The Story
Perched atop 25.3 acres bordering the wilderness of Forest Park, this Pacific Northwest estate delivers sweeping panoramas of Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, the Cascades and the Coast Range from a private, gated two acre homesite. The rest of the acreage rolls away below the house in pasture, paddock and forest edge, with the equestrian center set in its own fold of the land.
It is a rare balance. The property is minutes from downtown Portland and from the high tech corridor in Hillsboro and Beaverton, yet from the terrace there is nothing in view but trees, fields and mountains. Privacy, acreage and convenience arrive in equal measure.
Forest Park is the largest urban forest in the United States, and the estate shares a boundary with it. More than 80 miles of hiking, running and mountain biking trails begin just outside the gate. From the air the relationship is plain: the house and its gardens on the ridge, the pastures stepping down the slope, and the forest running unbroken to the horizon with Mt. Hood standing above it on a clear day.
The drive rises through the trees to the gated homesite, where the residence stands with its stone entry and stucco walls under a steep roof. Built in 1998 to a custom design, the house was conceived for the setting: tall windows toward the view, deep eaves, and a front entry framed in stone with planted urns to either side of the double doors.
The entry establishes the scale of the house at once. A tile floor set with inlaid accents runs under a ceiling that rises the full two stories, and the staircase climbs along the wall with its hand hammered pewter rails. Beyond it, the living room opens under 20 foot ceilings to a wall of arched windows that faces the valley and the mountains, with a fireplace at its center and mahogany floors running through.
The kitchen is planned around a large island under a run of pendant lights, with cherry toned cabinetry, dark stone counters and a slate floor, and it opens directly to the great room and its fireplace so the cook is never separated from the company. The formal dining room sits in a bay of arched windows, with built in cabinetry and a chandelier over the table, for the dinners that deserve their own room.
Behind a pair of glazed double doors, the billiards room is a full sized gathering space with French doors to the terrace and windows on two sides. It is the room for a long evening, with the valley view through the glass and the pool terrace a step away.
The office and den is fitted with built in shelving and cabinetry along one wall and a desk set before the window, where the view runs out over the treetops to the mountains. It is a working room with a serious outlook, and it sits away from the main gathering spaces so the house can be busy while the office is quiet.
The upper level primary suite takes the most private position in the house. French doors open from the bedroom to a private balcony that looks over the pool, the grounds and the mountains beyond, a fireplace warms the room, and built in shelving lines the wall beside the bed. A second primary suite on the main level offers the same completeness without stairs, and the fourth and fifth bedrooms complete the plan.
The pool and jacuzzi sit on a terrace at the edge of the homesite with nothing between them and the valley. A separate pool house with its own bath serves the terrace, and the garden hedges and specimen trees around it give the pool the privacy of a room. From the air it reads as the estate's second living area, open to the sky.
The equestrian center is a full working facility rather than a hobby barn. Eighteen stalls are housed in the red barn complex, and the 72 by 120 indoor riding arena allows year round work regardless of the weather. An outdoor jumping arena and five turnout areas complete the layout, and the center currently generates approximately $4,500 per month, about $54,000 a year, in income while supporting a full time riding lifestyle.
Below the house the land opens into fenced pasture and turnout, with the outdoor arena set in white rail fencing against the treeline. The pastures catch the last of the evening light, and the layout keeps the working side of the property separate from the homesite while leaving it in plain view from the terrace.
At dusk the house lights up behind the pool, and the terrace becomes the place to be. The jacuzzi sits at the edge of the deck with the lit pool beside it and the valley darkening below, and the loungers face the view. It is the hour that explains why the homesite was set exactly here.
The sunsets here run the full width of the Coast Range, ridge behind ridge, and in the morning Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams stand above the Cascades to the east. From the upper balcony the mountain is framed between the columns. This is a property organized around what it can see, and every principal room faces it.
