Property Watch: A Wade Pipes Original Filled with Cheerful Color

In 1907, after a lifetime in rural Oregon, Wade Pipes went to England to study architecture. It would be a life-changing trip for the 30-year-old. Not only would he study the Arts and Crafts movement at its height, even meeting important designers like C. F. A. Voysey, but on his move to Portland in 1911, he brought the style back with him. His ensuing house designs, totaling 70 over the span of his career, established him as an Arts and Crafts devotee. Even his fashion followed suit, noted Pietro Belluschi, who purportedly described Pipes as “an elegantly dressed man in English tweeds.”

The Arts and Crafts movement was more philosophical than prescriptive, emphasizing the importance of simplicity, natural materials, and the handmade. It encompassed the decorative arts, too, like wallpaper and furniture. Historians note that Pipes’s “houses are nearly all in the Arts and Crafts style, and contain many design features that can be traced to English prototypes, yet all are unique and tailored to the environs of Portland.”

Between 1911 and 1920, Pipes was just establishing his career, and finished seven commissions. Three of those got press attention, including this home on NW Summit Avenue, which was declared one of Portland’s “ten most notable buildings of a city” by an architecture magazine. Completed in 1916 or 1918, for a Dr. Ralph Fenton, it’s more recently undergone an evocative interior remodel with Peony Architecture.

From the street, everything still looks pretty Pipes-ian. The facade has a front-facing gable with a hip-roofed massing behind it. In pleasing asymmetry, one eave slants dramatically down in order to extend into a circular cover over the entry. Exterior stucco, pairs of casement windows, and leafy landscaping complete the English cottage feel.

Inside, the remodel is focused on “living” materials, handmade tile, custom cabinets made from locally sourced walnut, and even British wallpaper on the ceiling. That’s all in keeping with the architect’s love of Arts and Crafts. The living room is cozy as can be, thanks to the original fireplace, wainscot, and built-in bookshelves. New patio doors flank the fireplace to open to a patio with a 700-year-old fountain from Andalusia.

Nearby is the swoony sunroom in the tower—did we mention there’s a three-story tower on the back for ultimate whimsy? In the sunroom, find bright blue, heated Moroccan tile floors and more French doors, anchored on either side by half-walls with built-in shelves, and interior window dividers that echo the proportions of the originals. In the kitchen, the happy color continues, with brilliant green tile from Clé on the backsplash, and 200-year-old terra-cotta tile from France on the floor. Handmade walnut cabinets have counters to match, with zinc counters framing the sink and its unlacquered brass faucet.

A new powder room on this floor has vivid yellow House of Hackney wallpaper from London, and the same brand covers the ceilings in two of the four bedrooms on the middle floor. Above that, a third-floor space with vaulted ceilings can be flexed to any purpose, while the downstairs is converted to a full-fledged apartment, including a kitchen, full bathroom, and fifth bedroom. The finishes there, like concrete floors and plywood cabinetry, may skew more modern, but are just as Arts and Crafts as everything else to be found here.

• Address: 1240 NW Summit Ave, Portland, OR 97210
• Size: 4,321 square feet, 5 bedroom/3.5 bath 
• List Date: 2/21/2025 
• List Price: $1,850,000
• Listing Agent: Karoline Ashley, Windermere Realty Trust

Melissa Dalton is a freelance writer who has focused on Pacific Northwest design and lifestyle since 2008. She is based in Portland, Oregon. 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].