The Oregon Yacht Club, one of the city’s oldest floating communities, used to be located just south of the Hawthorne Bridge, before moving upriver in 1904 to its current location in Sellwood. As the name suggests, it was originally created for boaters, but, by 1910, wealthy city dwellers were hankering to live more permanently on the water. Floating homes became chic summer residences, and eventually, permanent neighborhoods.

Today, the Portland metro area has more than 50 floating home moorages across the Multnomah Channel and the Willamette and Columbia Rivers. And much like any homebuyer choosing a house on dry land, potential floating home residents choose the moorage based on location, slip ownership, and surrounding environment. (Moorages can have anything from three to 100 “slips,” which are the designated spots for homes to dock, and may be rented or owned.)

The Oregon Yacht Club has the best of both worlds, a bucolic setting across from Ross Island and close to Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge, as well as the easy proximity to city life in Sellwood and downtown. Its 39 slips have seen a number of architect-designed abodes, from the swooping curves of a famed Robert Oshatz, to modern floats highlighted on past AIA House Tours, to one used in a catalog for a Schoolhouse shoot.

This particular home is by architect Russ Hamlet of Studio Hamlet and was completed in 2010, merging industrial and Scandinavian influences. Its form was inspired by old waterfront warehouses, with rich red-painted board-and-batten siding on the exterior and metal accents inside and out, like the corrugated metal underscoring the eaves and lining the ceiling upstairs.

Inside, high ceilings with exposed beams are complemented with oversize aluminum windows and doors for a loft-like feel. Industrial finishes, like the concrete treatment on the kitchen counters, are balanced with wide plank salvaged wood floors and a few Swedish antiques and built-ins. Two outdoor seating areas with Ipe decking flank the front and back, including a peaceful and private courtyard at the entry, and a rear deck overlooking the water.

The floor plan accommodates plenty of storage, which can be hard to come by in older floating homes, as well as office nooks, a half bath on the main floor, and two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. The primary is lined with windows and a glass door to a balcony for appreciating the views and letting in the breeze off the water.

Across the walkway is the “tiny home,” or tender, which has 410 square feet, a full kitchen and bathroom, warm wood features like a built-in eating nook and lofted bedroom, and rents for $1,800/month. (Long-term renters only.) Looks like the life aquatic, especially at this moorage, is as highly prized as ever, seeing as how a neighboring property just sold in June of this year for a record-breaking price.

Listing Fast Facts 

• Address: 6901 SE Oaks Park Way #10, Portland, OR 97202
• Size: 2,200 square feet/2 bedroom/1.5 bath 
• List Date: 7/13/2024 
• List Price: $1,925,000, with $775/month HOA dues 
• Listing Agent: Karla Divine, Divine NW 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. 

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].