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). This week: a classic Craftsman in Sabin. Got a home you think would work for this column? Get in touch at [email protected].

As far as Portland neighborhoods go, Sabin is a hidden-in-plain-sight gem. It’s not very big, yet there are two commercial corridors, NE Prescott cutting through its north section and NE Fremont along the south edge, which bookend the residential core. That core is filled to the brim with some classic, early-20th-century Portland homes. Not the ones built for the rich and fancy—these are for everybody else.

So sure, the bigger and more elaborate houses in the adjacent neighborhoods like Alameda and Irvington might get our “oohs” and “aahs” more often, but this is the place to appreciate one of the Portland mainstays: the classic Craftsman—or as architectural historian Thomas Hubka wrote, the “not too small, not too large, but just right bungalows.”

This particular listing on Northeast 18^th Avenue is charming from the start: the front porch spans the entire front and begs an afternoon sit chatting with the neighbors. It has a very symmetrical façade, with the wooden and glass front door centered on the front steps, and flanked on either side by an identical set of four windows.

Built in 1909, the home still has original details, like those aforementioned windows and interior woodwork, as well as some unexpected, and totally delightful, updates. Case in point: in the living room, there’s a skosh of painted trim (purple!) alongside the original stained wood. There’s also a skylight, one of six throughout the home, which must have been added at a later date to bring in lots of natural light everywhere, as Craftsmans, depending on their orientation and window layout, have been called dark in comparison to their modern counterparts.

The front door opens directly into a small vestibule and then connects to the front hall, where the living room is on one side, and the dining on the other, so both can look into the front porch. The kitchen is then conveniently tucked just beyond the dining room, and has also been more recently redone, with Marmoleum flooring, new appliances, and a cheerful mix of colors in the tile backsplash and cabinetry.

On this level, there’s two bedrooms and a full bathroom that veers vintage, with its clawfoot tub, stained glass window, and wood wainscot. The upstairs was then refinished into a more contemporary primary suite. There, find vaulted ceilings, three closets, and two light-filled bonus spaces, in addition to the bedroom and bathroom, with the latter sparking joy with its tiled walk-in shower and private balcony accessed via double glass doors.

The highly desirable Alberta Arts District is only one block away, giving this location a Walkscore of 93, and a plethora of restaurants, bars, and coffee shops to try nearby. Also close? The Sabin HydroPark, where the grounds beneath two water treatment towers were reinvented into a petite park, with a community garden, play structure for kids, and an off-leash area for pups. Just another way, aside from its modest housing stock, that this neighborhood proves how small can actually be quite mighty.

Listing Fast Facts: 

Address: 4715 NE 18th Ave, Portland, OR 97211

Size:  2,576 square feet/3 bedroom/2 bath

List Date:  9/15/2022 

List Price:  $699,900 

Listing Agent: Dulcinea Myers-Newcomb and Aryne Blumklotz, Living Room Realty

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.