Floating Homes Slideshow

house-slideshow-thumb-with-play-buttonFloating homes range from fancy to funky, but their allure is constant. Check out additional photos of all three floating homes from our June/July 2011 cover story below.

Robert Oshatz extended interview

Robert Oshtaz designs unique residential and commercial buildings. The floating home he designed for Randy Fennell and Kazuyo Tojo on the Willamette River seems to be part of the water. A house he designed for another client appears to echo the trees around it. We talked to him about his design process.

Back to the river

2011JuneJuly_EditorsPage_02Managing Editor Vivian McInerny reminisces about living on a Portland houseboat in the late 70’s.

The allure of tiny homes

2011JuneJuly_Homeward_Vardo02What’s fire-engine red, has wheels and is utterly fantasy inducing? No, not a sleek Euro sports car but the Don Vardo, a 7-by-10-foot mobile structure with French doors, a tiny cedar deck, radiant-heat cork floors and hemlock walls.

Bicycle shed chic

2011JuneJuly_Homeward_BicycleChicLike many people living in Craftsman homes, bicycle commuters Marti Frank and Lev Tsypin discovered what they gained in architectural charm they lost in convenient bike storage. “We have no driveway or garage,” says Tsypin of their Southeast Portland home. “We just had a makeshift, awkward bike area in the back.”

Get the look: Hotel Modera

Good design looks effortless. It rarely is. Ask anyone who has tried to create a cool mid-century look only to end up with a hot mess of mishmash. Getting the right color, texture, lighting and proportions within four walls is a balancing act. The Hotel Modera lobby in downtown Portland strikes that balance with a look that is pulled together without being too matchy-matchy.