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Extensive research by two local architectural enthusiasts is shining a spotlight on some influential early Portland architects.

Robert Mercer, assistant dean at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Portland State University, and Jim Heuer, chief technology officer at Evos Logistics, met in Portland and have been a couple for 27 years. Their love of architectural history has evolved over time.

Mercer grew up in Northeast Portland and said he loved going with his mother to shop at the Lloyd Center because of the old houses they’d pass along the way.

鈥淚t was just one of those lifelong things that I was fascinated with old houses, and Jim experienced the same thing growing up in Illinois,鈥� Mercer said. 鈥淲e never did much about it, but if we’d go somewhere, we’d take old house tours.鈥�

Heuer and Mercer started conducting serious architectural research about 16 years ago, when they bought their house and learned that it was designed by architect Emil Schacht in the early 1900s. That led to the couple giving a presentation on Schacht’s work for the Architectural Heritage Center about 10 years ago. He was known for American Craftsman-style designs, particularly in the Willamette Heights neighborhood.

鈥淗e came to town in about 1885 or ’86 and died in 1927,鈥� Heuer said. 鈥淗e did hundreds of projects, was very creative and introduced arts and crafts and craftsman styles to Portland.鈥�

Then in 2008 Heuer and Mercer delivered a presentation on the work of architect Joseph Jacobberger. On Saturday will give an updated version of that lecture, 鈥�Hidden Brilliance: The Residential Architecture of Joseph Jacobberger,鈥� at the Architectural Heritage Center.

Heuer and Mercer spent many months researching Schacht, scouring old newspaper archives and researching the details of all of the houses 鈥� approximately 100 鈥� he designed. Next they tracked down the homes’ current owners and invited them to a party spotlighting the homes’ history. To the couple’s surprise, people representing 70 of the homes showed up.

鈥淲e are strong believers that if you know the history of your house and community, it enriches your life and sense of belonging,鈥� Mercer said.

The couple spent three years tracking down details about Jacobberger’s designs for private homes in Portland. They started by spending a week at the University of Oregon‘s Knight Library taking digital photos of hundreds of his designs. Then they visited the physical locations of more than 100 surviving houses and took more pictures.

鈥淛im is really an architectural photographer,鈥� Mercer said.

But Heuer and Mercer didn’t stop there. Next they wrote letters and even knocked on the owners’ doors to ask if they could take interior photos.

鈥淎mazingly, a great many people said, 鈥楾hat’s cool; come on in,’ 鈥� Mercer said.

Their research yielded voluminous information on Jacobberger’s career, which Heuer and Mercer distilled into a 125-page presentation and 22 pages of detailed listings of all the houses he designed.

Architect Bill Hawkins, author of 鈥�100 Years of Great Portland Houses,鈥� said the research performed by Heuer and Mercer is indispensable in bringing the work of architects like Jacobberger and Schacht to the forefront.

鈥淚t’s astounding how much work they put into it,鈥� Hawkins said. 鈥淭hey used their wonderful talents in bringing up very important architects who had big practices but are just not known today.鈥�

Heuer and Mercer also researched and presented at the AHC a program on architect Alfred Faber, who moved to Portland from Philadelphia in 1904 and was one of the first to popularize the bungalow style in the Northwest.

The couple has chosen to research architects working from the late 1890s to World War I, Mercer said, because it was a time when the middle class had money to build homes and hire architects to design them.

鈥淧ortland was the fastest-growing city in the country in 1910,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t grew 130 percent between 1900 and 1910 and doubled again between 1910 and 1920.鈥�

Val Ballestrem, education manager at the Architectural Heritage Center, said it’s indebted to Heuer and Mercer for contributing to its efforts to preserve Portland’s architectural history and for uncovering information on early prominent architects.

People tend to remember only famous Portland architects like John Yeon, A.E. Doyle or Pietro Belluschi, Ballestrem said. Others 鈥渉ad fallen under the radar and had been forgotten,鈥� but undeservedly so, he said.

鈥淭hey had prolific and lengthy careers locally and did work that has lasted,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat’s what architecture is all about.鈥�