A celebrated architect’s 1926 honeymoon cottage in Sellwood is for sale at $985K

A century-old cottage, designed by celebrated architect Richard Sundeleaf for his young family in Southeast Portland, was listed for sale Sept. 22. An offer was accepted seven days later and the sale is pending.

The asking price is $985,000 for the 0.12-acre property at 7728 S.E. Seventh Ave. in the Sellwood-Moreland neighborhood.

“Welcome to one of Sellwood’s most iconic homes,” said listing brokers Robin Springer and Melissa Ewbank of Windermere Realty Trust in their real estate description.

The 1926 house with 2,442 square feet of living space was updated while retaining its original design aesthetic and craftsmanship, according to the brokers.

The living room has original hardwood floors, a fireplace between two window seats and a door that opens to the garden patio.

There is a stained box-beam ceiling in the dining room.

The updated kitchen has wood cabinetry, quartz counters, a five-burner gas range and a peninsula with seating for two people. The adjacent family room has a view of the garden.

The second story has an office, three bedrooms and a bathroom with heated tile floors and a walk-in shower. A second bathroom is on the main level. And a 500-square-foot finished area of the basement offers laundry, storage and bonus spaces.

Springer, who has lived in Sellwood for 30 years, said the cottage is part of a “welcoming neighborhood with a small-town feel” that has restaurants, shops and nature walks.

The property faces Sellwood Park and is near Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge trails and access to the Willamette River.

Landscaping for the corner lot was designed by a retired Portland Japanese Garden curator who installed Japanese maple trees, raised garden beds and water features.

There is also a greenhouse and an attached two-car garage.

Richard Sundeleaf’s first home

Richard Sundeleaf was 26 and a University of Oregon graduate trained in the Beaux Arts style of traditional design when he and his civics-active wife, Mildred Beatrice Deaver Sundeleaf, 23, moved into the 1926 honeymoon cottage he designed.

The lot they bought to build their first home was across the street from the 1905 house Richard Sundeleaf grew up in after his family moved from Southwest Portland’s historic Goose Hollow neighborhood.

At the start of Sundeleaf’s architecture career that spanned six decades, he worked for Portland’s premier firms A. E. Doyle and Sutton and Whitney. He then founded his firm in 1928, where he thrived in designing industrial warehouses and offices during the Great Depression.

In 1929, he embraced sea-inspired Art Deco and its pared version, Streamline Moderne, a style that took cues from the aerodynamic curves of ocean liners and airplanes. Prized examples of the styles are seen in his Jantzen Knitting Mills Company Buildings in Northeast Portland.

Sundeleaf designed the 1933 Tudor Revival-style residence in Oregon Iron & Steel Co’s first development in Lake Oswego. The Black House, named after the doctor who commissioned it, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, as are other of the architect’s projects.

In 1942, the family moved to their new residence, known as the Richard W. and Mildred Beatrice Deaver Sundeleaf House, that Sundeleaf designed on Lake Oswego’s Phantom Bluff.

Historians considered Sundeleaf one of Oregon’s most significant and prolific architects with projects in Oregon, Washington, England and Australia.

From 1928 to 1985, he adapted the best qualities of the Old World to emerging styles, from Arts and Crafts houses in the 1930s and 1940s, Northwest contemporary-style houses in the 1950s and 1960s, and later, modern dwellings.