Matot Construction
1928 Distinctive Homes - Portland, Oregon
Matot Construction was formed in 1920 by Arthur J. Matot who had been active for some years in the Portland building industry. Matot was significant for designing a process to build quickly and efficiently, but he was also very much in the right place at the right time with a good idea. Always an asset when establishing a new business enterprise.
The 1920s were defined by a robust, if somewhat reckless economy, but for a few short years the range and creativity of home designs was vast. Matot was a perfect example of the innovative go-getter mentality who took advantage of a growing demand for middle-class housing by providing the types of homes buyers demanded.
Matot's plans here were gathered from the company's 1928 catalog. The Alameda Old House History blog states that the Matot plans were a rebranded collection of house plans published by Universal Plan Service, but I don't see much similarity between Universal and Matot. That said, it appears that Matot was certainly adapting many of the more popular styles of the period with samples from every category.
Though, Matot was quite successful during the 1920s, due to a shift in focus and a crashing economy, the company was reconstituted as Northwest Home Builders in 1929. At some point, probably in the very early 1930s, the Oakland Post Enquirer published a 32-page plan book taken wholesale from the 1928 Matot catalog. We have also found some of the original Matot plan book plans in a 1935 publication by Borchers Brothers of San Jose.
Sources
- 1900, 1920, and 1930 US Censuses.
- Alameda Old House History
- 1929 Sunday Oregonian
- --. Beautiful Homes. The Post Enquirer Plan Book. The Post Enquirer, Oakland, CA. c. 1931.
- --. Artistic Homes. Borchers Brothers, San Jose, CA. Summer 1935.
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