My Own Portland Holiday: The Build It Green! Home Tour Day
This Saturday, September 25th, we’ll enjoy the annual Build It Green! Home Tour. This year’s tour of 21 remarkable projects focuses on smaller projects that integrate sustainable design and building practices. It’s like a holiday for me–being an annual event that I make tradition and look forward to celebrating. For the past 6 years I’ve volunteered as a site host to help provide tours and answer questions for those touring. This year, I’ll be touring! I always feel like I miss out on so many interesting homes. I’m especially excited about this year’s tour as a great opportunity to gain inspiration and insight from the various imaginative and innovative small spaces that people have created. With 21 options it would be easy to run myself ragged trying to see it all. Here are my top five picks (I think. There are a couple others that I may not be able to miss.):
- CoreHaus new construction PassivHaus
- Engstrom & Werlin Duplex Renovation
- Doleman Strawbale Dwelling
- Harpoon House
- Woolsey Corner Affordable Cohousing
Wow! That was hard. I’m still unsure of my choices, as there are so many interesting ones this year. Some I’ve already visited or anticipate having the opportunity to visit down the road, so that helped take a few off my plate, but there are still some that might make the list come tour day. Tickets are available online.
If you’re unable to make the tour, but would like to tap into the local green building and sustainable design world, there will also be A FREE fun, family-friendly information fair with green vendors, demonstrations, food, drink and music. I will have a table there to share my business and answer questions. There are usually dozens of local businesses and non-profits present to share what they’ve been working on and how they can help as you assess how this impacts your home and fits into your life. Overall, it’s a great day to gain inspiration and insight into how others are making strides to create healthy, sustainable living situations and dwellings. If you attend the info fair, stop by to say, “HI!”
The info fair will be held at EcoHaus from 3pm to 7pm. EcoHaus is located at 819 Se Taylor St., Portland, OR 97214. If you’d like updates on events like this throughout the year, check out my facebook page or twitter feed. Or, just contact me directly. Enjoy.
On a Gently Rolling Hill in SW Portland. . .
There sits an “English Cottage” that defies all of your preconceived notions about English cottages. In old records, this home is categorized as an English Cottage, but that seems so misleading. Please reconsider. . .
5908 SW 53rd Ave., Portland, OR 97221, listed @ $399,900
Open, elegant, and sophisticated with some playful, creative space to spread out and enjoy a bit of country on this quiet street in the city, this home is so much more than an “English Cottage.” With 3 bedrooms and 3 baths, this home can accomodate all kinds of lifestyles, STYLE is the operative word. Come take a look.
When you look out over this quarter of an acre lot and broad horizon, it’s hard to believe how close it is to Gabriel Park, Multnomah Village, Hillsdale, and the SW Community Center. Contact me if you’d like more details or would like to schedule a guided tour of this property. It would be my pleasure.
Home+Lot+Design=Multiple Listings
2865 NW Cornell Rd., listed @ $315,000
This is a rare opportunity in many ways. Consider the following opportunities:
- own a view HOME on NW Cornell for $315,000
- own a LOT with a commanding city and mountain view for $200,000
- own the whole thing, a home on a double lot on NW Cornell for $515,000
- DESIGN a build-to-suit minimalist+ landmark home with stunning views at an amazing location with instant access to the city, Forest Park, and freeways for getaways! Minimalist+ has priced their featured prototype at $599,000 (including the list price of the lot).
If you’d like to know more about this unique property and its varied opportunities, please contact me. I would be happy to arrange a guided tour.
Home is where the smart is.
Introducing, minimalist+: There were always compromises to be made: settle for a so-called “custom” home (built by a mega-builder using plan #1,482) in a neighborhood that they chose, not you. Maybe it was built with care and quality, maybe not. Hard to tell. What it definitely wouldn’t be was designed for your modern tastes and sustainable lifestyle.
Or you could hunt for a lot, hire an architect, wait a year or more, spend a small fortune (or maybe a large one), pull much of your hair out during construction, and end up with a great home.
Or you could explore the world of pre-fab homes, which wasn’t a terrible solution, but still cost a bunch per square foot, came from far away, and the finished product was difficult to judge.
well, those days are done. you are back in control of where and how you live— even if you don’t have a wall street-sized bank account. you can afford sustainable architecture.
minimalist+ is an entirely new concept of home building, created just for you – if you happen to want a very smart, top-quality, affordable ($160 to $180 per square foot!), sustainably built, low-maintenance, architect-designed, innovative modern home (that goes up in half the time).
We combine the craftsmanship and on-site care of expertly “stick-built” homes with the speed, efficiency and quality control of pre-fab construction. The result (and it’s a game-changer) is the minimalist+ SiteFabTM process. Sustainable building at it’s best.
To learn more about minimalist+, visit our site or contact me. I’ve created a tag for “minimalist+” so any updates can be easily tracked. You can also follow us on twitter or facebook. Since this is an evolving development, there will be varied updates based on how it all unfolds.
So far we’ve been welcomed onto the scene. Here are a few of the blogs and articles on minimalist+:
Jetson Green
Sustainable Business Oregon
BobVila.com (This Old House has an interest in this new house.)
Mother Nature News
More to follow. . . stay tuned for the upcoming sites for sale where we’ll have minimalist+ site-specific designs and pricing.
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Agent Profile
In addition to offering sound real estate services, we bring a broad awareness of sustainable living and design to our practice. We thrive on making connections that help clients live and invest in alignment with their values, while supporting our local community, economy, and environment. Contact David and Steve today to learn how your next realty decision can enhance the place you call home. AGENCY INFO
1902 SE Morrison St. Portland, OR 97214
