Randolph-Robertson

A builder's subdivision on the Boise Bench, where clinker brick, ranch-style construction, and rim views produced one of two neighborhoods that define mid-century residential architecture in the city.

The first house in what became the Randolph-Robertson subdivision was not built for sale. It was built by a contractor named Duffy Randolph for himself, starting in the early 1940s.¹ He began with just the basement level. After World War II, he completed the upper story, finishing the house in 1945. It was built entirely of clinker brick — overburned bricks, warped and darkened by excessive kiln heat, that had been discarded as manufacturing defects until early-twentieth-century architects discovered their density, durability, and visual character.² Clinker bricks were popularized in the United States by Greene and Greene of Pasadena, California, who used them in Arts and Crafts walls, foundations, and chimneys.² That Randolph chose clinker brick for a ranch-style house on the Boise Bench — a building type typically framed in wood — was architecturally distinctive. The house sits on a two-thirds-acre lot on the rim of the Bench, its backyard sloping down into the valley.¹

After completing the house, Randolph moved out and began building residences with his partner, Fred Robertson, in the same area.¹ Together, the two men popularized clinker brick ranch homes across this section of the Bench, and the subdivision that grew from their work took both their names. Randolph Drive and Robertson Street mark the neighborhood today.¹

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The Randolph-Robertson subdivision sits between Cole and Curtis roads, just north of Overland Road, on the elevated Boise Bench.³ Homes were built after World War II, primarily in the 1950s and 1960s.⁴ The neighborhood is not uniform. Traditional 1950s brick ranches greet you at the entrance. The mid-century modern homes, the ones with lower rooflines, deeper eaves, larger windows, and more deliberate siting, appear toward the back of the subdivision and along the rim, where the Bench drops away and views open north to Bogus Basin, the Boise foothills, and Borah High School's football field below.³

The Idaho Modern Field Guide, published by Preservation Idaho with funding from the City of Boise Arts and History Department, lists Randolph-Robertson alongside Rim Crest, Country Club Manor, Glen Haven, Winstead Park, Boise Heights, and the Highlands as neighborhoods developed by small real estate companies in the 1950s and 1960s.⁵ That Preservation Idaho selected Randolph-Robertson for its 2017 Heritage Home Tour — and returned to the neighborhood in 2021 for an Idaho Modern event — places it alongside the Highlands as one of two Boise neighborhoods that the state's preservation community has repeatedly identified as significant for mid-century residential architecture.⁴ ⁵

Duffy Randolph and Fred Robertson were builders, not architects. Most of the homes in the subdivision were constructed from plans, not custom-designed. But the neighborhood does contain documented architect-designed work. The Fred Lillge house, completed in February 1955, was designed by Hummel, Hummel and Jones — the firm that succeeded Tourtelotte and Hummel, architects of the Idaho State Capitol, the Egyptian Theatre, and scores of other public buildings across the state.⁶ The Lillge house was built by Emery S. Conner, with landscape design by C.M. Davison.⁶ It is the one home in the subdivision whose architect, builder, landscape designer, owner, and completion date are all a matter of record.

The Idaho Architecture Project has also documented that the same house plan was used in both the Highlands and Randolph-Robertson — a detail that connects the two neighborhoods through shared design DNA, even though one sits in the foothills and the other on the Bench.⁷ Builders across Boise in the 1950s worked from common plan books, adapting designs to different sites. What distinguishes Randolph-Robertson is not that every house was drawn by an architect. It is that the builders who worked here — Randolph, Robertson, and the contractors who followed them — applied a consistent material vocabulary. Clinker brick, locally quarried Oakley flagstone, sandstone fireplaces, hardwood floors, mahogany paneling, and expansive glazing facing the valley views recur across the subdivision with enough regularity to constitute a neighborhood identity.⁸

Homes in the subdivision range from roughly 960 to 3,500 square feet.⁹ ³ The smallest are modest three-bedroom, one-bath ranches of under a thousand square feet. The largest, on the rim, are four-bedroom houses exceeding 3,400 square feet with valley views, finished basements, and multiple fireplaces. The article's stated market data — median sale price of $452,500, median price per square foot of $245, median five days on market, 17 homes sold in the prior twelve months — appears to originate from MLS data but carries no source or date stamp and should be verified by a buyer's agent before being relied upon. For context, the citywide median in Boise in February 2026 was $474,000.¹⁰ Housing in the broader Franklin-Randolph neighborhood, of which this subdivision is a part, has been described as 27 percent below the national average and slightly below the Boise average.¹¹ Randolph-Robertson is, by Bench standards, an accessible entry point for buyers interested in mid-century stock — substantially less expensive than the Highlands, where the median exceeds $850,000, and comparable to Hillcrest's $440,000 median.¹²

No one regulates the preservation of Randolph-Robertson. This is worth stating plainly, as it was in the Hillcrest and Highlands articles in this series.

The neighborhood is not a designated historic district. Boise has ten such districts; Randolph-Robertson is not among them.¹³ There is no HD-O overlay, no Certificate of Appropriateness requirement, and no review board for exterior alterations. Preservation here is voluntary. Boise's Modern Zoning Code, adopted in 2023, likely places much of the subdivision in the R-1C (Traditional Residential) zone, which permits duplexes with city review and accessory dwelling units of up to 900 square feet.¹⁴ The regulatory framework does not protect mid-century character. It permits densification.

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That said, the neighborhood has received meaningful recognition from Idaho's preservation community. In 2017, Preservation Idaho selected Randolph-Robertson as the featured neighborhood for its 15th annual Heritage Home Tour, a self-guided event that opened private residences to the public.⁴ Paula Benson of Preservation Idaho and historian Barbara Perry Bauer of TAG Historical Research led the effort, describing the area as showcasing a style of architecture distinct from Boise's older neighborhoods.⁴ In 2021, Preservation Idaho's Idaho Modern program hosted a "Modern Meetup: A Mod Squad Social" specifically in the Randolph-Robertson neighborhood.⁵ Atomic Ranch, the national magazine dedicated to mid-century residential architecture, has featured a 1958 Randolph-Robertson home — the Jessica and Sam Luque residence, which was also on the 2017 Heritage Home Tour — highlighting its original sandstone fireplace, checkerboard mahogany wall paneling, built-in brass clock, directional copper can lights, and locally quarried Oakley flagstone flooring.⁸

These are real events, documented by credible organizations. They do not constitute protection. But they indicate that the people whose professional work is the identification and advocacy of significant architecture consider Randolph-Robertson worth the effort.

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The school at the center of the neighborhood is Grace Jordan Elementary, located at 6411 West Fairfield Avenue.¹⁵ The school is named for Grace Edgington Jordan (1892–1985), Idaho's First Lady from 1951 to 1955. Her husband, Leonard B. Jordan, served as Idaho's governor and later as a United States Senator. Grace Jordan was an author, journalist, and educator who taught English, journalism, and creative writing at four western universities, including Boise Junior College. Her book Home Below Hells Canyon, a memoir of ranch life on the Snake River, was translated into six languages.¹⁶ The school building itself is not mid-century — it was dedicated in 2008, funded by a $94 million Boise School District bond passed in 2006.¹⁵

Grace Jordan Elementary serves pre-K through sixth grade with approximately 395 students. It is a Title I school. Math proficiency is 38 percent; reading proficiency is 44 percent. The school is rated 2 out of 10 by GreatSchools and B-minus by Niche.¹⁷ The student body is diverse: 55.7 percent White, 26.3 percent Hispanic, 8.4 percent Black, 5.1 percent multiracial, and 3.3 percent Asian.¹⁸ These numbers reflect the neighborhood's demographics honestly. A buyer making a decision based on school data should review them directly.

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The feeder pattern continues to West Junior High and then to Borah Senior High School.¹⁸ Borah, at 6001 West Cassia Street, opened in the fall of 1958 — the same era the subdivision's homes were being built — and sits half a mile from the neighborhood.¹⁹ It was the second high school in the Boise School District, named for William E. Borah, the "Lion of Idaho," who served as U.S. Senator for 32 years. Borah is a three-year high school serving grades 10 through 12, with approximately 1,295 students. Its graduation rate is 90 percent. The school holds a state-record 13 boys' basketball championships.¹⁹ The campus sits at the base of the second Bench, with five permanent buildings connected by outdoor covered breezeways.¹⁹

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The Bench itself is an elevated terrace, a geological bench created by the Boise River, raised roughly a hundred feet above the river corridor downtown. Before irrigation, it was sagebrush and dry soil. After the New York Canal and its laterals delivered water in the early twentieth century, it became farmland. After the war, it became subdivisions. Randolph-Robertson is one of them, and the Bench's elevation gives the rim-view homes something the valley floor cannot: outlook. From the southern and western edges of the subdivision, views open to the Owyhee Mountains. From the northern rim, the foothills and Bogus Basin are visible. These views are not incidental to the market. They are the reason the highest-priced homes in the subdivision sit where they do.

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Grace Jordan Elementary and its adjacent park occupy the center of the neighborhood. Shoshone Park is a short walk to the east, with sports fields and open space. The Boise River Greenbelt and Morris Hill Dog Park are accessible from the Bench. Interstate 84 runs south of Overland Road, providing direct freeway access. Downtown Boise is a short drive north and downhill. The Boise Airport is minutes away.

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Randolph-Robertson is not the Highlands and it is not Hillcrest. It does not have a country club. It does not have the foothills topography that gives the Highlands its drama. It does not have the Foote homestead narrative or the Tourtelotte and Hummel clubhouse that anchors Hillcrest's history. What it has is a builder's subdivision where two men — a contractor who built his own house out of rejected bricks and his partner who helped him keep building — produced a neighborhood that, seventy years later, Preservation Idaho chose to walk the public through, that Atomic Ranch chose to photograph, and that the Idaho Modern program chose to celebrate. The homes that earned that attention are still here. They are not protected. They are not museum pieces. They are houses on a bench above a river valley, built from clinker brick and plan-book designs, with views that have not changed since the lots were graded.

For a buyer, the value proposition is specific. Randolph-Robertson offers mid-century residential architecture at Bench prices, in a neighborhood recognized by the state's preservation community, half a mile from a high school with 13 state basketball titles, with freeway access, airport proximity, and a price point well below the Highlands and comparable to Hillcrest. The houses reward attention. The ones on the rim reward it most.

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References

1. Idaho Architecture Project. (2020, August 13). Randolph House. https://www.idahoarchitectureproject.org/properties/randolph-house/

2. Clinker brick. (2026, March 23). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinker_brick

3. Idaho Press/Boise Weekly. (2019, March 1). Randolph Robertson Neighborhood. https://www.idahopress.com/boiseweekly/odds_and_ends/home_sweet_home/randolph-robertson-neighborhood/article_ad224ce7-4e74-5021-8b9e-345fc1bd6fdd.html

4. Boise State Public Radio. (2017, September 29). Post World War II homes featured in tour of Boise neighborhood. https://www.boisestatepublicradio.org/arts-culture/2017-09-29/post-world-war-ii-homes-featured-in-tour-of-boise-neighborhood

5. Preservation Idaho. (n.d.). Idaho Modern. https://www.preservationidaho.org/idaho-modern

6. Hummel Architects. (n.d.). Randolph Robertson archives. https://hummelarch.com/tag/randolph-robertson/

7. Idaho Architecture Project. (2022, October 23). 3800 Kootenai. https://www.idahoarchitectureproject.org/properties/3800-kootenai/

8. Atomic Ranch. (2023, November 22). Shiny and bright MCM holiday home in Idaho. https://www.atomic-ranch.com/architecture-design/house-tours/mcm-holiday-home-in-idaho/

9. OwnBoise. (n.d.). Randolph-Robert Subdivision new homes for sale. https://www.ownboise.com/randolph-robert

10. Redfin. (2026). Boise housing market: House prices and trends. https://www.redfin.com/city/2287/ID/Boise/housing-market

11. Waypoint Real Estate Group. (n.d.). Franklin-Randolph real estate. https://www.waypointidaho.com/franklin-randolph/

12. Redfin. (2025). Highlands, Boise housing market. https://www.redfin.com/neighborhood/503894/ID/Boise/Highlands/housing-market. See also Redfin. (2025). Hillcrest, Boise housing market. https://www.redfin.com/neighborhood/503895/ID/Boise/Hillcrest/housing-market

13. City of Boise. (n.d.). Historic districts. Planning and Development Services. https://www.cityofboise.org/departments/planning-and-development-services/planning/planning-a-project/planning-process-overview/historic-preservation/historic-districts/

14. City of Boise. (n.d.). Modern zoning code user guide: Traditional Residential (R-1C). https://issuu.com/cityofboise/docs/pds-mzc-userguide-traditionalresidential-r1c

15. Grace Jordan Elementary School. (n.d.). History. Boise School District. https://gracejordan.boiseschools.org/our_school/history

16. Grace Jordan. (2025, October 20). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Jordan

17. SchoolDigger. (n.d.). Grace Jordan Elementary School. https://www.schooldigger.com/go/ID/schools/0036000982/school.aspx. See also Niche. (n.d.). Grace Jordan Elementary School. https://www.niche.com/k12/grace-jordan-elementary-school-boise-id/

18. Idaho Report Card. (n.d.). Grace Jordan Elementary — About Us. Idaho State Department of Education. https://www.idahoreportcard.org/about-us/school?schoolId=0674

19. Borah High School. (2026, February 8). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borah_High_School. See also Borah High School. (n.d.). History of Borah. Boise School District. https://borah.boiseschools.org/our_school/history_of_borah

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