Tucked into the woods at the northernmost point of the Hillsdale neighborhood—but just visible enough to elicit double takes from passersby on SW Dosch Road—this curved metal home invites a host of comparisons. The Oregonian lists it among the state’s moon-shaped dwellings, and also likens it to a planetarium. The view from any one of its elevated decks calls a treehouse to mind. One Redditor who grew up nearby knows it, with the blunt precision of childhood, as the Mailbox House. 

The logic that led a United States Postal Service worker to design the rectangular-dome form of the classic mailbox in 1915 makes a lot of sense for larger structures, too: the shape repels snow and water, like an angled roof might, without sacrificing too much internal space. It also gives this 1979 home a unique floor plan. 

The home’s 2,350 square feet stretch across three main stories. The unusual shape takes center stage in the living room, where one heavily windowed wall rises unimpeded to the rounded wood-paneled ceiling and exposed beams above. This is a space you have to visit—or at least 3D tour—to fully appreciate.

Tiered stories shrink in square footage as they ascend. A balcony-style dining room with a view-preserving glass railing system looks out toward the wall of windows and the living room below. At the highest reaches of the sloping roof, a lofted, 148-square-foot office space with a large corner desk gets a near-360-degree view of the spaces beneath it (thanks, in part, to a wide window some compare to a mail slot).

That lookout-tower effect feels even stronger from the home’s three decks. Off the already-spacious living room, a huge wooden platform juts out into the trees, adding 160 square feet of outdoor living space. The smallest deck opens up the primary bedroom through two French doors. Right off the kitchen, a framed-in balcony offers space for alfresco dining. “It's a great condo alternative,” says real estate agent Kelly Sandstrom. “No real yard, just decks with killer views.”

Despite the property’s idiosyncrasies, its creature comforts come standard. The first floor features three practical bedrooms, a utility room, a full bath, and lots of closet space. The home’s bathrooms feel almost like covert transplants from an ordinary contemporary home, albeit with a cool shower window in the primary suite and a downstairs bathroom that looks a lot like a sauna.

Right down the street, another geometrically distinctive home—this one a small, many-sided, yurt-like structure—also hit the market recently. We can’t wait to hear what the neighborhood kids come up with next.

Listing Fast Facts 

• Address:  3831 SW Dosch Rd, Portland, OR 97239
• Size: 2,350 square feet/4 bedrooms/3 bath
• List Date: 8/29/2024
• List Price: $800,000
• Listing Agent: Kelly Sandstrom, Suburbia Realty Group

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].