Homing In On Portland

Helping you home in on your best life in Portland

If these old walls could speak – designer Vicki Simon reveals secrets to unveiling the soul of a Portland Foursquare on this year’s Irvington Home Tour

An American Foursquare with classical influences, the Bradshaw house was built in 1910 at a cost of $6,000

If you walked into the 1910 Bradshaw house featured on this year’s Irvington Home Tour, you might imagine that it’s little changed since namesake owners, Charles and Helen, moved in. Atmospheric, gracious, and lived-in, its rooms seem to be the work of generations – as though a succession of family members had stewarded the house gently into the 21st century.

In fact, the current owners bought it just 2+ years ago – for 246 times its original cost of $6,000. Having moved from a small contemporary loft in San Francisco, they brought no furniture to their 4889 square foot Foursquare in Portland. And though they appreciated its “vintage style,” they were, in their own words, “novices.”

Designer Vicki Simon doubled as a tour docent at the house

But they had the good luck to find local interior designer Vicki Simon’s profile on houzz.com. With a passion for old houses and 30 years’ experience, she designs unique spaces that respect period architecture and details; modern-day functionality; and clients’ tastes, treasures and history.

That’s not an easy balance to strike, but for Vicki, “The beauty’s in the mix.” She spares no effort to achieve storied and eclectic interiors that hang together in a seemingly effortless and inevitable way.

Case in point: the downstairs powder room. Originally a telephone room, it had already been converted in a nod to modern-day function. But the results were clumsy and workaday – with a lilac and green color scheme grounded in the oversized hexagonal floor tiles, a dropped ceiling and trim that didn’t play nicely with the original window frame, and a sink vanity that was too large for the space.

The powder room before...
...and after (David Papazian)

With architecture in her background, Vicki hand drew the design for a coffered ceiling. It still conceals structural beams inside the staircase, but adds height to the space, is well-integrated with the window frame, and echoes the historic character of the adjoining rooms.

She found an antique table for the sink vanity on one of many shopping trips. Unlike a bulky cupboard, its open legs create the illusion of more space while still offering storage. A bowl of hand towels rests in the stretchers near the floor, which is now resurfaced in discreet white 1-inch hex tiles.

A family hobby yields the finishing touch — a restored antique punch clock (David Papazian)

She was just as unstinting in other rooms. For the den beyond pocket doors, Vicki suggested a dark color scheme. It contrasts with the bright, reflective walls of the sitting room, marks off the area as a cozy retreat, and minimizes glare on the wall-mounted tv screen. A grey archival lotus print from Farrow and Ball covers the walls and tin tiles in a deep copper line the ceiling. The complex blue-black paint on the wainscoting and window and door frames was a hard-won success. When the first attempt turned out too blue, Vicki absorbed the cost of remixing and repainting. The space is finished with an antique punch clock. Restoring vintage pieces is a hobby in the clients’ family.

As part of the creative brief, they had asked for feminine curves to offset the Foursquare’s masculine angles. Vicki delivered in full measure – with an oval dining table and round coffee and breakfast tables, the swooping lines of armchairs and sofas, and lighting with curvy silhouettes. She scoured antique shops as far away as Seattle to find vintage fixtures and named each to ease communication with her clients and contractors. A metal lotus with a golden sheen, “Flor” illuminates the entry hall, for example.

Swoops and curves in the bright sitting room... (David Papazian)
...and in the dusky den (David Papazian)

Looking back on the 10-month experience, Vicki’s clients couldn’t be happier in their home. They credit her not only with “bringing out its soul,” but also with turning them into vintage design “aficionados.”

Want to see vintage homes on the market in Irvington and the rest of 97212? Just click here.

“Flor” lights the way in the entry hall (David Papazian)

Pushing the price envelope in Cedar Hills – does it pay to have the best house in a popular neighborhood?

New luxury home on Butner Rd

The short answer to whether it pays to have the best house in a popular neighborhood? It depends.

The question was prompted by an unusual Cedar Hills listing that hit the market just 11 days ago. Financed and newly built by a small development company in the area, the house has luxury features and finishes and over 3600 square feet, occupies a 0.37-acre lot on Butner Rd a short hop west of Cedar Hills Blvd, and is priced at $1.185 million. Click here for a video tour.

As a “location, location, location,” Cedar Hills has a lot to recommend it. Just southwest of the junction of Hwy 26 and 217, it’s close to downtown Portland and Hillsboro; is served by Beaverton schools and nearby MAX stations; and has good shopping, including New Seasons and an outpost of Powell’s Books.

Neighbors put Foothills Park to good use, even on a snowy Monday afternoon

Beyond these tangible assets, Cedar Hills has soul. Established in 1946, it features a large stock of mid-century ranch homes built around Foothills Park and Commonwealth Lake. Neighbors walk, run and rub shoulders on the lakeside trail. Also a hub, its recreation center offers classes, a pre-school program and fitness facilities. The homeowners association meets monthly and organizes an annual garage sale, clean-up and 4th of July parade.

The red X marks the new build on Butner. The red circle marks the Lynnridge-Mayfield enclave.

So it’s no wonder demand for homes in the area is high. According to Redfin, the average property is just under 2000 square feet, has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, and sells for $449,000 in just 14 days. The median sale-to-list price is 99.5 percent.

Of course, averages can be misleading – masking trends in different sub-areas and at different price points. Cedar Hills Blvd divides the neighborhood into eastern and western halves that are roughly equal in size but not in property values. Many homes in the higher-priced eastern half range well above the mid-400K average, with those near the crossroads of SW Lynnridge and Mayfield approaching or topping a million. This pricey enclave falls outside the boundaries served by the Cedar Hills homeowners association, but within what are commonly regarded as the boundaries of the area.

The Spring Ln record holder for list and sale price west of Cedar Hills Blvd

The new million-dollar listing on Butner is a first for the lower-priced western half of Cedar Hills. According to records in the Regional Multiple Listing Service, the highest list price ever recorded there was $679K in 2014. Located on Spring Lane just a block from the Butner new build, the record-holding property was built in 1962 in the Northwest Regional style. It has vaulted wood beam ceilings, a stone fireplace in the great room, over 3000 square feet, and a swimming pool and outdoor kitchen on the 0.8-acre lot. The property sold for just $4K under asking price at $675K, also a record high and an appreciation of 87.5 percent since its previous sale in 2003.

In fact, no other home in the western half of Cedar Hills has ever sold above the $500’s. Four other sellers have tried, as far back as 2007 and as recently as last August. As shown in the last column of the table, a remodeled ranch on Faircrest was relisted at $569K last month after 92 days on the market at $600K.

MLS No. 7095238 13089408 15202640 16091321
Street Belvidire Belvidire Belvidire Faircrest
SF 2808 3309 2420 1986
Lot size 0.5 acre 0.5 acre 0.52 acre 0.29 acre
Yr built 1955 1950 1957 1950
Condition Updated Original Remodeled Remodeled
List Price 649,900 640,000 639,000 600,000
Sale Price 520,000 512,000 579,400 Relisted @ 569,000
Market time 82 days 214 days 82 days 92 days @ 600,000
Yr sold 2007 2013 2015 Still active

 

This Faircrest ranch came on the market at $600K in Aug ’16 and was relisted at $569K last month

So what’s the lesson? Does the real estate mantra – “Buy the worst house in the best neighborhood” – apply? Though the housing recovery was still underway in 2014, the sellers of the Spring Ln property fared well with an 11-year return of almost 90 percent. And the pricey Lynnridge-Mayfield enclave has also seen strong appreciation – for homes not bought at the top of the market pre-recession and owned for several years or longer.

But at $327 per square foot, the new build on Butner is priced far above both the sale price record set in 2014 for west Cedar Hills ($221 per square foot), and the average ($244 per square foot) for homes sold since 2014 in the Lynnridge-Mayfield enclave of east Cedar Hills.

Unless there’s some sea change underway in the neighborhood market, it’s hard to imagine that the Butner property, grand though it may be, will sell at list price. It’s on my RMLS watchlist and I’ll report the sale price on my Facebook page once it closes.

And here’s a final word for readers who are not looking to buy or sell a million dollar home – in Cedar Hills or elsewhere. Having mined their vast data holdings, the CEO and Chief Economist of Zillow published this revisionist take on “buy the worst house in the best neighborhood” a couple of years ago.

Here’s what the data says: Buy a decent house in the right neighborhood. What’s the right neighborhood? It’s the most expensive one where you can afford a home that is not in the bottom 10 percent.

 

In nose-bleed territory – have you trekked home price peaks in 97229?

If you keep to well-traveled paths of Washington County, you may not know the heights home prices can reach in the zip code 97229.

Bordered by Highway 26 and commercial districts along the south, the area extends as far north as Germantown Road and the upper reaches of Forest Park. It runs as far west as Cornelius Pass Road and as far east as Skyline Boulevard.

Now at over 60,000, the population of 97229 has grown by more than 2.5 times since 1990. There are around 25,000 housing units in the area with most (8,495) built in the 1990s followed by the 2000s (5,475).

Neighborhoods include Rock Creek, Terra Linda, Cedar Mill, Bethany, Bonny Slope and Northwest Heights. Last month the median sale price of a home in the area was $530K, an increase of 13.9 percent over the previous year according to Redfin.

The lowest priced home on the market at the moment is a 37-year-old condo in Cedar Mill with 2 bedrooms and 1 bath. It’s going for $150,000 or $185 per square foot.

So what would you guess is the top of the range in 97229? Ten or 12 times the price of the condo, maybe?

Try almost 20. The priciest home on the market is going for $2.95 million or $396 per square foot. Built in 1949, it has a pedigree. It was designed by Portland architect Wade Pipes. Better known for his homes in the Arts & Crafts style, one of which was profiled by OregonLive last September, the mansion on Penridge Road is contemporary in style. Located just off Skyline Boulevard on a site of 1.36 acres, it offers territorial views, almost 7500 square feet, old growth wooden beams, a pool, hot tub, sauna and outdoor kitchen. You can take a video tour here.

And the runners up?

  • A Georgian colonial with 6411 square feet on 1.55 acres in the gated community of Hartung Farms. Built in 1985 and remodeled in 2010, it hit the market at $2.675M last May and is now priced at $2.495M. Click here for a video tour.
  • A “resort-like” traditional home on just under half an acre with over 6000 square feet and a pool, hot tub and outdoor kitchen in Bauer Oaks Estates. The house was listed in July at $2.1 million. Click here for a virtual tour.
  • A newly built contemporary home in Forest Heights offers territorial views from its site of 0.82 acres and 5465 square feet of living space. First listed in August of 2015 at $1.895 million, it’s now priced at $2.1 million. Click here for a video tour.

Charm and history with your java? Cornell Farm opens café in 1926 family home

West Haven-Sylvan has a new, one-of-a-kind café. The gabled, yellow farmhouse at the corner of SW Barnes and 82nd has stood on the site since 1926.

That’s the year Swiss immigrant Wilhelm Blatter bought it and the surrounding 5 acres as a dairy farm. Three generations on, the dairy has become a destination nursery. In addition to growing and selling over 800 types of plants and a wide variety of garden supplies, Cornell Farm hosts classes and events, publishes a newsletter and – since July of this year – serves quality espresso with breakfast, lunch and baked goods.

The road to the café has been long and winding.

“Many customers have asked to tour the house over the years and some suggested a café,” says Zoe Blatter, who handles marketing, IT and deliveries for the family business.

Given the Blatters’ commitment to customer service, it’s not surprising that they took on what would become a 3-year project. One major hurdle was getting commercial zoning for the house, which Zoe’s grandfather Ted lived in until his death in 2008. A yearlong study was required to gauge the impact of a café on traffic along Barnes Road. The Blatters also succeeded in registering the house as a historic building in Washington County.

cornell-farm-3
Monkey Puzzle Tree

Renovations were another chapter in the process. The best features of the house have been preserved. It was designed and built by a local architect whose wife decided against moving in because she didn’t want to live in the country. The fireplace, built-ins, windows, hardwood floors (protected for around 60 years by wall-to-wall carpeting) and even the entry hall light fixture are original. Now open to the public, the territorial view from the sun room and back garden are as arresting as ever. And the front yard is still shaded by a luxuriant Monkey Puzzle tree that was brought to Portland from Chile for the Lewis & Clark Exposition of 1905.

“The biggest task was putting in a commercial kitchen,” Zoe says.

A well-known specialist on the local restaurant scene, Sean Herron of Big Idea Group helped with planning and managing the renovation. A graduate of the New England Culinary Institute, cafe manager and executive chef Sara Strong created the Northwest-inspired seasonal menu.

Of course, the café is an investment as well as a labor of love.

Berkeley Blatter

“The nursery business is highly seasonal, peaking in April and May,” Zoe explains.

A steady, year-round revenue stream, the café draws people to the nursery while enhancing the customer experience and company brand. This latest foray into the experience economy builds on the established strengths of Cornell Farm – a local, family-owned business focused on quality and customer service and located on a main road in a close-in residential area.

Along with his parents, Ed and Deby, and sisters, Berkeley and Ranann, Zoe is carrying forward a tradition of neighborliness. The nursery brings life, history and community to West Sylvan-Haven while helping to grow the local economy, jobs and property values.

Located at 8212 SW Barnes Rd, Cornell Farm is open 7 days a week 9am – 6pm. Café hours are 7am – 6pm daily.

 

If you live in unincorporated Washington County, Virginia Bruce has news for you

virginia-with-outline“I have a passion for community. If people understand the place where they live, they’ll be more likely to stay and invest themselves in it.”

This is how 70-year-old Virginia Bruce sums up her life philosophy and her life work.

Founded in 2003, her 12-page monthly Cedar Mill News has been described as a “must-read” for anyone who wants to know what’s going on in the community by Oregon Live.

Interviewed in the white geodesic dome where she offices just off NW Murray Rd, Virginia talks fluently about many facets of community life:

  • Virtual chats with her neighbors in 97229 on Nextdoor.com
  • The local Business Association board member responsible for banners and flower baskets along NW Cornell Rd and other thoroughfares
  • The need for parks in the new Bonny Slope West development
  • Traffic fatalities on county roads
  • The Cider Festival held every October
  • Plans to restore the 1869 saltbox house of John Quincy Adams Young, who came to the area on the Oregon Trail and gave Cedar Mill its name
  • Governance of urban unincorporated areas (UUAs)…and more

In fact, the area’s unincorporated status is a common thread across many of the topics and issues Virginia covers. Since its days as a rural outpost served by postmaster JQA Young from the saltbox family home, Cedar Mill has relied heavily on private, volunteer and improvised efforts to meet community needs. Even as Virginia continues this tradition with her newspaper, she asks herself and others if there might be a better way.

With Washington County’s growth almost double the state average, densely populated suburbs – including Cedar Hills, Garden Home, Raleigh Hills, West Slope, Aloha and Bethany – still function in a governance grey area. They have passed on the early incorporation examples set by Beaverton, Hillsboro, Forest Grove and Tigard. At the same time, Cedar Mill and other UUAs have resisted annexation by both Portland and Beaverton.

As a result of this history, services normally provided by city governments – water supply, sanitation, roads, schools, parks and libraries – have developed piecemeal through single purpose service districts, private companies, county taxes or volunteer contributions. Though Cedar Mill maintains a Portland address and zip code, for example, it’s served by the Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District and Beaverton Independent School District. Its library was built by volunteers.

The quality of these basic services is generally high, says Virginia. But a 6-part series on the governance of Cedar Mill identifies areas where it lags behind neighboring cities, including representation and voice in local government, infrastructure (such as sidewalks, crosswalks and traffic lights), public spaces and events, community identity and planning, and economic development. Published in 2008, the last installment of the series sums up the choices open to Cedar Mill and other UUAs.

Whether we can get the kind of community we need and deserve without a city to guide our development remains to be seen. Alternatives to annexation or incorporation might include a strong private community development association, the village/hamlet concept that’s being explored in Clackamas County (we could learn from their successes and mistakes), even the provision of another urban service district specifically to deal with [services that are inadequate or lacking].

Eight years on, Virginia’s quick to concede that the County has stepped up its game and law enforcement and road services have improved. But she remains concerned about community identity and economic development.

Whatever the future holds, Virginia and her newspaper are pioneering guides to Cedar Mill. Her curiosity, energy and heart help residents understand its past and present, imagine its future, and feel a part of and give back to the community.