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7421 N DENVER AVE
- YEAR BUILT: 1916
- SQUARE FOOTAGE: 997 (until it burned)
- MARKET VALUE: $692,000
- OWNER: Tan B. Pham, et al.
- HOW LONG IT STOOD EMPTY: More than 5 years
- WHEN WE WROTE ABOUT IT: Jan. 29, 2023
WHY WE WROTE ABOUT IT: The Farmer’s Barn was once a popular, dimly lit tavern with pool tables, slot machines and “not a bad” jukebox, as one visitor wrote on Yelp. The bar’s owner died in 2018 and it shuttered shortly after. A new crop of owners from California tried to open a new bar. When that effort failed, they left the property to rot, much to the distress of neighbors and surrounding local businesses. Worse, the abandoned building became the residence of squatters, one of whom launched a garage sale of what neighbors said were stolen goods. But even as neighbors complained and called 911, Portland city officials did little to secure the property. Meka Webb, whose home office overlooked the structure, warned in early 2023 that the property was likely to go up in smoke. Fires were a near nightly occurrence, she said at the time, and she was especially concerned when they took place inside the building.
WHAT’S CHANGED: On April 19, 2023, that’s exactly what happened. In the late afternoon, Webb watched as flames engulfed the structure. She was numb to the squalor by then. “I knew it was going to happen at some point,” she says. No one was injured and no other buildings were damaged. Once all that was left of the building was debris, Webb says the sprawling homeless encampment that surrounded the empty pub all but disappeared. Still, her frustration with the city continued: The debris produced unpleasant fumes, and she witnessed crews tearing the building down without water. In the summer of 2024, most of her complaints were finally put to rest. The city ultimately left the space as an open pit filled with gravel, and the land has new owners. Tan Pham, a local dentist, purchased the land alongside Thuong Do and Mary Nguyen in July. Pham did not respond to WW’s requests for comment, and the other two owners could not be reached. Webb hopes something new might come in, but says the open plot of land is, by her standards, as “perfect as it can get” right now. “It’s actually functional and I’m happy,” she says. “It’s calm. It’s very calm. I like it now.”