When Brooke and Tobi Probst’s wedding was cancelled because of the pandemic in 2020, the couple decided to elope and buy their first house together instead. They wanted something historical that hadn’t already been remodeled, so they jumped at the chance to purchase a 1956 midcentury designed by architect Victor Greb in the Concordia neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. “It was the only midcentury we looked at, because they were selling pretty quick,” says Tobi.

Brooke and Tobi think this house sat on the market for a little longer than most because it hadn’t been spruced for the listing photos, which might have scared off other buyers. “When we walked in, I think Tobi was even a little bit doubtful,” says Brook. “He saw the shag carpet, and all the dark wood and pink linoleum, and was a little terrified—but I saw the wood beams and the vaulted ceiling, and felt there was so much potential.”

Before: Kitchen

After: Kitchen

The couple—he is an operations manager at a utility contractor, and she’s a global senior merchandiser at a subsidiary of Nike—first lived in the house for nine months, in order to get to know it before making any drastic changes. “We got a really good feel for where the light was during the day, and how the rooms functioned, and how we lived in the home,” says Brooke. “That really helped us craft a direction of how we could embrace some of the original details, but also modernize the outdated ones.”

When it came time to research local firms to help them with a remodel—“I actually used Dwell,” says Brooke with a laugh—they were drawn to several projects by Risa Boyer Architecture. “We love the way that Risa really embraces the midcentury soul of a house,” says Brooke. “You could feel that the house wasn’t turned inside out.” For Boyer, it was fun to work in close collaboration with the homeowner. “Brooke has a great eye, and was really involved in the finishes,” she says.

Before: Kitchen Nook

After: Kitchen

To preserve this home’s midcentury soul, the team opted to refinish existing wood features, such as the vaulted cedar ceilings and red oak floors—although they did decide to remove a paneled wall that divided the kitchen. “It felt like one big room with little walls dividing the spaces,” says Boyer. In its place, she designed a custom white oak hood vent that follows the line of the new kitchen peninsula to define the room amidst the open plan.

Boyer calls it a “floating cloud,” noting how it’s “a bit of a nod to midcentury houses that would have those hanging cabinets. Of course, this one is pulled up higher so you can actually see through it.”

Elsewhere in the house, the couple were inspired by the Audo hotel in Copenhagen, which is a project by Menu and Norm Architects, as well as the colors used by Mexican architect Luis Barragán. “I definitely wanted to experiment with plaster and texture,” says Brooke. “Being stuck inside during the Covid pandemic, it was really inspiring diving into Pinterest and photos from a lot of other places that you couldn’t travel to.”

To bring in soft texture and balance the wood tones, the team opted for plastered walls with integral color ranging from pale green in the main living spaces to a pop of pink in the bathroom. The couple fell in love with a vintage dining table on Craigslist and bought it pre-remodel—and later Boyer designed a new banquette around it.

Before: Dining Area

After: Dining Area

Before: Living Area

After: Living Area

Boyer used rift-sawn white oak for the new built-ins throughout, to create a consistent thread and meld with the refinished floors. The new millwork includes a screen to demarcate the stairwell, the dining banquette, the kitchen cabinets, and a wall of new closets with an inset vanity in the primary bedroom.

Before: Stairs

After: Stairs

Before: Hall Bathroom

After: Hall Bathroom

While the couple took on home ownership and a remodel instead of a wedding, they did get to travel recently—they visited Mexico City at the beginning of this year to see some of the Luis Barragán buildings that inspired them, and they’ve enjoyed living in the new space since the remodel wrapped in February.

“We dove headfirst into a lot of the details, and getting to see it come to fruition has been amazing,” says Brooke.

Before: Primary Suite

After: Primary Suite

More projects by Risa Boyer Architecture:

An Architect Helps Longtime Family Friends Rebuild After a California Wildfire

A Radiant Renovation Opens a Portland Midcentury to Its Forested Lot

Acclaimed Architect Risa Boyer Reinvents Indoor/Outdoor Living

Project Credits:

Architect: Risa Boyer Architecture / @risaboyerarchitecture

Builder: Durham Construction

Cabinetry: R. Olson Design