Here at the 18th Avenue Peace House hospitality means:
First, making space available, on a limited basis and without charge, for use by Metanoia Peace Community and other not-for-profit groups for activities which encourage and support peace, justice, community, and healing.

Second, offering bed, breakfast, and personal support to travelers engaged in the service of peace, justice, community, and healing--or resting there from.

Third, welcoming into our household, as we are able, persons with AIDS or other illness, so that they may spend the final months or years of their lives in a supportive family setting.

The 18th Avenue Peace House began in early 1986 as a joint effort of seven of us who were also involved in the formation of Metanoia Peace Community United Methodist Church. After agreeing with Bruce and Ann Huntwork to move toward the formation of an income-sharing household, John and Pat Schwiebert arranged for the purchase of what was then a vacant, neglected “white elephant.” Howard Willits and Brandt and Lynda Moore soon joined the household. We were supported in this venture by 27 other friends who made small, short-term loans to provide the cash need to acquire the property.

In April of 1987, after most of the work had been completed and the loans repaid with funds from the sale of property own by the Schwiebert's and the Huntwork's, the property was deeded as a gift to Metanoia Peace Community, and the residents became stewards of the property, rather than owners, thus making clear that this venture was no private investment, but the vehicle for an on-going ministry to a larger public constituency.

Just two months later, on the afternoon of June 25, 1987, the house was heavily damaged in a three-alarm fire which burned for several hours, destroying the entire third floor. The rest of the house and its contents suffered extensive water damage. Good neighbors from across the street opened their home to us, providing temporary shelter for what turned out to be a period of six months.

The decision to restore the 18th Ave Peace House was made easier after friends and even strangers sent financial contributions and offered to donate thousands of hours of volunteer labor. The reconstruction was completed in time for an open house and service of dedication on June 25th, 1988--the first anniversary of the disaster.

In 1990 the members of the household created a new mission of Metanoia Peace Community called Grief Watch, and incorporated into this larger grief support ministry the Perinatal Loss Program which formerly had been joined with the Oregon Health Sciences University Foundation. Pat serves as director of this program which ministers to parents who are experiencing grief following the death of an infant son or daughter.

In addition to direct personal support of bereaved parents through counseling, support groups and social work activities, the Perinatal Loss program publishes and sells books, audio and video tapes and other grief related materials by mail. Income from the sale of these materials help to pay the expense of maintaining the Peace House, underwrites some of the costs of other Metanoia ministries, pays the part-time salary of several support staff persons and also provides a small stipend to Pat, allowing her to be engaged in full-time ministry. John receives a similar stipend, plus expenses, in his role as pastor of Metanoia Peace Community. These stipends then become part of the communal income of the household.

The house itself was originally built in 1908 as a single family residence, by a newly married couple, offspring of two early Portland families--the Hoyts and the Cooks. It was designed by John V. Bennes, an early disciple of Frank Lloyd Wright.
A library addition was built in 1925 and the kitchen was enlarged during the 1950’s. After the fire in 1987, the original hip roof was replaced with a gable roof, the kitchen was further expanded, an additional room was provided in the basement and an outside deck was added at the north end of the building. With these additions the available interior floor space was increased to about 8,000 square feet. A second, larger deck was added to the south side in 1993.

Building department records show that the structure was used as a temporary boarding house during the Second World War. During the 1970’s the house served as the residence of the Honorary Consul for Finland. Guests still enjoy the Finnish sauna which he added during that time.

The Peace Pole in the yard outside the house bears a peace message in four different languages. It is one of tens of thousands of such poles which have been planted in more than fifty countries throughout the world. The Peace Pole project began in Japan more than 30 years ago--a chain reaction effort designed as a symbolic response to the deadly nuclear chain reaction which took so many lives in Hiroshima. Our Peace Pole was a gift from then Portland City Commissioner Mike Lindbergh.