The 2018 AIA Portland Homes Tour, Inside Modern Designs, is a self-guided tour showcasing a modern take on northwest living during Design Week Portland. The tour features new and remodeled residences representing a variety of architectural styles and neighborhoods. This is an excellent opportunity to see how great design impacts our quality of life through creativity, sustainability, and craft.

Get a look into unique living environments across architecturally distinct homes. Architect Web Wilson, AIA, who co-chaired the tour with architect Cornell Andersen, AIA, notices an interesting trend. "Portland architects have had to address the increasing housing need, with a broad variety of solutions.... an all-options-on-the-table approach."

The AIA Portland Homes Tour is an annual celebration of design excellence and is open to all, from design enthusiasts to design professionals, builders to homemakers, students to senior citizens. There’s something to inspire everyone in these incredible Portland homes.

Get tickets here!

Homes featured on the tour this year:

18th Avenue House | In Situ Architecture

18th Avenue House provides a unique response to a standard 50’ x 100’ infill lot. Rather than a typical full width house with a front and back yard, 18th Avenue House is long and narrow and placed to the north, creating a sunny south façade and yard. The material palette is simple and designed to age gracefully, and features stained cedar siding and bright interiors with exposed ceiling structure and pops of color.

Carbon12 | PATH Architecture
Carbon12 is the tallest mass timber and cross-laminated timber (CLT) building in the United States. Setting a precedent in environmental stewardship, the 42,000 SF building’s design utilizes the most sophisticated type of timber construction, resulting in one of the most environmentally sustainable multifamily projects in the country.

Fowler Avenue ADU | Webster Wilson Architect
This backyard ADU was designed for the owner's parents as a minimalist retirement home.  It is single-story and wheelchair accessible, and has all the essentials so that aging-in-place will be met with dignity and beauty.  10 foot floor-to-ceiling glass, cathedral ceilings, exposed woodwork, and many built-ins all contribute to a warm, ultra-efficient, humane environment, that feels larger that it is and connects to the garden.

MODS Willamette | Works Progress Architecture

This prefabricated apartment complex, comprised of prefab modular structures, contains six dwelling units are carefully arranged on the 5,000 square foot lot to capture views of the St. John’s Bridge and Forest Park beyond. The building is outfitted with both a photo-voltaic solar array and solar water heating system, along with passive shading systems to better offset the building’s energy consumption.

Mt. Tabor Residence | Risa Boyer Architecture

The Mt. Tabor project is a complete remodel of a 1950’s custom designed modern residence on the top of Mt. Tabor in SE Portland. The house was taken down to the studs and opened up and reconfigured. The living room ceiling was vaulted, the kitchen opened into the dining room, a family room created where the laundry room once was and the house opened up to connect with a new front patio and fire pit.

Myrtle View | In Situ Architecture

Tucked on a steeply sloping site with expansive views of the city and mountains, Myrtle View House is a complete reimagining of an existing 1950's residence. A restrained interior with minimal detailing allows the outdoor space and views to dominate, and provides a perfect background for the Owners personalized art and furnishings. A redeveloped courtyard with a small outdoor pool becomes a focal point for the main public rooms, with large sliding doors to provide a seamless flow from inside to out.

Slender House | Waechter Architecture

Slender House addresses the problems of building on a tight infill site, embracing the limits of its property to maximize the structure’s experienced scale. While accepting the restrictions of the zoning and building code, Slender House nonetheless mines the potential of surface treatment and strategic orientation to regain the space lost through these constraints. The result is a house that although constricted on a narrow site, ultimately seems to stretch out, embracing its neighbors.