clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Portland's Handsomely Updated 1910 Craftsman Tries for a Flip

New, 5 comments

Have a nomination for a jaw-dropping listing that would make a mighty fine House of the Day? Get thee to the tipline and send us your suggestions. We'd love to see what you've got.

Location: Portland, Oregon
Price: $1,500,000
The Skinny: It's home-flippin' time on the East Side of Portland, Oregon, and the home is a snazzily updated Craftsman. The dwelling was commissioned from architect Christopher C. Robbins by a wealthy sawmill operator named Harry McCormick, who died of a heart attack while rushing to catch the Catalina Island Ferry less than a year after his place was completed. Since then, the structure has been used for a theological seminary and, colorfully enough, a meeting house for Rosicrucians, before being returned to single-family use in the '80s. Last sold in January 2012 for $925,000, the Harry McCormick House is back on the market with a long list of new and newly restored features.

For pieces like the beveled and leaded glazing in the front door, which had been altered over the course of the home's many acts, replacements more in keeping with the originals were commissioned from local studios. Many of the hammered-copper pendant lights are new, but likewise based on original pieces, and serve as a nice complement to the original hammered-copper fireplaces. Handsome box-beam ceilings run throughout much of the home, which has a large tiled veranda in front and sits on a gated plot taking up half a city block.

Other highlights include the built-in hutch in the dining room, the original "leather-style wallpaper" in the den, and the dining nook in the kitchen, where an exposed-brick wall separates preparation and "clean-up areas." Along with the kitchen, the media room is a pretty obvious departure from the original scheme of the home, thanks to its "custom acoustical ceiling." Different prints of Bradbury & Bradbury wallpaper throughout go quite nicely with all the Craftsman craftsmanship.

The East bedroom, one of eight in a 9,016-square-foot house, might be the most desirable, seeing as it's got French doors opening out onto a sleeping porch. The partially finished basement is currently used as a gym, and has a brick wine cellar, a dedicated "dog room," and—trying not to make a Portland joke, but this feature is making it very tough—a Kegerator servicing a "three-tap beer tower" in the kitchen. The asking price is $1.5M.


· 2712 SE Salmon Street [Zillow; Urban Nest]