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: an interior designer’s own home in Maplewood. Got a home you think would work for this column? Get in touch at [email protected].

As might be expected, this house in Southwest Portland’s leafy Maplewood neighborhood looked a lot different when interior designer Mandy Riggar bought it in 2013. Ten years on, not only is it as lovely as the rest of the designer’s portfolio, but it’s much bigger, thanks to a smart two-story addition that incorporated a downstairs playroom for the kids as well as a luxe upstairs primary suite for the adults.

The entry is via a covered front porch that feeds into a front hall and into the convivial main living spaces. To the right, a bright remodeled kitchen sports white tile, flat-front cabinets with oversize black hardware, and waterfall quartzite counters. The galley there opens to the windowed breakfast nook, while a more formal dining area is adjacent to the living room, itself arranged around a white brick fireplace flanked by built-in shelves. Two large picture windows and a double glass door connect these spaces to the backyard and flood the interiors with natural light.

The garage is buffered from the main house by a laundry/mudroom that’s paired with a full bathroom, where the designer swapped out old peach tile and a shower-only layout for a new set-up that includes a bathtub and extended vanity, as well as crisp new tile picks.

In the more private family areas, there’s a dedicated sitting room, which is the designer’s favorite spot in the home. Off it, find two bedrooms and the primary suite, a third fully updated bathroom with walk-in shower, and the staircase.

Riggar worked with architects Workaday Design and builder Taylor Smith Sustainable Construction to get all of the addition’s details just right. Consider the primary en-suite with its many custom features, including a bespoke medicine cabinet with integrated power outlets and Cedar & Moss sconces, a custom walnut double vanity, curbless shower, and sizeable walk-in closet. 

The staircase has a dramatic two-story, 16-foot-tall slat wall that follows the line of the tread, illuminated by a George Nelson Bubble pendant. And, of course, even the downstairs rec room has its own designer spin, as the wood slat wall forms a cozy built-in reading niche with Cole and Son wallpaper and a poppy red Schoolhouse Electric sconce.

Listing Fast Facts

• Address: 5803 SW Nevada Ct, Portland, OR 97219
• Size:  2,511 square feet, 4 bedroom/3 bath 
• List Date:  1/25/2023 
• List Price:  $ 874,900
• Listing Agent:  Michelle McCabe and Allie Seifert, Windermere Realty Trust  

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.