We hope you enjoy the Virtual Tour of what USED to be our house until we sold it in the Fall of 2005
A Country Estate we called "Symphony Hill" because the location SANG to us, built in 2000 by owner who is interior designer and obsessive gardener. This house was built for people and is all about the views and entertaining family and friends. This 1.7-acre property is a gardener's dream and has several different garden areas. No, that 1 acre of grass in the front is not ours but the neighbor always keeps it looking well manicured. We are only 15 Minutes from the Portland airport, for the busy Executive on the Go!
The house is approximately 5,000-sq. ft. on one level. The only room on a second floor is a bonus room over the wine room. There are sweeping views of the Columbia River and west hills of Portland, with a "can't be beat sparkling light show" on the fourth of July. You can see at least 35 miles to OHSU! The home sits on hilltop property with 4 other homes, which is private and gated on one end so there is no traffic. The style of the house is country with a dash of Victorian and has 2 dormers and a long circular driveway and portico, plus extra parking for guests. The long front porch is just made for relaxing. There are two water features in the front yard, along with many feet of picket fences, tons and tons of stone and brick walkways and places to sit and relax, all with gorgeous views no matter where you look. We also built a small manger/feeding station for the deer to enjoy in the winter.
The back yard garden has a darling 16X16 cottage, which has electricity and a window air-conditioner. There is a separate tool shed and a covered potting area. There is a well with gravity feed septic system, gas and electric. There are 2 complete heat & air-conditioning systems, one for each end of the house (one of which heats or cools the pond room in the center of the house) There is also a central vacuum system to make life easier.
The "U" shaped home surrounds a 1000 sq. ft. conservatory, potting area with indoor gardens, a tiled 6,000 gallon, 7 foot deep Koi pond which could be your new lap pool as it's 22 feet long. This room is central and viewed from most of the other rooms and is both heated and air-conditioned.
All doors, including the double front doors, are divided light "French doors". This house is all about the beautiful views both in the front and back. We have 57 windows, 75% round top windows with vaulted ceilings, and art shelves in most rooms.
There is a full ceiling sprinkler system in case of fire, intercoms in each room, a master bath with a heated toilet seat. All the floors are tiled except the 3 bedrooms, which have carpet. There is a hot water circulation system: which means, "instant hot" water on demand in ALL rooms.
The gourmet kitchen is more then custom. It's a one of a kind "fitted" kitchen area within the great room. The 10 foot Center Island is topped with Limestone and has a raised Bosch dishwasher, and Kohler farm sink. One end of the large island houses the microwave oven and warming drawer, the other end is a desk area. The focal point of this gorgeous kitchen is the massive country French cabinet with mantel that houses the cook-top. Side compartments on the cook-top slide out with racks for spices; huge drawers with glass fronts for your very favorite collectibles hold your pots and pans, with more shelves which slide out for easy access. While doing dishes your view is of the Columbia River and Portland.
Adjacent to the kitchen is the pantry: This room houses a bar sink, double ovens and refrigerator. The wood counters are stained a beautiful rich color and are open cabinets with pull-outs. All the walls of both kitchen and pantry are plastered and glazed to give that Old World feeling. Bead-board and a plate rack surround the eating area.
Attached to the exterior, off of the kitchen, is a large two-story deck with a ramp in between floors. This is for our cats: This could be used by any animal who goes "outside" but remains completely safe. We also keep another freezer out there so it's close by.
There is a half bath between the great room and office (1st. bedroom) which has a white pedestal sink.
The second bathroom has granite floors, black toilet and pedestal sink and a nice hexagon window over looking the front porch and adjoins the 2nd. Bedroom, which we use as our library, as it has a long wall with built in cabinets.
The "Great Room" is oversized. This room has a huge picture window overlooking the view, custom entertainment center like none you have seen before with a 55" HD-ready rear projection TV and in-wall surround sound with "B" stereo speakers in the pond room and DirecTV dish and cabling installed (multiple feeds for DirecTivo "dual channel" operation)
Attached to the great room is a "Hex" room. This room is 6 sided and two stores high and is all about the views, which are continued out the back door on the multi-level, partially covered deck, which includes a large, natural gas BBQ grill.
The master suite has a bathroom with a large walk in shower with a picture window overlooking the yard and river. A large Jacuzzi tub, 2 custom Victorian vanities each with talavera custom sinks and Herbeau faucets from France. There is room in the bathroom for a couch, dressing vanity or whatever your heart desires, with a separate room for the toilet (heated seat) and cabinet. The walk through closet is large and has a "closet-shelf-system" installed.
Now we go into the "other" part of the house, which is separated by a door so our cats do not get out. This area has the huge laundry room and another storage pantry. There is one room upstairs we use for guests. This lovely room has a small balcony, which overlooks the yard, the river and the lights of Portland. It could be the "card room" above the wine room.
Off the Laundry room area is a wine room, complete with sink, counters, wine cooler, pull out cabinet with glass holders, a hand painted mural of Lucille Ball "stomping the Grapes" and rustic looking pavers on the floor to complete the "old world" feel. The walls are also plastered and glazed in this room.
The next room is a large studio with concrete floors, 2 big picture windows overlooking the yard and river, a laundry sink and a three quarter bathroom with plenty of room for storage. Since this room also has 220V it would be the perfect "studio apartment" or "guest quarters" since it has a private door to the garden with a separate entrance from the front and back of the house and garage.
The 3-car garage has custom "carriage house" doors with electric openers and a built-in switch ready for your generator, which we found, we did not need.
Total of 3 Bedrooms (plus bonus room upstairs AND possible "Mother-in-Law apartment) and 4 Bathrooms
The neighbors are great, the area super quiet and the view fabulous. This house is all about family and entertaining.
Now, for the pictures
Please NOTE that my digital camera has a built-in lens, so I am not able to take good wide angle shots and must sometimes take several closer shots to "build up" a wider picture... this is especially true of the front of our house, where I could not get far enough away due to the neighbor's trees along the front of the property to get a picture of the entire front of the house
I am starting this series at the beginning of the driveway
Driveway makes a loop past the front of the house and under a covered entry, the inside of the loop has brick walkways and planted areas
Driveway goes to the garage (Grin... so what else is not new?) and to the loop
Next to the garage, this is to the left of the Portico, is the beginning of the side to side covered porch
The covered entry Portico makes it easy to stay dry (this is Washington!) while getting out of your automobile
From a bit further away, you see the walking and planting area inside the driveway loop
Another view of the Portico
Around the driveway to the right side of the house
The right side of the porch with the portico on the left
And yet another view of the central walking and planting area
A small outdoor pond on the front edge of the driveway has water plants, and a few goldfish so we don't have to worry about mosquito larve
As long as you don't feed the goldfish, so they produce too much waste for the mini-eco system to handle, they take care of themselves
The pump head (285 foot well with GREAT tasting water!) is hidden inside a pump house at the front corner of the property
To the left of the garage is what started out as a flower garden, but turned into a DEER garden... the local deer really go for the "salad" we've planted
Just inside the fenced backyard (see above about about deer garden) is the potting shed, attached to the cottage
Back at the front, the double-door entry leads to an arched window in front of the pond room
The Pond Room is just about 1,000 SqFeet of plants and pond
The Pond is 22 feet long and varies from 5 to 8 feet wide, with a shallow end of 5 feet and a deep end of 7 feet... the Koi really enjoy their home, but the pond is large enough that you could turn it into a lap pool, and even dive at the deep end
Standing in the plant/potting area, looking toward the front of the house
The Water Box is fed by one of the 2 pumps, and is a good place for water plants so the Koi don't "nibble" them to death
The pond room has it's own heating and cooling zone, attached to the furnace in the "basement" (not really a basement, but the "crawl space" under this part of the house is high enough for walking due to the slight slope of the land)
The end of the Pond Room has a nice place to work your green thumb during the winter
The Kitchen center island has a spot for your microwave, and beside that is the built-in warming drawer
Looking over and past the center island you see the corner of the enclosed deck next to the kitchen, where we keep an upright freezer. This deck is enclosed, two stories for more "roaming" room, and there is a "pet door" in the wall, so our cats have a place to be "outside" while staying totally safe
The Bosch diskwasher is slightly raised, for ease on your back when loading and unloading, and a set of drawers is just to the right of the dishwasher for easy unloading
The natural gas, 5 burner cook top resides in it's own niche, which has a pot filler faucet to get you started with soup
TV watchers rejoice! There is a 55 inch HDTV ready projection TV, wired for DirecTV satellite, and in wall speakers, for a great viewing and listening experience. The TV and sound system stay with the house, the DirecTV converter boxes themselves do not stay, since they are tied to John's account agreement (but they are easy to replace, when you set up your own DirecTv account)
Terrie even designed the location of the kitchen island and TV cabinet so you may, if you wish, watch TV while cooking
The natural gas fireplace has seating for cozy conversations
The 6 sided HexRoom leads to the back deck
Out the HexRoom door is the back deck
The back deck has a view of the Columbia River
The back deck also has a "territorial" view
Looking from the deck along the backyard, toward the guest cottage
Looking from the guest cottage along the backyard, toward the deck
A closer view of the 16x16 summer guest cottage... we say summer because the cottage has a window air conditioner, but no heating
Looking through the Master Bedroom, toward the door
The wall behind the bed is a great place for your favorite picture
Looking through the Master Bedroom, into the walk-in shower
Standing in the bathroom, looking toward the shower and Jacuzzi
Another view of shower and Jacuzzi
Between the house and the artist's studio (which could be converted to a Mother In Law apartment) is the wine room. Terrie's sister, an international artist, painted the mural on the wall. Note the sink on the left
A closer view of the mural (based on a famous "I Love Lucy" episode)
Utility and storage area is next to the Wine room
Upstairs, over the wine room, is a small bonus room
The saw goes with John, but the built-in work bench and saw mounting in the back of the garage are all ready for you to place your own miter saw and start working
