Property Watch: A Mod Icon Meets Bright Design in Portland Heights
It’s not often that a house gets not just one but two design rock stars attached to it. Especially when said stars are working in entirely different decades. But this unique Portland Heights home on SW Sherwood Drive can brag as much.
It was originally designed by Portland architect Bob Thompson of Nike Headquarters fame—we toured another Thompson home here—and completed in 1986, the year before Nike’s commission. In 2021, Bright Designlab finished up a full interior remodel. Some of that later work has been tweaked by the current owner (also a designer!) with fun wallpaper and furniture picks, so the meeting between an ’80s icon and bright modernism remains intact.
It all starts with the signature elements of Thompson’s design, including swooping curves, careful juxtaposition in the exterior geometry, and glass block walls, the latter of which work wonders for diffusing light and creating privacy from neighbors. Once past the custom metal gate, through the entry court, and into the soaring-ceilinged foyer, look down: There, find distinct black terrazzo flooring spliced with royal blue, covering the living room and hallways on the main floor.
Bright Designlab contemplated removing the blue terrazzo in their project, but decided instead to “embrace the quirk.” “We have to listen to the whispers of the house,” principal designer Alissa Pulcrano told Domino magazine in a feature profile. “There’s no way we could ignore that it’s literally an icon of the ’80s and done well for that time.”
Instead, the firm complemented Thompson’s high ceilings and excellent window placement—there are so many lovely views into the tree-filled Marquam Nature Park backdrop—with a bespoke kitchen, primary bathroom, and artful woodwork and cabinetry, some of the latter with curves that respond cleverly to Thompson’s original design.
For instance, in the dining room, thin floating oak shelves with rounded corners, pierced with a white metal rod, frame a retro pass-through window to the kitchen, which has its own custom rounded cabinetry and hood vent, and massive island topped with curved marble. A lovely bar setup off the hall repeats the oak and white steel motif.
With three floors and 3,978 square feet, there are several bedrooms and bonus spaces, including five different outdoor lounges, a gym, a family room with fireplace, and an upstairs sitting room that can double as an office. Every bedroom on the daylit lower level has wallpaper and forest views. If the latter is not relaxing enough, the primary bathroom revels in major spa vibes from Bright Designlab’s intervention, including a soaking tub with a big picture window above it, an in-house sauna, and double vanities with curvaceous backsplashes framing custom oblong mirrors.
- Address: 2725 SW Sherwood Dr, Portland, OR 97201
- Size: 3,978 square feet/4 bedroom/2.5 bath
- List Date: 7/18/2024
- List Price: $2,285,000
- Listing Agent: Eric Hagstette, Inhabit Real Estate
Melissa Dalton is a freelance writer who has focused on Pacific Northwest design and lifestyle since 2008. She is based in Portland, Oregon. Contact Dalton here.
Editor’s Note: Portland Monthly’s “Property Watch” column takes a weekly look at an interesting home in Portland’s real estate market (with periodic ventures to the burbs and points beyond, for good measure). Got a home you think would work for this column? Get in touch at [email protected].
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