Shelli’s Guide to Portland

Let me Help You Find a Home and a Neighborhood

Welcome to our website about the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area. It’s our way of helping you become acquainted with the neighborhoods and communities of the Portland metro area and to inform you about the Portland area housing market. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome. 

If you have questions or if you’re interested in buying or selling a home in the Portland area, contact me online or call Shelli at (503) 816-8436.

Shelli Gowdy — Real Estate Broker

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Homes New on the Market:  Portland Metro Area

Homes for Sale:  Portland Neighborhoods

Alamada  ♦  Beaumont-Wilshire  ♦  Boise  ♦  Bridlemile  ♦  Concordia  ♦  Eastmoreland  ♦  Forest Park  ♦  Goose Hollow  ♦  Grant Park  ♦  Hillsdale  ♦  Hillside  ♦  Hollywood  ♦  Hosford-Abernethy  ♦  Irvington  ♦  Laurelhurst  ♦  Mt. Tabor  ♦  Multnomah  ♦  Northwest District  ♦  Pearl  ♦  Piedmont  ♦  Rose City Park  ♦  Sellwood-Moreland  ♦  Southwest Hills  ♦  Sunnyside  ♦  South Portland  ♦  Sylvan-Highlands  ♦  University Park

Homes for Sale:  Community

Beaverton  ♦  Dunthorpe  ♦  Forest Grove  ♦  Happy Valley  ♦  Lake Oswego  ♦  Milwaukie  ♦  Portland  ♦  Sherwood  ♦  Tigard  ♦  Tualatin  ♦  West Linn 

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Homes

Hoyt Arboretum namesake’s 1904 Craftsman mansion is for sale 

17 April — Few residences represent Portland’s storied past as well as a 1904 Craftsman in the King’s Hill Historic District bordering Washington Park. The mansion was built for Ralph Warren Hoyt, a civic leader best known as the namesake for the park’s Hoyt Arboretum, which showcases native conifers and flowering trees on land once eyed for development. Hoyt’s story as a touchstone to early Portland started long before he was born here in 1864. His steam-boatmen father, Captain Henry L. Hoyt, piloted a vessel that in 1850 delivered cargo to the promising port for the first time. His mother, May L. Millard, walked the Oregon Trail from Iowa in 1852. Her obituary in The Oregonian called her “one of Portland’s most highly respected pioneer women.” Son Ralph attended Portland public schools and worked his way up at the Merchants National Bank from messenger to cashier to eventually becoming a principal shareholder. Before he was elected Multnomah County Commissioner, he served as county treasurer.  Read more…

Portland’s secret marble ‘mausoleum’ mansion sells for $500,000 

19 April — Every house has a story but some are better than others: A 1928 mansion in Southwest Portland was built with leftover stone from the Columbia River Highway. Inside, expensive wood and marble from downtown hotel projects mysteriously ended up here, too. The property was owned by the same family for 70 years, but before the Browns moved in after World War II, the land sheltered a brothel, bootlegging distillery and a hidden pathway to the Willamette River. Today, a circular area in the middle of the yard, protected by cast-iron pillars linked together with decorative chains, was believed by the previous owner to be the entrance of an underground tunnel. Experts doubt this and it will be hard to prove since the hole has long been covered and rose bushes were planted on top.  Read more…

On the market: Homes with an enviable outdoor kitchen

19 April — Sooner than you think, the air will heat up and you’ll be craving dinner under the stars. Maybe it’s time to start thinking about installing something beyond a barbecue out there. In this week’s real estate gallery, we look at homes on the market with an enviable outdoor kitchen. If firing up more than a portable grill is a hot idea to you, here at five tips to make the best of outdoor cooking, courtesy of Robert Hawkins and Char-Broil, which has a modular outdoor kitchen to roll into place.  Read more…

How to choose the right material for every surface in your home

19 April — The right building materials impact the outcome of a project perhaps more than any other factor. From countertops, to flooring, paneling, and facades, these surfaces determine not only the look and feel of your home, but how you interact with it. For this reason, selecting high-quality surfaces is crucial. Many materials, such as granite, marble, and concrete—increasingly popular in modern construction—are heavy and porous. They can be difficult to cut and install, and they can be prohibitively expensive. With its durable, lightweight material and seemingly endless variety of styles, surfacing brand Neolith, a Castellón, Spain, based company, is revolutionizing the building process by creating ultra compact sintered stone surfaces. Made from all-natural materials, this durable surfacing can be used for countertops, floors, interior and exterior cladding, and even cabinetry.  Read more…

News

Blazers shun the pass, and it costs them in playoffs

19 April — The Golden State Warriors chart it. The Toronto Raptors overhauled their playbook last summer to feature it. And the Philadelphia 76ers celebrate it. “The pass is king,” said Sixers Coach Brett Brown, whose team threw more passes this season than anybody else in the N.B.A. “It’s a thing that holds a locker room together. It’s a thing that holds an offense together.” Which brings us to the sad state of affairs in Portland, where the Trail Blazers are in serious trouble against the New Orleans Pelicans, who have a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series. The Blazers had hoped that this would be the year they emerged and did real damage in the postseason after four straight early-round exits — and perhaps they still can.  Read more…

Portland inks agreement with tech startup to get data on bicycle rides

19 April — Portland transportation leaders say they will soon know more about what cyclists think about their daily commute. The city inked a five-year agreement with Ride Report, a Portland-based tech startup, to share user data with transportation officials. The company will be paid $30,000 the first year, but its chief executive said it’s possible that public funds could increase in subsequent years. City officials say with more information from cyclists about road safety, Portland can make more informed and nimble policy decisions as it plans separated bikeways, neighborhood greenways and other bike projects.  Read more…

Oregon grows more cannabis than customers consume

19 April — A recent Sunday afternoon at the Bridge City Collective cannabis shop in North Portland saw a steady flow of customers. Little wonder: A gram of weed was selling for less than the price of a glass of wine. The $4 and $5 grams enticed Scotty Saunders, a 24-year-old sporting a gray hoodie, to spend $88 picking out new products to try with a friend. “We’ve definitely seen a huge drop in prices,” he says. Across the wood-and-glass counter, Bridge City owner David Alport was less delighted. He says he’s never sold marijuana this cheap before.  Read more…

Sherwood’s growth plan comes to a halt, for now

19 April — The Sherwood City Council voted 7-0 on Tuesday to halt a proposal to grow by by several hundred acres. In doing so, the city will withdraw a letter of interest to the Metro Council — the regional government that oversees land-use issues — asking to expand the region’s urban growth boundary by several hundred acres this year. With the vote, the Council brought to an end — or at least pressed “pause” on — a process that has been about two years in the making. The vote took place in a packed room at City Hall, with every seat taken and dozens of folks standing along the walls and in the doorway. At one point, the body heat grew so intense that Police Chief Jeff Groth opened a door leading outside to let in some fresh air.  Read more…

Small cities’ building permit programs face uncertainty

19 April — Amid a statewide housing shortage, the building permit programs of 25 small municipalities could be in jeopardy following a recent state Department of Justice opinion that using private-sector consultants to oversee plan reviews and building inspections may violate state law. The opinion included in a Feb. 16 DOJ memorandum could result in new restrictions on small jurisdictions and require them to have building officials on staff, city officials said. Small counties and cities, such as the rural city of Aurora, with a population less than 1,000, don’t have the resources to hire a building official. Instead, those local governments rely on third-party contractors to provide building review services for them. “This is going to raise costs in a huge way because we can’t cover these costs with our current funding,” said Aurora Mayor Bill Graupp. “It will raise costs in housing especially in rural Oregon. Low-cost, low-income housing is hit the worst, which is what we are trying to work on in rural Oregon, and this is a huge spike in the heart for us.”  Read more…

Portland’s toxic air problem

19 April — Portland’s air is dirtier than we thought. A study conducted by researchers at the U.S. Forest Service revealed dangerously high levels of heavy metals in Portland, sparking an investigation into the sources and causing regulators and officials to question why the pollution was left unchecked for so long.A study of tree moss in Portland revealed high levels of arsenic, cadmium, nickel and lead in the air surrounding a pair of Portland glass companies. The revelation showed holes in the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s testing procedures and regulations. Now a push is on by state and local officials to fix the pollution problem and tighten regulations.  Read more…

Never Leave Curly Fries Near Your Car: Here’s Why

17 April — A dark night, a wooded road. Two friends on a road trip are lost and looking for directions. A sudden movement on their car hood startles them. As they look up, they see a massive cougar sitting on the windshield. Then the cougar tries to bat their fuzzy dice, hanging from the rear-view mirror. Thinking fast, the driver draws the cougar away from the car using a laser pointer’s beam — before hitting the gas to escape. Think that’s unbelievable? Just wait. Here’s a rundown of the craziest auto claims we’ve seen and covered.  Read more…

Neighborhood walking tours

The Architectural Heritage Center presents walking tours of historic and architecturally significant neighborhoods and sites around Portland, Oregon. Throughout much of the year, you can find AHC tours on Tuesdays, Thursdays, or Saturdays. We are also able to provide private group walking tours. If your group is interested in a private tour, contact the AHC for more information. Be advised that all of our scheduled tours run rain or shine. Our knowledgeable, trained, volunteer guides welcome you to learn more about our area’s history and architecture. Please check out our Schedule + Registration page for the most up-to-date calendar of walking tours and other AHC education programs.