Budget Breakdown: A Portland Home Packs an Off-Grid Punch for $820K
On challenging terrain overlooking a wetland, Minarik Architecture creates a resilient, dual-volume residence.
On challenging terrain overlooking a wetland, Minarik Architecture creates a resilient, dual-volume residence.
About five and a half miles southeast of downtown Portland, Oregon, in the Errol Heights neighborhood, the Springwater Trail Residence faces a greenbelt with a wetland that provides regular wildlife sightings for the home’s owner, Mariam. "I’ve seen an eagle come right up over me with a fish in its talons," she says. "From my bed, I can look out the window and know where the eagle’s nest is. I sometimes say, ‘There’s the eagle. I can get up now.’"
The Springwater Trail Residence, named after a nearby leafy path that meanders along the Willamette River, is positioned against a wetlands area southeast of Downtown Portland.
Photo: Lincoln Barbour
Each day when she wakes, Mariam is immersed in nature without being too far from an urban center. But to build a home with a front-row seat to the outdoors, Portland and Bozeman-based Minarik Architecture had to come up with a design that would work on heretofore undeveloped land: The site was unstable, there were rigid environmental requirements, and Mariam wanted something that could get as close to going off-grid as possible. Essentially, it meant that Minarik had to economize in terms of space, materials, and energy usage.
First, the design had to overcome the unstable site. "We are sitting on thirty feet of undocumented fill, just concrete and rubble from when they built the rest of this development," says architect Doug Minarik. "It was just horrible for building," he adds, laughing. After the site had been excavated and graded, Minarik installed 30 micropiles to provide a sturdy foundation for the home, which accounted for about one-eighth of the entire $820,000 budget.
The open-plan home combines the kitchen with the living and dining areas for a compact layout. A high-efficiency wood stove that the homeowner, Mariam, purchased on sale, pairs with radiant-heated concrete floors and solar power to keep the home warm, even if the city’s power shuts down.
Photo: Lincoln Barbour
The great room opens onto a wood deck cantilevered over the hillside, with glass doors that fold away for indoor/outdoor living.
Photo: Lincoln Barbour
See the full story on Dwell.com: Budget Breakdown: A Portland Home Packs an Off-Grid Punch for $820K
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