Modern Overlook Abode

From the moment our clients introduced us to their renovation, we knew this project was going to be something special. This wasn’t any old house they wanted to remodel. Built in 1942, and the home of their great-grandmother, this was a piece of their personal history, passed down for generations. Over the years, other family members had moved into the surrounding houses, making this small dead-end street on a bluff overlooking Portland a full family affair, as well as a beautiful site for our clients’ to raise their own growing family. The challenge was figuring out how to reimagine grandma’s old farmhouse into the spacious, open, modern home of our clients’ dreams. Inspired by their German roots, the clients’ wish list informed a Nordic-style home that would mesh well with its’ lush Pacific Northwest surroundings, taking full advantage of the views from the front of the lot. The resulting design: a modern, single-gabled roof structure that kept some of the original main level floorplan in tact while adding a major expansion in the form of a new second story, including soaring windows and ceilings and a large covered deck spanning the entire width of the front façade. On one side of the residence, a 12’ bifold door off of the dining space connects the heart of the home to the outdoors – a wooded side lot with views through the trees to the Columbia river below. Inside, the material palette of the home is restrained, but refined, with white oak cabinetry and floors throughout, warm white walls, and touches of both black and brass to bring in an eclectic and layered feel, a nod to the clients’ desire to add intrigue to an otherwise characteristically modern vernacular.

Renderings: Caelin Wooten