Portland’s First HIV/AIDS Care Home Juniper House Listed as A National Historic Place
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) announced yesterday that Portland’s Juniper House, the historic building converted into an HIV/AIDS end-of-life care home in 1987—inspiring numerous similar facilities—is one of the state’s latest National Register of Historic Places entries.
Portland’s Juniper House Listed As An Historic Place
Oregon’s State Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation (SACHP) recommended Juniper House be listed as a historic place in October 2024. The nomination was completed as a component of the City of Portland’s LGBTQ+ Historic Sites Project.
The motivation was the building’s significance as “Oregon’s first end-of-life care home dedicated exclusively to residents with HIV/AIDS and its substantial impact on statewide healthcare and LGBTQ+ history.”
Juniper House, built on a corner lot in southeast Portland’s Buckman neighborhood, was constructed as a single-family residence around 1902.
In 1987, at the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, as AIDS patients endured widespread stigma and systemic discrimination, co-founders John Trevitts, Doug Foland, and Jan Weyeneth converted the house into an HIV/AIDS end-of-life care home, after making several interior renovations.
The building’s exterior appearance was retained to ensure the safety and discretion of its residents.
Between May 1987 and September 1989, the Portland care home filled a critical void in Oregon’s healthcare system, offering medical care combined with emotional support and a sense of peace, community, and normalcy for residents.
Juniper House’s influence extended well beyond Portland by inspiring the establishment of several similar end-of-life care facilities around the state. Over its period of operation, around 90 individuals with HIV/AIDS received care in the house.
The work of Juniper House included advocacy and educational efforts crucial in shaping public opinion and responses to HIV/AIDS and, leading by example, the co-founders demonstrated that all people with HIV/AIDS deserve to be treated with dignity and compassion.
The National Park Service, which maintains the National Register of Historic Places, accepted Juniper House’s nomination on February 10.
The recognition aligns with continued efforts to uplift the voices of the historically marginalized and the goals of the 2024-2033 Oregon Preservation Plan, which calls for diversification of Oregon resources listed in the National Register.