Skip to main content
ADDRESS: 5033 NE Cleveland St.
YEAR BUILT: 1911
SQUARE FOOTAGE: 2,360
MARKET VALUE: $533,060
OWNER: Carla Sanders
HOW LONG IT’S BEEN EMPTY: 30-plus years
WHY IT’S EMPTY: Bees
A lot has changed in the Humboldt neighborhood over the past 30 years. The tide of gentrification rumbled through inner Northeast Portland and its stock of early 20th century homes, many built from old-growth timber and surrounded by soaring Douglas firs and ancient plantings.
One thing that hasn’t changed: the vacancy at one the neighborhood’s most venerable homes, less than a block from the intersection of North Williams Avenue and Northeast Alberta Street.
For many years, the home belonged to the late Audrey L. Sanders, the matriarch of a large family and, according to her 2022 obituary, the founder of the Portland chapter of Habitat for Humanity. In December 2021, property records show, Audrey Sanders sold the property to a woman named Carla Sanders, but nuisance complaints continued to pile up with city building inspectors. (Carla Sanders couldn’t be reached for comment.)
A longtime neighbor, Trish Grantham, says it’s her understanding that nobody has lived in the house since the 1980s. Records show complaints about the property began piling up in 1992 but one challenge to occupancy lingered for years: a bee infestation. Family members periodically stopped by the house, but neglect took hold. “The beehives grew and grew and grew,” Grantham says.
“I moved in here, nine or 10 years ago, and I live next door,” Grantham adds. “The bees were getting so bad in the neighborhood from that house that I got stung 11 times one morning when I opened my front door.”
Meanwhile, the house deteriorated. Even as speculators moved into the neighborhood, flipping houses like pancakes. For two decades, the occupants at 5033 NE Cleveland St. were a family of raccoons and the bee colonies.
Several years ago, Grantham awakened to action. A city inspector had obtained a search warrant and an order to get rid of the bees.
“It’s a beekeeper in full uniform with a hood, and it’s like right out of E.T.,” she says. “There’s vans and they’re putting plastic around the doorways and they’re getting ready to excavate all the beehives.” The bees were forced out, but the house remained empty.
Property tax records show that the Sanders family has paid just enough tax to keep Multnomah County from seizing the house via foreclosure. Neighbors say one of Audrey Sanders’ grandsons stops by regularly to keep squatters at bay and to maintain the yard.
Grantham says the decline of the stately home reminds her of a famous documentary film about two elderly spinsters living in a decrepit mansion: “It’s very Grey Gardens.”
Every week, WW examines one mysteriously vacant property in the city of Portland, explains why it’s empty, and considers what might arrive there next. Send addresses to newstips@wweek.com.