love where you live--live where you love, the compromise is over

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.[[Show as slideshow]]

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.

Images from one of Portland’s unique parks and public spaces. Where is that? Email me your thoughts.[[Show as slideshow]]

FOR SALE: 541 SW Maplecrest Ct., Portland, OR 97219, listed @ $549,950, call David for more details

This home is the amazing result of many minds being drawn together to create a superior high performance home. Taking its name, the Leapfrog House, from the notion of “greening further than most people dare to green,” this home aims to go beyond common expectations for how a home can perform. Each day that it awaits it’s buyer, someone is out there spending too much money on utility bills. I’ll save the mechanical details for their site, which outlines the construction techniques, mechanicals, and materials that you could pour over for hours. In essence, the home is intended to have the smallest carbon footprint possible–in the construction phase and over the course of its life. They thought of everything and did most everything–from harvesting almost all of the framing lumber and timbers at FSC-certified forests within a couple hours of Portland to burying two cisterns that store about 6,000 gallons of rainwater that can be filtered and sterilized for all uses in the house and for irrigation.

The almighty mechanical wall that makes this home perform exceptionally well

The floor plan allows for a multitude of lifestyles and living arrangements. The main living spaces are open and loft-like, with a couple loosely defined spaces that could used for multiple purposes. The plans also include nearly 600sf of space for an accessory dwelling unit  (ADU) above the garage, if that is what the buyer chooses to do. Or, it could be a home office, an art studio, a yoga and exercise space, or a massive master suite (if you’re so inclined). As it stands, it’s a 3-bedroom, 2-bath home with multiple bonus spaces that can adapt to different uses over time.

I highly recommend a tour, if you’d like to get a better sense of what sets this home apart. Contact me to set up a guided tour.[[Show as slideshow]]

If this type of home appeals to you and you’d like to explore other options within the Portland market, you can set up a search here, or contact me for a customized residential market search. This home is listed by Sandi Sheets @ Windermere Real Estate.

FOR SALE: 455 NW Albemarle Terrace, Portland, OR 97210, listed @ $199,000

This lot has tremendous potential. One of the last vacant, buildable lots in the Kings Heights neighborhood of NW Portland, this sloped parcel could be the home of a masterpiece. A lot of the groundwork has been completed to make this lot buildable. Please contact me for more details.

For other lots in Portland, you can search here for other options that may suit your needs and budget. Enjoy![[Show as slideshow]]

FOR SALE: 2006 SE 32nd Place, Portland, OR 97214, listed @ $393,900

As you cherry pick for the sweetest spots on the eastside, this is one of them–a stone’s throw from Sewallcrest Park, Hawthorne, and Division, yet buffered in the slowed-down quiet of a well-loved Southeast pocket. In classic bungalow fashion, this home boasts a broad front porch, a prominent fireplace, dining room built-ins, and well-articulated moldings. To improve upon the past, the master suite inlcudes a tiled shower and soaking tub. There’s also a skylit bonus room that could be anything from a yoga space, a studio, an office, or a nursery. The kitchen has also been updated with slate tiled floors, tiled counters, and a massive butcher-block island. At its core, this is a 3 bed, 2 bath home with bonus upstairs, sunporch off the back, and full unfinished basement. Situated on this versatile corner lot, there are beds for edible gardening, a patio for BBQs, and a fenced area for privacy and pets. [[Show as slideshow]]As you do your homework, you’ll find that this is one of the most walkable neighborhoods in Portland and the schools are wonderful–Abernethy Elementary, Hosford Middle, and Cleveland High. It’s a trick to find a location like this, with so many amenities while still feeling buffered and calm. Contact me for more details or to schedule a visit.[[Show as slideshow]]If this type of home appeals to you and you’d like to explore other options like it within the Portland market, you can set up a search here, or contact me for a customized residential market search.

 

FOR SALE: 3219 SE 22nd Ave., Portland, OR 97202, listed @ $249,900

As a well-proportioned 1924 bungalow, this home has 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, a remodeled kitchen with a breakfast nook, a dining room with window seat and wall of built-ins, a spacious living room with fireplace and built-ins, and original hardware, fixtures, and mouldings throughout. Pull a chair out on your porch to meet the neighbors, or spread out on the deck for a summer BBQ, or just head to the year-round farmer’s market and stroll back around the corner with some of the freshest local foods. WalkScore gives this location an 86, which is great, but it doesn’t account for the quality of nearby amenities: New Seasons & People’s Food Co-op, Vindahlo & Nuestra Cocina, Savoy & Broder, SubRosa & the Press Club, little t american baker & Tart, the Alladin & the Clinton St. Theater. The list goes on.[[Show as slideshow]]This is a well-loved home. I’d be happy to schedule a tour or answer any questions about this property. Feel free to contact me for further information or to schedule a visit. 

Images from one of Portland’s unique urban parks and public spaces. Where is that? Email me your thoughts.[[Show as slideshow]]

FOR SALE: The Ash Creek House: Award-winning LEED-Platinum Remodel, $495,000

Now at $495,000, the Ash Creek House offers a sophisticated balance between the tried-and-true mid-century ranch floorplan and sophisticated material choices and high performance systems. Between the beautiful refinished oak floors, the custom cabinetry, the Japanese soaking tub, the beautiful tile work, and the lush naturescaping, this 5 bedroom, 3 bath home is a one-of-a-kind destination, nestled in the rolling hills of SW Portland. As the 1st certified LEED-Platinum remodel in Oregon, the Ash Creek House employs a number of cutting edge systems for exceptional comfort with extremely efficient energy and water consumption. It is listed for $495,000 with Hilary Bourassa and Darcie Pelsor of Oregon First. For more details, or to schedule a  guided tour, contact David Todd of Meadows Group Realtors.[[Show as slideshow]]

Also noteworthy, this home was one of the first homes in Oregon to undergo the new protocol for home performance testing to receive an Energy Performance Score, EPS. Email me for more information on how this home performs, or general inquiries about home performance testing.

Resources that made this project possible:

• Paolo Design Group
• Green Hammer Construction
• LEED for Homes
• Earth Advantage
• Energy Trust of Oregon

This is huge public-private collaboration to close the streets for an extended car-free loop that connects multiple parks all day. It’s a dream to ride all day amongst friends and neighbors and new friends reveling in the open road and the variety of entertainment and activities that await you at each park. On some of the longer open stretches last year, I remember letting myself daydream that this is actually how the city always functions and feels. I think of it creating new urban planning muscle-memory for what’s normal. If it’s difficult to imagine a world with reduced reliance on automobiles, this is an opportunity to develop a vision for it. I know it’s a sunny Sunday daydream, but so were automobiles and highways at one time. Take a ride on one of these glorious Sunday Parkways, and you’ll see. . .and look out for a 6′8″ guy on an orange bike.

For schedules and route maps, visit the Sunday Parkways site.

For more information on the collaboration and how this is manifesting in other metro areas, check out the Sunday Parkways Blog. (Images by Anomalily)

FOR SALE: Sellwood Victorian at 1326 SE Tenino Street, listed @ $585,000

Nestled in the imminently walkable Sellwood neighborhood, this home combines the ethics of restoration and historic preservation with modern sensibilities of an open, multi-functional kitchen, bathrooms on each floor, and generous living spaces. This property provides the warm welcome of the wraparound porch for meeting with neighbors in the front and the privacy of a fenced and landscaped yard in the back. Oversized garage and basement provide already functional bonus spaces while also offering potential to accommodate your own future dream project. This location provides all the amenities of a self-sufficient, well-appointed village while sitting minutes from downtown. This is the complete modern home in one of the most timeless forms—the Victorian Painted Lady.[[Show as slideshow]]

I highly recommend a tour. For more information, or to schedule a visit, contact David Todd.

For a glimpse at what this location has to offer, take a moment to look at this slide show of Sellwood.