The Shelton-McMurphey-Johnson house is located on the south slope of Skinner Butte in Eugene, Oregon. Built in 1888 for Dr. T.W. Shelton and his wife Adah, the house is an elaborate example of Late Victorian Queen Anne Revival architecture. It features carved and turned exterior woodwork, a polygonal tower, ornate open porches, and large bay windows. After Dr. Shelton’s death in 1893, the house was deeded to his daughter, Alberta, and her husband, Robert McMurphey. The McMurpheys lived in the house until 1950, when Dr. Eva Johnson and her husband, Dr. H. Curtis Johnson purchased the house. All three families were active in Eugene civic life. Today the house is owned by the City of Eugene and managed by the non-profit Shelton-McMurphey-Johnson Associates as a historic house museum.

The Project:

As students in the Master of Architecture program at the University of Oregon we began this study as part of an Enviromental Control Systems class. For our case study we looked at the temperature and relative humidity of the Shelton-McMurphey-Johnson House in Eugene, Oregon. We hope to draw attention to the importance of preserving historic structures and to learn more about the thermal issues specific to historic house museums. In our study we collected two batches of data in November 2002. The results were compared to recommended temperature and rh standards for historic house museums. We found that the interior environment mirrors the exterior environment, probably due to insufficient insulation. The average temperature and rh fell within the recommended guidelines, and fluctuations were moderate, not extreme.