About GH | The Giraffe House

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About The Giraffe House

The Giraffe House has been a private residence and a deeply personal art, curation, and passion project of its owners for over 20 years.

1,300+

3,300+

Total giraffes represented

3-D items, sculptures, & artwork, prints, memorabilia

Just a few of the sights to take in on the corner of 76th & Burnside in Portland, OR

Why giraffes? A GH origin story...

Lisa and her love for giraffes goes back 45 years.

Lisa Allen Lybrand started collecting giraffes when she was just 12 years old—when, upon returning home from sleepaway church camp, she discovered her mother had unwittingly donated her most beloved childhood possession (you guessed it—it was a giraffe!)

About Lisa

The GH is a living tribute to a remarkable lady—learn more:

To learn the whole story and to see the Giraffe that started it all:

Take a Tour

GH House History

Bert and Lisa Lybrand purchased the two-story, single-family Victorian on the corner lot of 76th Avenue and Burnside in 2003. And some say this is when the 'herd's' population really started to explode!

Compared to their former home, the new house had ample space with display cases, deep storage for collection backstock, and a world of new possibilities for Lisa's collection.

Bert, too, embraced transforming the new house into a home. Through paint, stained glass, spot lighting, decorative gates, life-size art installations, and eventually, informational plaques, the Giraffe House (as it affectionately became known around the neighborhood) was born!

This was Lisa's dream home, where she intended to live out the rest of her days—and did. Today, we proudly operate the Giraffe House as a living tribute to her and the quirky neighborhood landmark she created.

The GH, pre-giraffe takeover (circa 2003)

Small communities like Mt. Tabor Villa (later called Montavilla) were just starting to expand around then. When Montavilla voters approved its annexation to Portland in 1906, lot sales increased dramatically as the commercial districts on Base Line Road (now SE Stark Street) and Villa Avenue (now NE Glisan Street) started to expand and develop.

This antique Victorian was built in 1906 and maintains its original structure, having had no major renovations in its ~120-year history—including retaining 90% of its original lead glass windows.