5432 NE 32nd Ave, Portland, OR 97211

A rare opportunity to own a bespoke work of architecture nestled in the Alberta Arts district. Conceived and meticulously resolved by architect Mark Holmquist—raised in Germany and Portland, Harvard-trained, and a former associate partner at Foster + Partners (of Apple Park fame)—this modern-day Gesamtkunstwerk was recently selected for the AIA Portland Homes Tour and AIASF Design Awards. As if carved from a single block of cedar, the faceted pair of townhouses are made distinct through a series of geometric sleights of hand. Slipping one past the other, an unorthodox offset creates two reciprocal, lushly planted outdoor ‘rooms’. A thickened party wall—expressed as a notch where the buildings lightly touch—conceals plentiful built-in storage, a critical acoustic decoupling, and allows for an unusually generous south-facing window wall. Upper decks, like the hollows of a tree, offer territorial views shrouded from the sidewalk below. The cascading steps of the front porch, paired with...