Portland Part 1: Salvage Design in Portland

Not too long ago company Vice President Ron Reim made a trip to Portland, Oregon to conduct a site visit for one of our VA clients.While conducting business for our clients is always top priority, traveling to different locations always allows for a chance to soak up the local culture and get a taste of what's outside of St. Louis.

The Portland trip offered up so many different stories and experiences that one blog entry could not do justice to the entire week. Over the next couple of days, we will be sharing some of the more interesting and off the beaten path treasures Portland has to offer.


Salvage Design

While Ron was exploring the city of Portland with a friend, whose architectural style would best be summed up as minimalist, Ron came across a house built with an eclectic collection of found and salvaged material that represented an entirely different design philosophy...

The metal on this deck was salvaged from an abandoned paper mill.

Nancy, the owner of this piece of modern art meets folk architecture, is a forensic accountant by day who collects salvaged materials and reuses them in her own home. In order to build safe structures out of her discovered materials, she employs a design/build firm to work out planning issues and get proper permits.

While most people have to worry about silly things like neighbors, mortgages, and subdivision rules and regulations, Nancy is afforded more leniency in her ever evolving art project. Because she owns her own house and isn't concerned with resale value, she doesn't have to answer to anybody. And because she lives in a city that is open to just about every alternative lifestyle choice you can imagine, her house is viewed by neighbors as a part of the community instead of something that is going to drive property values down.

Exterior shot of the deck

Exterior shot of the side of the house

She has such artistic freedom with her home that in one of her blog entries she states that she wants the casual observer to think that her deck is actually a junkyard. In reality, each piece of found or salvaged material plays an integral role not only in making the place come together, but in maintaining sustainability and living by the motto of "Keep Portland Weird."

Her entire design philosophy is based on being mindful of consumption, being sustainable, and remodeling the green way. You can find more information about her hobby on her website Re: Place in PDX.

 

Vintage doors replaced the hollowed core doors that came with the house

A customized railing installed after a nasty spill down the stairs

A good portion of the house is covered with tile fragments