Things were pretty wild in 1904. It was the year before the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition was to take place in Portland, and people were jazzed about what the celebration could mean for the city. Vendors were pitching fair organizers like crazy. A rumored observation tower promised the “most magnificent panorama on the American continent.” One guy wanted to build a toboggan slide from Willamette Heights to Guild’s Lake. And then there were the real estate tycoons, looking to cash in on the influx of potential residents.

Take developers Lewis Russell and Percy Blythe, who built a spate of architect-designed spec houses for visitors to tour—and potentially buy—in what later became the Willamette Heights neighborhood. In fact, Russell and Blythe are credited with creating the neighborhood, which The Oregonian has since called “the original Street of Dreams.”

Russell and Blythe started out with Craftsman-style designs and largely popularized the style in the area. However, by the 1920s, Portlanders developed a taste for Spanish colonial revival—see our recent article on the viral stuccoed bungalow in Woodstock.

Or see this 1925 home on NW Franklin Court. It bears many of the stylistic hallmarks from the outside: a white stucco finish, a clay tile roof (redone in the past 10 years), and two arched doorways on the front facade, both trimmed in a punchy aqua shade. There’s also a fair amount of wrought iron, including the scrollwork above the front door and a Juliet balcony. Inside, the ironwork continues through the fireplace and up the stair railing. Purportedly, all was done by master artisan O. B. Dawson, who would later be responsible for a plethora of decorative ironwork for Timberline Lodge, the University of Oregon, and Oregon State University.

The layout is a bit quirky, with the majority of the living space on the second of two stories, spread across 2,552 square feet. The entry foyer, formal living room, and laundry make up the lower level. Up a flight of stairs are the living room and kitchen at the center of the floor plan, with the primary bedroom and its powder bath on one side, and the two additional bedrooms and a full bath flanking the other.

This slightly rambling blueprint only adds to the house’s charm. Look at those wood floors and the arched doors and inset wall alcoves. Then there’s the kitchen’s wood cabinets, cozy dining nook, and tiled backsplash. Catch the hall bathroom’s patterned sink basin—and even more wood on its walls. In the primary bedroom, there’s a second brick fireplace, as well as access to that Juliet balcony. 

Through double glass doors off the living room is a cozy sunroom, clad in more beautiful wood with triangular clerestory windows, that reaches both the front and back decks. Sure, the aesthetic vernacular veers more ’70s Laurel Canyon than proper Spanish colonial, but the style jump hasn’t hampered the home’s popularity. It’s gone pending after a short stint on the market—and an open house that saw 122 visitors in two hours—even without a toboggan slide ever making an appearance in the neighborhood.

Listing Fast Facts 

• Address: 3366 NW Franklin Ct.
• Size: 2,552 square feet/3 bed/2 bath
• List Date: 3/18/2026 
• Price: $699,000
• Listing Agent: Darcie Alexander and Emily Michel, Think Real Estate

  

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].