The Buckman neighborhood is one of Portland’s oldest—formally its own city, known as East Portland, which was annexed to the larger metropolis in 1891. Since it’s been around a while, the housing stock is a veritable gallery of local styles, from sprawling, architect-designed storybook Craftsmans and painted-up Victorians to modest cottages and courtyard plexes aplenty. 

This 1901 Dutch Colonial on the corner of SE Taylor Street and 25^th Avenue is quite typical of our city’s historic stock—and that’s not a bad thing. Through its many decades and owners, the home has maintained much of its historic charm, from the voluminous cross-gambrel roof, which was a popular pattern-book design in the early 1900s, to the leaded-glass transom window above a bathroom door. It’s also received a few key updates to make it more modern, including comfortable outdoor spaces and a good-looking kitchen that packs a lot of function, the latter of which can be hard to do in old homes that weren’t originally built with the modern conveniences of refrigerators, toilets, and dishwashers.

Let’s start on the top floor, where the third bedroom has been tucked into a finished attic, complete with painted paneling wrapping the walls and a window at the stairs with a great view over neighboring rooftops and a slice of southern downtown’s skyline.

On the second floor, find two bedrooms and a shared bathroom, with a claw-foot tub and a walk-in shower. The primary bedroom has its own set of double glass doors to a porch, the perfect perch for neighborhood people watching. A previous remodel vaulted the ceilings in the bedrooms and exposed the support beams, so there is a feeling of airy spaciousness throughout—augmented by the roomy roof shape of a Dutch Colonial.

The main floor maintains that spaciousness with large windows and wide cased doorways connecting rooms for a flowing plan. This is augmented by Pratt and Larson tile around the fireplace, a period-perfect bathroom with a second claw-foot tub and leaded-glass transom above the door, as well as reproduction lighting and push-button switches from Rejuvenation.

At the rear, the kitchen does a lot with a smallish footprint. It includes swanky appliances, lots of storage via the putty-toned cabinetry, marble counters, and both a prep peninsula and butcher block–topped island. There’s even an extra niche with a tiled backsplash, floating cabinet, and gently curved display shelves. Two sets of large sliding glass doors lead to a newer, expanded deck, now with a hot tub, which can also be accessed by what must be another original that remains: the kitchen’s cheery Dutch door. Buyers were, apparently, smitten—the home is pending sale.

Listing Fast Facts

• Address: 2450 SE Taylor St, Portland, OR 97214
• Size:  3,089 square feet, 3 bedroom/2 bath 
• List Date: 12/1/2023
• List Price:  $799,900
• Listing Agent: Bonnie Roseman, Living Room Realty
• Stager: Appetite Interiors

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. 

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). Got a home you think would work for this column? Get in touch at [email protected].