Property Watch: After Years of Remodels, a SW Portland Home Returns to Its Roots
Image: Courtesy Caleb Vandermeer
Today, it's easy to think of Portland as a city rife with Craftsman-style houses, large and small, and found in nearly every neighborhood. Apparently, we have historic architect Emil Schacht to thank for that. Schacht, born in Germany and educated in Europe, moved to Portland in 1883 after the German government claimed his Hamburg home via eminent domain, and he decided to move as far away as possible. While his work over his four-decade career spanned a variety of architectural styles, it has been noted that after 1900, he was “among the first Arts and Crafts–influenced architects to practice west of the Rocky Mountains.”
That's because in 1905, Schacht was tapped by Lewis Russell and Percy Blythe, two developers for the Willamette Heights neighborhood, to design a series of spec houses for their lots adjacent to the grounds for the Lewis and Clark Exposition. Schacht did, revealing six designs influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement, with both Craftsman and European detailing. With 1.5 million attendees to the fair between April and October of that same year, Portland’s population took off, as did the Craftsman style throughout the city.
This house, known as the L. S. Carter House, is located in the Portland Heights neighborhood on a generous corner lot on SW Montgomery Drive, and attributed to Schacht. It was built in 1907, but less is known about its ensuing history, as the decades afterward saw years of remodels drastically alter it inside and out, making it a Frankenstein of its former self. Dormers were removed, the front porch torn down, and ornamental woodwork stripped away.
Image: Courtesy Casa Media Portland
By 2017, the newest owners hired historic residential designer Aram Irwin and builder Randy Chandler for a complete rebuild. The team lifted up the house, repoured the foundation, and doubled its footprint to 8,037 square feet, all while painstakingly recreating the architectural detail that Schacht was known for. Irwin calls the house, today on the market for over $3 million, an “Uber-Schacht,” and an ode to the historic architect.
For his research, Irwin “pored over historic photos of Schacht’s houses and visited every similar Schacht house in Portland, taking extensive notes and measurements” in order to recreate the architect’s approach. To that end, the exterior recalls Schacht's “picturesque Arts and Crafts style,” with half-timbering at the gable ends and dormers, a shingled upper story, carved rafter tails, and ornate bargeboards with cutouts.
Image: Courtesy Casa Media Portland
Inside, it’s a flowing floor plan, with beamed openings creating definition between rooms. The woodwork includes things like the entry’s built-in bench and mirror, the custom staircase balustrades, quarter-sawn oak wainscoting in the living room, and the v-groove barrel vaulted ceiling in the dining room. Decorative accents, from the handcrafted tile surrounding the fireplace to the stained-glass cabinet fronts and diamond window panes in the front door, are just right as additional Arts and Crafts touches.
Of course, the home is equally as modern as it is an homage to the past. Consider the kitchen, which has a boxed beam ceiling with beadboard inlay and custom inset wood cabinets, but also an eight-burner Wolf oven, two dishwashers, and a Sub-Zero refrigerator. Or the primary bathroom, with its clawfoot tub, heated marble floors, and walk-in shower. The private ADU guest suite comes equipped with its own bathroom, kitchenette, and vaulted ceilings.
Image: Courtesy Casa Media Portland
Upstairs, there's 14-foot ceilings, cozy alcoves, and a fireplace in the generous family room, all made to recall a turn-of-the-century ballroom, which was often found in houses of this vintage. Meanwhile, the finished basement has a game room, soundproofed arcade, personal theater, and even an Old English Pub–style bar, complete with copper countertops for serving up a proper pint.
Image: Courtesy Casa Media Portland
Listing Fast Facts
- Address: 2023 SW Montgomery Dr, Portland, OR 97201
- Size: 8,037 square feet/6 bedroom/7 bath
- List Date: 2/2/2026
- List Price: $3,495,000
- Listing Agent: Macey Laurick, Windermere Realty Trust
Melissa Dalton is a freelance writer who has focused on Pacific Northwest design and lifestyle since 2008. 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].
