I’m really excited about the Portland Street of Dreams this year!  It is always a great show and this year it is located in Lake Oswego which is a beautiful suburb of Portland.  There are nine houses on the tour, but the hightlight of the tour is a remodel of a 65 year old home.  This article from the Portland Tribune got me excited.

Marylou Colver of the Lake Oswego Preservation Society walked across the wood floors and past the paneled walls of the historic Shaw House back in July, examining the details of the mid-century modern home that was then up for sale.

Designed by Portland architect John Yeon and built in 1950 for Lawrence Shaw of Modoc Lumber Company, the home at 12800 Goodall Road had undergone several alterations and add-ons over the years, but “the integrity of the house was still intact,” Colver said.

Photo Credit: SUBMITTED PHOTO: SUSANNA KUO – When the Shaw House was photographed in January 2014, the integrity of the house was still intact, Lake Oswego Preservation Society president Marylou Colver says.

When Brian Bohrer of Cornerstone Construction Services toured the house last fall, though, he had a different experience.

“You could see ceilings leaking,” said Bohrer, who co-owns the company with his brother, Jeff. “You could see exterior softness and windows leaking.”

The house, which is undergoing a luxury remodel as part of the 2015 Street of Dreams in Lake Oswego, lacked the flashing, ventilation and tempered windows needed to meet modern code requirements, Bohrer said. And as he and his crew began to peel back the home’s outer paneling, they discovered rot throughout the house.

Going layer by layer, the crew stripped the home to its studs.

To local preservation advocates like Colver, the skeleton of the historic home — which was featured in “Classic Houses of Portland, Oregon, 1850-1950,” by William J. Hawkins and William F. Willingham — is a shocking sight. To Bohrer, the deconstruction is evidence that his team is committed to keeping the home, rather than tearing it down to rebuild — even if that means investing in a $1 million remodel.

“The goal was to save the house, and that’s exactly what we’ve done,” Bohrer said. “You can build new houses for less than what we’ve spent to remodel this house.”

Photo Credit: SUBMITTED PHOTO – Lake Oswego’s Shaw House was featured on the April 1953 of House Beautiful magazine.

This year’s 40th annual Street of Dreams — at The Highlands in Lake Oswego —will focus on detailed craftsmanship rather than sprawling mansions, according to Rachel Trice, vice president of marketing, membership and events for the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Portland.

The show, which opens on Saturday, Aug. 1, and runs through Sunday, Aug. 30, will be located at the intersection of Goodall and Knauss roads. It will feature as many as nine luxury homes, all with relatively small footprints but with price tags of more than $2 million.

Because the development is located within city limits, Trice said the Home Builders Association is looking for ways to encourage visitors to spend the whole day in Lake Oswego. As many as 50,000 people are expected to attend the show; parking will be located off-site, with shuttles to the Street itself and possibly into downtown Lake Oswego.

“We’re really encouraging people to come shop and dine and spend the whole day,” Trice said.

During the Street of Dreams, the Shaw House will feature “before” pictures so that visitors can see what was transformed and what was maintained. Trice said it has been at least a decade since a remodeled home was included in the show.

“I think the remodel is going to be a highlight of the show this year,” Trice said. “We just thought it was a great opportunity to showcase the professional remodeling angle.”

Photo Credit: REVIEW PHOTO: VERN UYETAKE – Construction continues on the Shaw House at the site of the 2015 Street of Dreams, which will be held at the intersection of Goodall and Knauss roads in Lake Oswego.

Bohrer, a member of the Home Builders Association’s Professional Remodelers Organization, said the property could easily have been spilt into two lots. Instead, he and his team chose to keep the house as a model of early Northwest architectural style.

“This particular house has some unique architectural details that are original and well-known in this area,” he said.

Bohrer and his team have saved the home’s unique light fixtures and will reinstall them in the completed house. The distinctive wood paneling and fireplace will be included in the renovation, along with the well-known stone patio and railing that were featured on the April 1953 cover of House Beautiful magazine.

The team even plans to redo the house’s costly integrated gutter system, Bohrer said, because “we think it’s important to the integrity of the house.”

The remodeled house will feature solar power, high-efficiency windows, high-efficiency heating and cooling, and advanced electrical systems and appliances. The house, which was 3,852 square feet before the remodel, will be expanded to 5,031 square feet and will also include a two-car garage.

Even with these updates, Bohrer said the completed house would still be “mid-century modern in the truest form,” and would have a different feel than the surrounding luxury homes.

Time will tell whether Colver feels the same.

“The majority of (Yeon’s) designs were in Lake Oswego, and very few are still intact,” she said. “We’re losing some significant examples of our built legacy.”

Rather than a remodel, Colver would prefer a restoration, which would “update sensitively and restore the house to what was celebrated in the time it was built.”

“If they want to move in this direction,” she said, “we’d be happy to help them.”

Contact Kelsey O’Halloran at 503-636-1281 x101 orkelseyo@pamplinmedia.com.

Photo Credit: SUBMITTED PHOTO: SUSANNA KUO – Portland architect John Yeon built this mid-century modern home in 1950 for Lawrence Shaw of Modoc Lumber Company. After it is remodeled, it will feature solar power, high-efficiency windows, high-efficiency heating and cooling, and advanced electrical systems and appliances.