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

On the market: Homes with a toasty heated floor (photos)

22 April — Underfloor heating in a bathroom is a luxury, but installing it during a remodel or new construction makes sense. Energy-efficient radiant heat for the whole house is promoted by environmentalist and modernist. People are warmed by a floor, wall or overhead panel instead of hot air. Frank Lloyd Wright was a big fan of heated floors. A fine example is at the Gordon House in Silverton, the only Wright building in Oregon. 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

More than 5,000 turn out to watch USS Portland commissioned

22 April — Over 5,000 people showed up to watch the USS Portland be commissioned at the Port of Portland’s Terminal 2 Saturday, April 21, 2018. The 684-foot-long San Antonio class vessel, which will be stationed in San Diego, weighs 25,000 tons and is designed for both humanitarian and military missions. It cost $1.6 billion and can accommodate 800 Marines, armored vehicles and tanks. Read more…

Cannabis’ price problem: Letter to the editor

20 April — I keep reading and hearing Oregon grew too much cannabis. This is not the case. The problem is the price. We are a free enterprise system. Everyone must compete. When the market saturates, prices fall. This has been the problem around harvest every year, everywhere I have ever been. If you hold out for a better price, remember you are dealing with fresh product.  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…

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.