Building a Living Legacy
1892
The Bernard Goldsmith House is built in NW Portland. Goldsmith serves as Portland Mayor from 1869 to 1871. In 2016, Sean and Gretchen Keys help save the landmark from demolition.
1902
Brothers Erik, Joseph and Carl Lindquist arrive from Sweden at Ellis Island. Anna joins her husband Erik in 1905.
1905
Erik and Anna along with Joseph and Carl, journey from New York to Clackamas County Oregon. The Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition is held in Portland, attracting 1.6 million visitors with exhibits from 21 countries.
1908
Lindquist Homes is founded by brothers Erik, Joseph and Carl, beginning a 100 year tradition of homebuilding in the Portland-area.
1907-1920
Erik and Anna have four sons – Fred, Hugo, Harold and Norman. Each son will learn a unique trade – carpentry, plumbing, bricklaying and painting – to carry on the family building tradition.
1920-1940
Lindquist Homes thrives and weathers the Great Depression – financing, designing and building distinctive homes and apartments in Portland’s finest neighborhoods – Laurelhurst, Irvington, Ainsworth, Eastmoreland and the Northwest District.
1932
Hugo Lindquist marries Zoe Cate in Portland. Hugo and Zoe have four children, including Stuart and Nora.
1941
Thirty-nine years after arriving in America, Erik begins construction on a large NE Portland home for Anna and his family. On December 7th, while America is under attack at Pearl Harbor, Erik dies of a heart attack at age 62. Anna makes the new home the hub of family life for the next 31 years before dying in 1972 at age 92.
1942
Nora, Sean’s mother, is born to Hugo and Zoe Lindquist in Portland three years after her brother Stuart. This brother and sister team will extend the family building and real estate tradition well past the turn of the 20th century.
1943
William “Bill” Keys, Sean’s father, is born in Victoria, B.C. then moves with his nine siblings to the United States in the early 1950s. Bill graduates from Gonzaga University and Willamette University School of Law before working as an assistant District Attorney in Multnomah County.
1950s
Portland, along with the rest of the nation, experiences a post-war housing boom with rising homeownership fueled by the GI bill and suburban migration. Oregon’s timber industry benefits from the growth.
1951
The beginning of the 1950s also marked the end of the historic Hotel Portland, which was torn down and replaced with a parking lot to serve the nearby Meier & Frank Department Store. In 1984, the parking lot was replaced with Portland’s “Living Room”, Pioneer Courthouse Square.
1960s
Stuart Lindquist becomes the third generation to enter the family tradition, building starter homes in the fast-growing west side Portland suburbs. To help sell the homes to young families, Stuart turns to his younger sister, Nora, for help.
1968
Nora Lindquist marries William Joseph Keys in NE Portland at St. Mary Magdalene Parish (The Madeleine). Nora and Bill are married for 37 years and have three children – Brent, Sean, and Ryanne.
While raising three children Nora starts areal estate and property management business, initially selling homes built by her brother Stuart. Investing in properties along the way, Nora eventually owns more than 25 rental homes.
1970
Sean Keys, the great-grandson of Eric and Anna Lindquist, is born. Along with his older brother Brent and younger sister Ryanne, Sean was raised in a home built by their grandfather, Hugo Lindquist, in the Raleigh Hills neighborhood of SW Portland.
1973
Under Governor Tom McCall's leadership, Oregon adopts SB 100 establishing a pioneering land use system to manage growth, combat urban sprawl, and protect farm and forest land.
1980
Mt. St. Helens erupts Sean Keys, along with his brother and sister, watch the historical event from the roof of their family home.
1983
William "Bill" Keys is appointed as a district court judge in Multnomah County, where he serves until retiring in 2001. Highly respected, Judge Keys helped create the Police Activities League of Portland and presided over numerous high-profile cases, including the Naito family litigation and the civil lawsuit over defective Louisiana-Pacific siding. He died in 2005 at age 61.
Late 1980s to Early 1990
Growing up in the Raleigh Hills neighborhood, Sean works odd jobs at his Uncle Stuart’s homebuilding sites while learning about real estate from his mother, Nora. He graduates from Jesuit High School and Santa Clara University with degrees in Civil Engineering and Accounting.
