Providence Heights, SE

Tuesday I walked a hidden pocket of 50's transitional ranches and traditionals called Providence Heights. It's a 'perfectville' tract bordered by SE 47th & 50th and Stark/Burnside. The lawns are all perfectly manicured, the houses are mostly white clapboard and brick, and I swear this is the neighborhood Elizabeth Taylor would have moved into in the movie "Father of the Bride". It is brimming with mid-century modest perfectionism! Many of the houses are completely original, with vintage kitchens, knotty pine rumpus rooms with built in shuffleboards in the VCT flooring, period-perfect tiled baths. Ohh!

The tract is  actually called Providence Heights, and the neighborhood would be classified as North Tabor. The houses run the gamut between $330K and $550K, with the majority being in that mid-$300 range.

This is faux grass and looks good (feels funny).

Montavilla (SE)

The area I walked today is in the heart of Montavilla, between 82nd and 92nd, just South of Stark/Washington one-ways.

Despite popular and recent trend, if you're a long-time Portlander, you call this area MontaviLLa.. pronouncing the LL's like any good honky would. When I hear people call it Montavyia, I just laugh, sure the area is 'trendifying' and 'poshing up' - pie shops, cafes, posh restaurants and bars, restored movie theater, but it's still just the Villa to me! Check out a pic of Montavilla in 1939 (via Vintage Portland blog). Others (especially realtors) call it East Tabor - though that's more descriptive of the area between 72nd & 82nd. So this would be East-East Tabor as far as I'm concerned.

That said, it is a very cute neighborhood, with a great walkability factor. It's very accessible and though it's still got the tarnish of 82nd and i-205 on it, the area has a new found wow factor because of the revitalization of Stark St.  The houses are charming bungalows and salt-boxes, ranchelows, with the odd rectangle-ranch mixed in, and currently the prices are as low as $140K but run up to and a bit above $200. (I'm in contract on one right now for a client, boy it's a cutie!). Despite it's proximity to some major avenues, it's rather quiet and docile - Lots of neighbors doing yardwork, and families enjoying their yards. A perfect 'first home' neighborhood full of people who seem to care about their homes even if they haven't had the money to remodel them, and that's what we like. This neighborhood is pretty much "Period-Perfect".



The Alymo's long lost twin.



Cool Man-Vans!

The quaint back yard of the house my client is in contract on. Sweet!

If you like these, you'll really love my website's Mid-Mod or Period-Perfect picks of the week!