, Oregon |
 | 1928 | Tallynor Apartments | 2267 NW Glisan St Portland, Oregon |
 | 1929 | The Rasmussen on Glisan | 2512 NE Glisan St Portland, Oregon |
 | 1928 | Santa Barbara Apartments | 2052 SE Hawthorne Blvd Portland, Oregon |
 | 1929 | Associated Oil Building | 1801-1817 NW Irving St Portland, Oregon |
 | 1929 | Loomis and Day House | 1929 NW Irving St Portland, Oregon |
 | 1929 | Walters Apartments | 1943 NW Irving St Portland, Oregon |
 | 1928 | Barcelona Apartments | 1953 NW Irving St Portland, Oregon |
 | 1928 | Edlefsen House | 1963 NW Irving St Portland, Oregon |
 | 1927 | Nordel Apartments | 2166 NW Irving St Portland, Oregon |
 | 1929 | Teshnor Manor | 1944 NW Johnson St Portland, Oregon |
 | 1927 | Kurdy Apartments | 2355 NW Johnson St Portland, Oregon |
 | 1928 | Harry Mittleman House | 1631 NE Klickitat St Portland, Oregon |
 | 1930 | Arenson Court Apartments | 2533 NW Marshall St Portland, Oregon |
 | 1925 | Ben Phillips House | 1422 SE Palm St Portland, Oregon |
 | 1928 | Queen Anne Apartments | 2503 NW Raleigh St Portland, Oregon |
 | 1930 | Lindquist Apartments | 711 NE Randall St Portland, Oregon |
 | 1929 | Rockaway Apartments | 1410-1418 NE Schuyler St Portland, Oregon |
 | 1931 | Broadmoor Golf Course Clubhouse | 3509 NE Columbia Blvd Portland, Oregon |
 | 1928 | Grieg Lodge/Norse Hall | 111 N.E. 11th Ave Portland, Oregon |