Are you a design aficionado? Do you take walks hoping for a peek into the cool homes in the neighborhood? Thanks to The 2024 Portland Modern Home Tour you are invited inside eight modern homes, including our home and office.
What is The Portland Modern Home Tour?
The Modern Architecture + Design Society (MA+DS) offers a nationwide event series to educate communities about modern architecture and living. The 2024 Portland Modern Home Tour is one of these exciting design events. It provides the opportunity for attendees to explore eight different modern homes in Portland and Lake Oswego. This is a chance to visit privately held homes not typically open for public viewing. In other words, you get to step inside the homes you try to peek into during those neighborhood walks.
“Portland is always one of our favorite cities to return to because the modernism movement in architecture and design is so strong in the area,” says Ken Shallcross, VP of Modern Architecture + Design Society (MA+DS). “We always have a few repeat participants, which is something we aspire for, but this year’s especially exciting because we have Christie Architecture for the first time, who have been on my list for years.”
Shallcross is excited about this year’s full slate of modern homes, ADUs, and even an exterior landscape architecture project.
When is it?
The 2024 Portland Modern Home Tour is a one-day-only event on June 1, 2024, from 10 am to 4 pm.
Will Christie Architecture be on the tour?
Yes!!! Most importantly, at our property, you get two tours in one—our home and our studio.
When this site was brought to our attention, we couldn’t resist its perfect blend of city and country living. It is less than four miles from downtown Portland within a forested park setting. Moreover, we couldn’t resist the design challenge of the overgrown landscape and aging 1954 daylight ranch.
See how we stripped away the colonial vibe and fully remodeled the house with a modern sensibility. We maintained the enviable ranch elements—the layout, hardwood floors, solid doors, cove moulding, and custom radiators—and gutted the remainder of the house. Updates include a new kitchen, bathrooms, and larger windows to deepen the connection to the outdoors. A small addition supports a spacious primary suite while new siding and trim refresh the facade.
In 2017, we designed and built a new freestanding studio to complement the house—an office steps away from our home. The placement of this single-story modern structure completes the site composition and takes cues from the updated ranch. It features a gable roof, extended eaves, and board and batten cedar siding.
Not only is this stop on the tour a chance to see inside a major ranch renovation, but it is also a peek inside a home that has never been on the market. We’re only the third owners.
Can I tour the landscape as well?
Yes! The landscape tour is a bonus. Thank you to Dorothy Bothwell of Bothwell Landscape Studio for helping us transform the once-overgrown jungle. Now, a lush courtyard creates a distinct sense of arrival and thoughtfully connects the two structures. Bothwell incorporated steel steps and juniper terraces to connect the buildings and guide circulation throughout the property. Due to the adjacent forested park, she planned rows of plants with striking seasonal qualities to tuck into the surrounding landscape. The intent was to provide structure while creating a sensitive transition between the buildings and the forest.
Visitors will enjoy exploring the multiple terraces amidst the landscape for dining, lounging and quiet contemplation—a little outdoor living design inspiration.
How do I sign up?!
Check out the MA+DS website for more details and to purchase tickets for the 2024 Portland Modern Home Tour. Don’t procrastinate, tickets sales are on track and may sell out soon.
We hope to see you there!
We look forward to welcoming visitors into our home and studio. If you always wonder what an architect’s home looks like, this is your chance to see for yourself. And…you will get to see what we are up to in our studio. Give us a call if you have other modern architecture questions on your mind.