Haus of Hawthorne

Brian, Cubscout and I headed up to Portland last weekend to visit with Brian's college friend, Mo and her sweet family. (Mo played the violin in our wedding!) This was my first visit to Portland, and it's such a lovely town. It reminds me of San Francisco but on a smaller scale (and much cleaner!). It's a very livable and walkable city. We had such a great time!

We took a couple strolls downtown and shopped with the bambinos.

Cubscout is a California girl! She reminded me of the movie The Christmas Story all bundled up.

Cal Poly Pals

And took a trip through the Columbia River Gorge...Yes, it's gorge-ous. Even when it's 25 degrees out.

Had to stop for a latte! How do they do that?!

We loved seeing Mo and Rob and meeting their little guy. Rob is an architect/general contractor and owner of PDX Living, LLC, an award-winning construction company based in Portland. They specialize in building modern and energy-efficient homes and built the first certified Passive House in Portland. Rob designed and built their home in 2010, a spec project called CoreHaus.

What's a passive house, you say? It's a home that is so well-insulated that it's practically airtight and mainly solar powered. It has an air circulation system (Heat Recovery Ventilator) that circulates out stale carbon dioxide infused air with clean, fresh air, all while saving energy. It's incredible. I never felt a draft, and the house felt comfortable and warm even though it was 30F outside and almost half of the house is made of windows!

We were lucky to enjoy CoreHaus for three days during our visit. Here's a little peek into the haus.

(I forgot to take a photo of the front. This is from PDX Living's site.)



Check out those gorgeous concrete floors, Eames chair and built in shelving.







Love the lighting fixture. You can find a similar one here.



I have white quartz countertop envy!!! Blue tiles are a consistent feature in the kitchen and bathrooms.



How about that George Nelson Ball Clock? You can find one here.







Good way to organize children's rooms without closets.

Rob, if we move to Portland one day, you can build our house!