Renaissance Homes creates a custom Northwest dream home for an Oregon City couple.
Tammy Wittren and Steve Burleson purchased a farmhouse and 29-acre-view property in Oregon City over a decade ago, knowing they would eventually want to build their dream home there. After talking with a number of custom builders, Wittren and Burleson chose Renaissance Homes because of its reputation, organization and commitment to managing costs without sacrificing luxury. The result is a 5,600-square-foot custom home with a Pacific Northwest feel, modern finishes and ample natural light.
“Right after COVID, prices were astronomical and we could not get a firm cost on anything from multiple builders,” Wittren says. “Renaissance was one of the few companies we talked to that was organized. We built with cash and had a strict budget, and we were within four pennies at the end of our construction.” With site evaluation, architectural design, accounting, permitting and construction all handled in-house, Renaissance Homes provided the couple with a one-stop experience. Primary to the project was the couple’s desire to take advantage of the property, which once served as an Oregon Trail stagecoach stop and includes an acre of lawn and large hayfields. The site also includes an airstrip for Burleson, a pilot.
Wittren and Burleson brought a custom floor plan to the Renaissance Homes team, which updated it and designed the home’s exterior — a two-story Pacific Northwest farmhouse combining gray vertical siding and clapboard, black doors and window frames, and natural wood accents. The design team guided Wittren and Burleson toward cost-effective choices, such as metal roof accents instead of the fully metal roof the couple wanted, which would have cost about three times as much. Wittren says the team also helped her update her own style sense to create a more modern interior.
“I was a little bit stuck in 2003, but Renaissance helped elevate and evolve my tastes,” Wittren says. “Their internal design team was instrumental in helping me keep my own flair while also gently bringing me out of my comfort zone and the incredible team at Wishbone Design put the finishing touches on helping furnish and decorate my new home.”
The home has four bedrooms, including two suites on the top floor and a primary bedroom and additional suite on the main floor, as well as a total of five and a half bathrooms. Each room capitalizes on the views beyond. The primary bath includes a glass-surround shower and separate soaking tub set against wide windows. The home’s half bath and suite area currently serves as an extra bedroom for guests as well as a weight room but will eventually become a pool house.
The main level’s open living space includes a dining table that can seat 10 and a lounge area with a wood-burning fireplace framed by floor-to-ceiling stone, as well as sliding doors leading to a large outdoor patio. In the open kitchen, two large cabinets frame a Wolf range and a large hood, and a farmhouse sink sits below a bank of windows. A large island offers space for food preparation, while an attached woodblock extension provides seating for four and great space for hosting friends for dinner and games. More seating is available at a nearby bar station.
“When you entertain, everybody crowds to the kitchen,” says Wittren. “But when you have a big, long island, no one can talk to each other. It was important to us to have that gathering space.”
Wittren jokes that the couple were nightmare clients because they lived in the old farmhouse as the new property was built — an uncommon arrangement that meant the couple was there throughout construction.
“I run a mortgage team and Steve is a captain at an airline, and both of us are super-Type-A, know-it-all personalities, but the Renaissance team managed us beautifully,” Wittren says.
Though Wittren and Burleson plan to age in place, the Renaissance Homes team helped them consider future buyers when designing their home. “We originally were a little bit smaller in square footage,” says Wittren. “As we talked with them about resale, they really made us think like who our buyer would be. So the team was instrumental in protecting our asset as well.”
