Green is the color

I was intrigued by this townhouse as I have a friend in the area that is thinking of selling hers in the coming months and I wanted to see how it compared. Too often these properties suffer from poorly thought out layouts, cheap bland materials and a vacuum of design sensibility, all in the name of saving a buck. However there's always the exceptions and this is one of them. This one on NE 11th in the Sabin neighborhood was built in 2004 by Terrafirma and has been updated by the current owners. It's a family house through and through and I love the upstairs corner bedrooms connected by the Jack 'n Jill bathroom, a really thoughtful use of space and allowing the rest of the floor to breathe a little easier. There's a deck on either end of the house and a cavernous family room. If townhouses are your thing, this three bedroom unit would be worth checking out. Priced at $459,000.

It had been a while since I have been down to the south waterfront and as there were a couple of units on tour this morning I thought it was time reacquaint myself with the Meriwether East tower. Up on the 19th floor, a large 2,541 sqft, two bedroom unit has just been listed. It's a lovely floor plan, somewhat open plan though subtle partitioning encourages separation should you want it. The bedrooms are tucked far away from the main entertaining areas, giving those that need some rest all the privacy they need from those enjoying the sweeping northwesterly views. Three parking spaces also means you and the family will never have to fight the OHSU students for street parking. Priced at $1,299,000.

Also in the East tower is this one bedroom unit that comes at a price of $469,000. Unlike its older brother upstairs, this unit suffers a little from a strange layout issue. Well let me backtrack. If you work from home or your home office needs to be sizable (think very generous cube space), and you don't mind it being one of the first things you see when you walk through the door then this could be the unit for you. But for me I would rather have squared that space out and added extra square feet to the kitchen/living room area. Perhaps many will look past it but I thought it was a little jarring. That said you only have to go and sit on the balcony and gaze at the river with a glass of Pinot in your hand, and any concerns of what might have been, will quickly wash away. Otherwise a lovely unit and what we have come to expect from both Meriwether Towers.

It's not often I find myself in a neighborhood I'm not familiar with but this Metzger (near Tigard) home that is pending a platinum LEED rehab cert was just too much to resist a visit. It was certainly worth it, it's a splendid home with every 'green' feature you could think of and, well, more. There's too many listed on this short blurb but one thing I found quite eyeopening was that it boasts that 99% of the waste generated during the remodel was either reused or recycled. That's an impressive feat. So what makes this different from other green rehabs? Well quality I suppose. These guys have spent as much time thinking about it's energy efficiency as the interior design and that counts for a lot in my book. Usually one or the other will get the most of the attention and here both have been thought through to the end. As usual some of the material choices aren't top of my list but that's personal and takes nothing away from the overall effect. The master bathroom, with its walk-in shower and Japanese soaking tub is a touch of luxury. I also love the huge backyard that has been landscaped, at least in my mind, in readiness for the new owner to plant a massive vegetable patch. Fantastic five bedroom house and well worth going to see. I'll eagerly wait and see if they'll get the $850,000 asking price though. Located on SW Elmwood St.

Pick of the Week: The green house. Well worth the drive and I look forward to the next project from these guys.