RUMMER HOMES - Portland

As many of you know, there are hundreds of Rummer Homes; ie., virtual Eichler clones in the Portland, OR metro area. These Mid Century Modern classics, although recognized as "special properties" by MCM enthusiasts in general, and local residents in particular ~ sell for $250K to $350K : a fraction of the cost of 'genuine' California Eichlers ~ or other, unique (non-suburban tract) personal expressions of twentieth century modern architects.

However, there exists no comparable rummernetwork dot.com, and few forums for Rummer Home owners to share their maintenance experiences and local contractor / supplier sources. As a consequence, many of us "lurk" here and on other California Eichler message boards, as well as participate on the many national MCM enthusiast websites ~ to glean useful information and inspiration that is otherwise unavailable to "modern" home owners.

The startling similarity of Eichler and Rummer Homes endears us to our California cousins; indeed, many of us ARE transplanted Californians who purchased Rummers and other MCM classics because of our admiration and respect for the west coast modern architecture that we enjoyed before moving on to the Northwest and other parts of the USA: What once was an Eichler experience has now become a national movement.

But of course, there are differences in materials, construction practices, local building codes and suburban development ethics that distinguish Eichler and Rummer Homes.

There are important things that Rummer Home owners must discover for themselves, and add to our shared Home Maintenance Hotline, thus. And because we exist in different micro-climates, we hope this knowledge base will be of universal benefit to all MCM enthusiasts.

And so I would like to pose the first question of this topic ~ which goes, perhaps to the beating heart of our virtual Eichler / Rummer Homes:

"What are your experiences with Rummer's hydronic radiant heat systems and utility costs in general, and what kinds of boilers / pumps / pipes / repairs and environmental control solutions have you come up with, in particular?"

-sfs