The ADU = Granny Flat Revolution The Revolution started for me in 2010 which was also when the Great Recession was taking everyone in the Real Estate profession by storm. In the muck of marketing luxury condominiums that were not selling, I attended a conference, Build Small Live Large in 2012. As a broker I […]
Portland ADU Tour Highlights
Build Small Live Large – Accessory Dwelling Unit Tour Spring 2015 Sunny weekends always help to draw a larger crowd for home tours and this past weekend proved to be perfect for Portland’s 2nd annual Accessory Dwelling Unit Tour. Home tours are the perfect device to gather ideas, talk to homeowners, experts and see in […]
PDX Accessory Dwelling Tour
This weekend I am going to meet 1,000 new friends- that will come through my Sellwood Garden Studio for Portland’s Build Small Live Large ADU Tour! This is Portland’s 2nd annual Accessory Dwelling Unit tour, drawing attendees from across the country, showing the surging interest in small housing. There will be local ADU experts – […]
Stay or Go?
Spring is here- the itch to clear out closets, make a home to do list, should we move or stay, remodeling discussions are taking place in many homes. Often a kitchen just needs a “Botox face lift” – a lift from a boring 1970’s to one with current savvy design. My client Karen Bouch, who […]
Tiny Homes on Derelict Lots
These tiny homes go up quickly in a day, but even better they are built on “derelict sites”- empty lots. The Dutch firm Heijmans needs to visit Detroit, where there are many vacant lots. If you ever wondered if you would feel catastrophic in 200 square feet, spend the night at the Tiny Caravan Hotel […]
Tiny House Hotel
Caravan- The Tiny House Hotel is Portland Oregon’s first hotel that is connected to the city water and power grid, six tiny homes on trailers complete with wheels. Owners Kol Peterson and Deb Delman persevered in the red tape to develop a business with 6 tiny magical homes circling around a fire pit and awning. […]
What do you call – IT ?
PDX Small Homes Go Big -is about how the City of Portland Bureau of Planners and Sustainability and Department of Environmental Quality have put together this great video explaining ADU’s- or is it Laneway housing or Mother-in-Law studio or Secondary Dwelling or Accessory Dwelling – OR – What do you call it? – watch the […]
Sydney Stylist
Across the pond – I discovered Bettina Deda who lives in Sydney Australia and helps space challenged downsizers achieve stylish interiors without breaking a budget. Her new book Downsizing in Style has a 5 Step Process to make it easy to transform your new home. As in Portland Oregon – she saw a major […]
Age-Friendly City of Roses
Portland always seems so ahead of the curve when it comes to hip fashion, hoppy beer, food carts and now housing for those eternally young graying baby boomers. Portland is in the top 5o regions where 40 plus boomers want to retire. Currently there are over 190,000 people aged 65 and older living in the […]
Vintage Studio Interior
Welcome back to the Sellwood Studio Tour- the last post was about building an ADU- now lets go inside – How to design in a smaller space- the essential functions, sleeping, bathing eating and hangin out all all going to happen in 380 sq ft. First goal- jettison the stuff you really do not […]