Houzz Tours
Houzz Tour: An Active Family Builds a Perch for Play
Cabinets with built-in dryers for wet ski gear and a 16-foot climbing wall are among the highlights of this Oregon home
The neighborhood above Shevlin Park in Bend, Oregon, offers spectacular views of the Cascade Range, as well as plentiful access to hiking and mountain biking trails. So when this active young family spied a corner lot overlooking the park for sale, they nabbed it and had architect Karen Smuland design a rugged contemporary home complete with indoor climbing wall, art studio, cubbies for gear and a semiprivate courtyard that’s an ideal fit for their busy lifestyle.
The floor plan comprises three wings, which wrap around a southeast-facing, semiprivate courtyard. Pictured here is the back of the house with garage and art studio to the far right. On the roof of the garage are solar panels. The curved roof line was suggested by the homeowners, who didn’t want a shed roof like so many other houses in the neighborhood. The standing-seam metal roofs curve above the home’s clear cedar siding.
On one side of the main entry is a multipurpose mudroom with cabinets of vertical-grain Douglas fir. The homeowners worked closely with a local cabinetmaker to ensure the built-in cabins provided plentiful storage for hiking, climbing and skiing gear. Clerestory windows are used throughout the house to bring light and views indoors.
On the other side of the entry/mudroom are cubbies for every family member to store their coats and hats. The drawers underneath have built-in dryers for the family’s wet ski gear and hiking boots.
Inside, Smuland designed an open plan in a U shape, arranged so the family can see the mountains from the kitchen, dining area and living space. The floors are all bamboo. The ceiling is tongue-and-groove clear cedar, as is the exterior, and extends through the house to the outside along the same plane. The cabinetry is vertical-grain Douglas fir.
Pendant lighting adds a celestial, modern touch in the kitchen. Can lighting in the curved ceiling provides additional illumination. The spacious living, dining and kitchen area opens to a patio off the right, accessed through sliding glass doors. “Access to the outdoors from nearly every room makes the house feel larger,” Smuland says.
The family loves living outdoors. This sheltered patio on the southeast side of the house has a dining table, outdoor sofas, a fire pit and a sandbox. Concrete 24-by-24-inch pavers demarcate the patio area. A barbecue grill is to the left of the table.
The living room has a distinctive outdoor feel, due to the extensive windows topped with clerestories. The windows wrap around the corner to provide views out over the park. The Virginia ledgestone fireplace was constructed in a dry-stack arrangement, which also was used on the exterior on the house. The fireplace also blocks views of the house next door. A trio of Douglas fir columns designed to look like branches of a tree are a part of the support system for the patio’s overhang.
The kitchen has two islands: One is the entertainment island and features a wine refrigerator and beer kegerator (note the two taps), and the other serves as a breakfast bar with cantilevered butcher block top and cooktop. The concrete countertops were made in Bend. A breakfast nook provides additional views of the park.
The breakfast nook is really just a big window seat set beside a table. “The family spends a lot of time here,” Smuland says. She lowered the ceiling in the nook to provide a cozy sense of intimacy. Underneath the window seat is built-in storage.
“The whole family loves rock climbing,” Smuland says, “and we originally wanted to design an exterior climbing wall, but we couldn’t get it approved by the local design review board. So we went for it in the interior.” Smuland raised the ceiling in the son’s bedroom to 16 feet to accommodate the climbing wall, including the arête — the edge or ridge jutting out from the wall. Top belay mounts allow younger kids to climb the wall safely. The homeowners selected the holds in primary colors. The carpet tiles are by Flor.
In the the master bathroom, glass tile chosen by the homeowners frames the vanities and floating mirrors atop the floating cabinetry with a modern, low profile. The sinks and the tub have the same egg shape and were made from volcanic stone. The windowsill next to the tub, dubbed the “wine shelf” by the homeowners, is extra wide. The chandelier above the tub “is, well, bubbly,” Smuland says, “and is the perfect look above a tub.”
Outside the master suite is another patio just for the parents, where they can enjoy their wine and beer while sitting on their white Adirondack chairs as the sun sets — the perfect ending to an active day.
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Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple and their two children
Location: Bend, Oregon
Size: 3,400 square feet (315.9 square meters)
Designer: Karen Smuland, Karen Smuland Architect
The house sits on a corner lot overlooking Shevlin Park, the largest park in Bend, Oregon. “They bought the lot because of its access to the park,” architect Karen Smuland says. “They’re an active family that likes to hike, ski, mountain bike and climb.”
Neighborhood convenants dictated that the house remain a single story. “We had an 18-foot height limit,” Smuland says. So to make the most of its location along the Cascade Range, the home features an abundance of windows, many up to the ceiling, to take in the breathtaking views.