450 NW WALLULA AVE
Gresham, OR 97030 | MLS 23096364 | ACTIVE
Mid-Century Classic
This custom built mid-century modern beauty is a late example of fully expressed Pacific Northwest Regional Style with ranch-house detailing. Hallmarks of leading exponents, such as Robert Rummer (low pitched roof, atrium, etc.), and Van Evera Bailey (wall length stone bench fireplace, rough-sawn paneling, broad rear patio, etc.) blend with other stylistic elements such as exposed beams with tongue & groove ceiling treatments, wood paneling, and unadorned cabinetry. The homey feeling of the ranch-house sub-variant is enhanced with black iron pulls, a plate rail, a cozy family room featuring a brick fireplace, as well as by the Oregon lava rock exterior detailing. All of this is executed with evident high-quality construction and first quality materials. The rare rough-sawn cedar wall paneling, contrasting in this case with a more finished ceiling deck in the kitchen/dining/family room combination is notable as well as the classic home management desk design element.
Follow the lava rock wall to the Atrium gate. (Lava rock is seen in mid-century architecture in central Oregon and lends a distinctive front elevation.) The gate gives way into the peaceful open atrium courtyard with mature base plantings, adjustable water feature, sitting area, and night time lighting. The front door opens on a slate floored vestibule, with a coat closet handy and then on to the main living room with its "Van Bailey" wall length fireplace. A solid glass sliding door makes the indoor/outdoor connection to the Atrium, open or closed. Indoor space and outdoor space merge and become one visually and literally. The feeling will resonate with devotes of Robert Rummer, as it must have for the original buyers. A door leads to the dining area, kitchen, and family room. Here you find the open beams, wood cabinets, paneling, cozy fireplace and broad slider to the fenced back patio. A storage lined hallway leads to a spacious Jack and Jill bath with its original yellow tub, sink and commode with a separate shower and then on to two bedrooms, each with large closets. The Primary is roomy with a walk in closet and separate entrance to the adjoining bath. Down another hall, returning toward the entrance, is a well-designed laundry closet just feet from the bedrooms and the guest bath, handy to the living room. Well cared for and recently refurbished without altering its essential character, there are almost too many things to say about the house.
The exterior is an archetype of its kind and has great appeal from the street with a brand new fully sprinkled lawn true wood siding, and classic red color. A capacious two bay garage and dedicated workshop rounds out the house, which joins several excellent examples of true mid-century modern architecture in the immediate neighborhood and a Frank Lloyd Wright influenced home on the historic register, just down the street. From this neighborhood of well cared for homes on large lots, biking or driving of a very few minutes will bring you to Gresham’s revitalized downtown Main St with shops, amusements, eateries and nightspots.
