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Property Watch: An Architect-Designed Treehouse with Geometric Flair

Property Watch: An Architect-Designed Treehouse with Geometric Flair


05-2938_SW_Fairmount-5_m0unkm Property Watch: An Architect-Designed Treehouse with Geometric Flair

In A Field Guide to American Houses, Virginia Savage McAlester writes: “While other modern movements more often championed straight lines and orthogonal designs, Organic Modernism favored natural shapes and interesting geometries.” Looking at this house on Fairmount Boulevard in the Southwest Hills, there are definitely some “interesting geometries” at play. Namely, in the diamond-shaped front porch cover, with one triangular half projecting out from the roofline, and one protecting the recessed entry. 

25-2938_SW_Fairmount-25_xwv95z Property Watch: An Architect-Designed Treehouse with Geometric Flair

Yet, wrapped head to toe in vertical cedar, including the garage door, the house does more to blend in among the surrounding trees than stand out with its unique shape. That fits with the Organic architecture ethos to “respond to its environment, rather than impose on it,” according to McAlester. And with a lot like this, 9,583 square feet with easy access to Marquam Nature Park and its seven-plus miles of trails, we get it. There’s a reason we use the word “treehouse” in this column so often, when so many local architects have been inspired by our fair forests.

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This particular “treehouse” was designed by James G. Tropfenbaum and, to no one’s surprise at seeing the exterior, was built in 1979. Perhaps less expected is the interior, where the vibe is more loft/art gallery, thanks to an airy double-height ceiling, minimal interior detailing, wood floors, and white walls and built-ins diffusing the tree-dappled light. Sure, the ceiling may have been painted at some point, but we prefer to think that this is all Tropfenbaum’s original design, deftly bridging the 1970s-’80s aesthetic divide.  

The foyer is actually the uppermost of the three floors, with access to the driveway and the garage, and sweeping views into the living room below. There, the seating area is flanked by a fireplace occupying a triangular section, and a wall of staggered shelving.

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The dining room has its own built-in bar niche, while the kitchen, tucked behind a floating shelf divider and peninsula, is an efficient, white-tiled U-shape, complete with a walk-in, triangular-shaped pantry. There’s a half-bath/laundry room on this floor; downstairs, find three comfortable bedrooms and a shared bathroom. All the bedrooms have big windows. Or, in the case of one, a glass door to—you guessed it—a petite triangular deck.

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Despite so much love for triangles, upstairs, the back deck is a mere rectangle, accessed by large sliding glass doors in both the living and dining rooms. But the deck has 360 square feet, extending the home beyond its 1,465 square feet. Plus, in true treehouse fashion, it reminds us what this house is really all about: to be perched among the trees.

  • Address: 2938 SW Fairmount Blvd, Portland, OR 97239
  • Size: 1,465 square feet/3 bedroom/1.5 bath 
  • List Date: 5/30/2025 
  • List Price: $799,000
  • Listing Agent: Deb Kemp, Vetiver Street Real Estate
53-2938_SW_Fairmount-53_bfgypo Property Watch: An Architect-Designed Treehouse with Geometric Flair

Melissa Dalton is a freelance writer who has focused on Pacific Northwest design and lifestyle since 2008. Contact Dalton here. 


Editor’s Note: Portland Monthly’s “Property Watch” column takes a weekly look at an interesting home in Portland’s real estate market (with periodic ventures to the burbs and points beyond, for good measure). Got a home you think would work for this column? Get in touch at [email protected].

 



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