If the silhouette of the Richard Campbell Residence in Southwest Portland was quickly drawn on a napkin, it would look like two pitched tents sitting side by side in the forest. Trees can be seen through the house’s transparent walls and the living room’s red oak floor connects to decks that float above the woodland.
A simple drawing, however, would not show the complex design and engineering required to have a 2,505 square foot house, supported by concrete piers, appear to disappear into its green environment.
Architect Richard A. Campbell’s original vision in the 1960s for a modern chalet on a wooded hillside has been called masterful by design experts. A recent renovation by Portland architect Paul McKean was celebrated by the statewide preservation group Restore Oregon as “sensitive” and “stunning.”
The 0.65-acre, sloping property at 5400 S.W. Burton Drive in the Sylvan Highlands neighborhood allows the house and its roof-matching pitched pavilion to integrate with nature, not block it.
Of all of the innovation architects introduced in Oregon, this is “one of the Pacific Northwest’s most creative open-concept homes,” says Jeff Weithman of Real Estate Through Design/(w)here Real Estate, who listed the property for sale on June 1.
The asking price: $1,465,000.
This is only the second time the storied house has been on the market since it was occupied 56 years ago by Campbell and his family.
First-time visitors only see the roofline from the street. When they descend stairs, however, they stop in awe, fronted by a two-story house that looks as open as a child’s dollhouse.
Glass panels draw natural light into the see-through home and doors on each end open to let breezes blow through the main level’s living, kitchen and dining areas.
Tree limbs look close enough to touch. Vaulted cedar ceilings and spaces open to the sky add to the serene scene.
Also part of the engineered magic: Exposed concrete piers bring a modern industrial look inside and out, and Douglas fir ceiling beams and purlins are visibly supporting the roof.
In keeping with Northwest Regional Modernism’s hallmark to give locally grown timber a starring role, window frames were milled specifically for this house. Also custom made were shelves and built-in furniture like the bench floating in front of the living room fireplace.
Campbell, who earned architecture degrees at the University of Oregon in 1956 and Yale in 1961, worked as a designer at the Portland office of the venerable architectural, urban planning and engineering firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM).
In 1964, Campbell partnered with William Roger Yost and Joachim Grube to found Campbell, Yost, & Grube Architecture in Portland, which is now YGH Architecture.
Joachim Grube designed a house for his family next door to Campbell’s house on a seemingly unbuildable parcel they split.
Campbell, who was elevated by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) to its prestigious College of Fellows, designed mainly commercial buildings such as Portland’s One Pacific Square. He was active in his career until he died in 1985.
In 1967, Sunset Magazine called Campbell’s residence a “treetop house 10 minutes from downtown Portland” and it was named AIA–Sunset Magazine’s Western Home of the Year.
In 1979, a roof structure that mirrors the roofline of the house was designed by architect Gary Michael to cover a section of the large ipe deck.
The renovated kitchen has quartz countertops and a 14-gauge stainless-steel backsplash. Jones Media Shop
Over the 10 years of their ownership, the sellers had Paul McKean Architecture make key renovations and enhance an already open floor plan. Now, instead of view-blocking cupboards and a standard-size refrigerator in the galley kitchen, there are under-counter cabinets and a double-drawer refrigerator.
The lower level has also been upgraded. The primary suite has a cedar-lined sauna, round soaking tub and a shower that opens to the outdoors. There are three more bedrooms.
— Janet Eastman | 503-294-4072
jeastman@oregonian.com | @janeteastman
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