Single-storey infill house with a sloping roof, brick piers, pale horizontal siding and a timber front door behind a stone path.

Fern Hollow

Fern Hollow. Portland, OR.
Completed 2024.

Location: Portland, OR
Program: 3 bed / 2.5 bath, 2,150 sq ft
Site: 0.25 acre infill lot
Completed: June 2024
Scope: Architecture, interiors

Living room with two sage-green sofas under a pale timber ceiling, opening through to the dining area and a teak kitchen. — The brief
A corner lot two streets from a light rail stop, and a couple who wanted to stay in the neighbourhood they had rented in for a decade. Room for a workshop, and nothing they would have to explain to the neighbours.

Bed with a cane-and-walnut headboard and patterned cushions against a dark green wall, a black swing-arm lamp above the nightstand. — The site
A quarter of an acre that slopes away from the street, with a cedar the city had tagged for retention. The house steps down with the grade and keeps its distance from the roots.

Timber garden studio with its glass doors open onto a sewing room of thread racks, fabric bolts and a dress form.

Built-in walnut desk and shelving with yellow, orange and red drawer fronts, beneath a landscape painting at the top of the stair.

Bedroom with a walnut platform bed under a dark-beamed timber ceiling, a corner window looking into the trees.

Bathroom with a walnut vanity and round mirror against ochre and teal patterned tile, beside a freestanding tub and glass shower. — The outcome
Three storeys that read as two from the pavement. Brick at the base to match the block, stained cedar above, and a workshop that opens onto the lane behind.

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