Modern Houses in Portland

The first floor of the house used to be a warren of five tiny rooms, and the first thing you saw when you walked in the front door was the attic staircase. Waechter opened the space up into one large, light-filled room. A birch plywood-sheathed box was designed to look like an oversized piece of furniture, mimicking the light wood of the Eames chair and Case Study Daybed, while cleverly hiding the stairs, storage, and powder room inside. Photo: Atelier Waechter. The first floor of the house used to be a warren of five tiny rooms, and the first thing you saw when you walked in the front door was the attic staircase. Waechter opened the space up into one large, light-filled room. A birch plywood-sheathed box was designed to look like an oversized piece of furniture, mimicking the light wood of the and Case Study Daybed, while cleverly hiding the stairs, storage, and powder room inside. Photo: Atelier Waechter.

Snyder and Martin's move brought about an entirely different lifestyle--one that involved a house, a yard, and for Snyder, the chance to launch his own firm, Mitchell Snyder Architecture, after first acquainting himself to Portland, Oregon, as a designer at Scott Edwards Architecture. His first project on his own: a chicken coop for the couple's new feathery friends.

The White family enjoys views of pristine nature from the back decks of their home in the woods.

Architect Jeff Kovel and his daughter, Lola, bask in the swath of light afforded by 12 + Alder’s signature window and skylight.

Architect John Holmes, of Holst Architecture, chose Brazilian ipe for the exterior, despite the Northwest's unwritten rule that a wood facade will succumb quickly to the rainy climate.

A detail of the building's exterior reveals the texture of the ipe cladding.