Some of the last decades excessive design and decor stay: Youll see more farmhouses, midcentury moderns and – OregonLive

The 2010s began with the world in financial peril. It ended with stock markets hitting record highs. Its no surprise, then, that optimism or despair either amped up or pared down new home sizes, amenities and costs.

The last decades economic roller coaster sent Portlands asking prices tumbling 35 percent in some cases. In 2011, new high-end residential properties that were estimated to be worth $1.5 million before the 2008 crash were stuck on the market at $800,000 to $950,000.

Prevailing throughout the post-recession decade, as seen in the 44-year-old NW Natural Street of Dreams luxury home tour, were Oregon homebuyers strong desire for highly livable floor plans, environmentally friendly materials and smart devices that support todays ideal for a less-work, more-play home life.

Trends embraced between 2010-2019 included upscale versions of the past: Modern farmhouses had artistic barn doors, apron sinks and white shiplap-clad walls. Popular too were Mad Men-inspired midcentury moderns and warehouse-evoking industrial chics exposed brick, concrete floors and bare Edison lightbulbs.

The 2019 NW Natural Street of Dreams home, Bespoke. July 25, 2019 Beth Nakamura/Staff

At the dawn of the last decade, smartphones were just beginning to be used as a universal remote control. Mobile apps could adjust room lights and temperatures, heat up the hot tub and monitor security cameras. In 2015, Amazon made it possible through whole-home automation to order meals, play music and ask Alexa anything.

Throughout the twenty teens, the annual Street of Dreams reflected the ups and downs of homeowners aspirations, builders budgets and the areas thickening density.

The homeownership rate in the Portland area inched up from 61.6 percent in 2010 to 62.9 in 2018, the biggest increase among the nations 50 largest metros, according to the latest Census Bureaus American Community Survey as analyzed by Apartment List.

I wish I had a crystal ball to see into the future, but I do know that the dream of homeownership is still strong and most people in America would love to own a home of their own at some point, said master-planned community developer Rudy Kadlub, president of Costa Pacific Communities and chairman of the NW Natural Street of Dreams.

The definition of a home and its ownership type, however, means something different to everyone, he added.

The 2019 NW Natural Street of Dreams home, La Maison. Photo by Beth Nakamura/Staff

The Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Portland created the Street of Dreams, the oldest and largest single-venue new home tour, in 1976 to promote local builders abilities to execute complicated, cutting-edge construction in a range of architectural styles.

That year, custom houses with built-in microwaves in Washington Countys Rock Creek neighborhood sold for around $75,000. By 2006, asking prices for Street of Dreams properties in Oregon Citys Hidden Lake Estates reached $3 million and square footage ballooned to 7,000 and beyond, about triple the U.S. average.

With up to 50,000 visitors to the monthlong home show, the Street of Dreams became legendary for buzz-worthy indulgences. Builders and interior designers installed over-the-top trophies like subterranean Dolby Atmos home theaters, wet bars adjacent to climate-controlled, glass-walled wine cellars and even the $125,000 solid bronze bathtub Brad Pitt reportedly once gave to Jennifer Aniston.

Before land-use laws and increased land costs and development fees forced homesites to shrink, Street of Dreams properties were resort-style, real estate fantasies with backyard sports courts, massive swimming pools, stone pizza ovens and private putting greens.

In comparison, the 2019 Street of Dreams in Wilsonville spotlighted standard-size lots with raised gardening beds and bioswales to help manage stormwater and reduce erosion.

Bad timing: The 2007 Street of Dreams opened just as the U.S. mortgage market tumbled, triggering the Portland regions biggest home price decline in at least two decades. All of the six custom homes in Oregon City were unsold nine months after the summer show ended.

One Street of Dreams builder tried unsuccessfully to auction his project.

The next year, real estate values continued to sink, lenders became reluctant to finance spec houses and superstars builders went bankrupt.

For three years, tight funding, limited land supply and hesitant demand forced Street of Dreams organizers to piece the show together from multiple locations and include condos and homes that had been lingering on the market.

Builders backed away from unnecessary extravagances such as cigar rooms and hidden elevators to man caves, and in 2011 introduced floor plans designed to spread out expenses by allowing multiple generations to shelter under one roof or owners to rent out a smaller dwelling sharing a lot with the main house.

The Oregonian

This is the vaulted master suite in the 2011 Street of Dreams' house by Brentwood Homes.

The 2011 Street of Dreams had five houses on double lots in Tigard accompanied by a separate, self-contained living space an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) with a bedroom, kitchenette and bathroom.

The environmentally responsible Earth Advantage-certified homes also conserved energy and water use.

Asking prices ranged from $800,000 and $950,000.

Attendance at the 2011 home tour was double that of the previous year. The show was extended a week and forever boosted interest in homes within homes, meeting expanding needs.

Kadlub said the stereotypic Dad, Mom and kids represents less than 35 percent of the home buying market as more single people and generations of a family elect to live under one roof for convenience, to consolidate housing expenses and to be together.

To meet this need, designers, developers and builders are creating homes with two master suites with a dedicated entrance for private comings and goings.

An in-law suite is an inexpensive way to provide housing and privacy for a family member who has special needs or aging parents who would like their own kitchen, bathroom, entry and parking, said Kadlub. I would think we will continue to see more of this.

Four years after the 2008 bust, the economy was re-bounding and a West Linn vineyard was converted into home lots for the 2012 Street of Dreams.

The Oregonian

2012 Street of Dreams' Hamptons-inspired Montauk custom house by Delahunt Homes has a vaulted dining room.

A Hamptons-like estate, Oregon lodge-style house and five other Earth Advantage-certified residences exhibited the high level of luxury visitors were used to seeing on the Street of Dreams from the 1990s through the mid-2000s.

The 2012 properties were priced from $950,000 to $1.3 million.

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The Rendezvous home, built by F. Dale Lumpkin General Contractor in West Linn, was sold before the 2013 Street of Dreams opened. Molly J. Smith/The Oregonian LC-

In 2013, seven of nine $1 million-plus homes on a one-acre lot in the Stonehenge neighborhood overlooking Lake Oswego were sold before the summer home tour opened.

The Street of Dreams big-budget, mega-sized residences are derided for their excesses, but builders contend that these custom projects allow them to learn how to apply cost-saving construction techniques to more affordable dwellings.

Behind the well-insulated walls of the Street of Dreams houses are high-performance heating and cooling systems that lower energy bills and carbon footprints.

In 2019, even with 2,784 to 4,600 square feet of living space, the average electricity and gas bill for each of the Street of Dreams houses was estimated at $141 or less a month, according to the Energy Trust of Oregon.

Most of the dwellings earned Earth Advantage sustainability certification and are more efficient than a similar-sized house built to code, according to the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Portland.

Energy efficient products have improved over the last decade and the cost in some cases has been reduced, so the return on investment has gotten even better, said Kadlub, who has been named Builder of the Year twice by the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Portland, Developer of the Year by the nonprofit, land-use planning organization 1000 Friends of Oregon and was twice awarded by the National Association of Home Builders for developing Americas Master Planned Community of the Year for his 1,800-home Orenco Station in Hillsboro in 1999 and 2,700-home Villebois in Wilsonville in 2009.

Energy efficiency is important to our country, industry and the consumers we address, he said.

In 2020, the Street of Dreams will return to the Reserve Vineyards and Golf Club in South Hillsboro, where the 2018 home tour was held.

The Elysian was built by Red Hills Construction in 2017 in Happy Valley. Stephanie Yao Long/Staff

In the last 10 years, most new homes, from modern Craftsman to Northwest contemporary, had a great room that enveloped a kitchen, which changed from having granite counters to eco-friendly manufactured white quartz that looks like marble.

The busiest room in a luxury house was also often stocked with flat-screen televisions, docking-charging stations plus, perhaps, a pet feeding area.

Although the Street of Dreams shows off the latest gee-whiz inventions, like a steam shower with a streak-free glass door, practicality has to reign in these pricey properties.

Open floor plans and master suites on the main floor make it possible for residents to stay in their home longer and live on one level.

Hardwood floors, no steps and wider hallways and doors allow people with wheelchairs to maneuver with more ease. Other universal design features such as curb-less showers became mainstays.

Fairway Manor's walk-in shower. Photo by Beth Nakamura/Staff LC-

Gas fireplaces also evolved over the last 10 years into contemporary designs without standing pilot lights and with more controls that reduce energy use and increase the ability to heat only occupied spaces. These dramatic centerpieces can have two sides to face the great room and the outdoor living space or be installed in corners of the living, dining or family rooms.

In the 2018 Street of Dreams, Suteki Americas Northwest contemporary house had a 42-inch-wide Town & Country fireplace embedded in a tiled, towering wall while the French-country estate built in 2016 by Westlake Development Group had a low-to-the-ground, narrow fireplace in a wall between the master bedroom and bathroom.

Suteki Harmony's towering fireplace surround. Photo by Beth Nakamura/Staff

Over the decade, interior designers selected durable, eco-friendly finishes and natural materials for comfortable, uncomplicated and carefree furnishings.

Homeowners continue to want versatile, specialty spaces they can use as potting areas, music listening dens, spice rooms, sewing/craft rooms and health-centered yoga and exercise rooms, according to Portland homebuilders surveys.

Fairway Manor's potting space off the kitchen. Photo by Beth Nakamura/Staff

Beverage centers, cocktail or juice bars and even a built-in candy bar for kids snacking continue to be popular.

The Farm to Table house has walls with glass doors that dissolve the separation between indoor and outdoor living spaces. Photo by Beth Nakamura/Staff

Other trends that expanded in the 2010s: Walls with folding glass doors dissolve the separation between indoor and outdoor living spaces and electric-car stations in extra tall garages, which can shelter an RV.

In preparation of a future where not everyone needs a car, garages are being designed to be easily converted to living spaces and detached buildings with roll-up doors can be used as a she shed or workshop.

The Farm to Table custom home has garages with roll-up doors that can be used as a she shed or workshop. Photo by Beth Nakamura/Staff

--Janet Eastman | 503-294-4072

jeastman@oregonian.com | @janeteastman

Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox.

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Some of the last decades excessive design and decor stay: Youll see more farmhouses, midcentury moderns and - OregonLive