Sunset – July 2019

HOME & GARDEN

Sunday afternoon they scrolled
to an unusual house in South-
west Portland, a belt that had
been off their radar. The listing
for the open house, which
teased that it was architect-
owned and came with a good
story, was already under way.
So, they sped across town.
“We walked up the stairs and
saw that view and the great
room, it was like falling in
love,” says Jessica. The details
that pulled them in—built-in
bookcases tucked under expan-
sive windows, handmade teak
kitchen cabinets, a dining-room
sideboard and even the custom
towel bars in the bathroom —

were the work of midcentury

architect and craftsman Henry

Bergman. For Jessica and

Jevon, unearthing the unusual

house was the score of a life-

time. It also became the idyllic

backdrop for mixing Jessica's

penchant for cozy textures and

neutral tones with Jevon's af-

fection for hard edges, clean

lines, and saturated colors.

But that wasn’t all that won

them over. The backstory, it

turns out, was that the first 400

square feet of the house got its

start in 1950 as a houseboat.

Henry and his wife, Dorothy,

lived in the tiny floating home

on the Willamette River for

Make it timeless

The built-in shelves that flank the fire-

place and a second shelf that runs the

length of the expansive windows are

original. “We got lucky to buy from

fellow bookworms,” says Jessica. The

living room, deliberately adorned with

neutral and texture-heavy accessories,

was one of the first rooms to come to-

gether, starting with a midcentury Dux

sofa that had been reupholstered by its

previous owner. “The rug is so vibrant

with pattern and color, and the great

room itself has a lot of art on the walls—

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compete with any of that. Keeping the

palette quiet allows forms and textures

of those objects to take center stage.”

Master the mix

“The art on this wall is mostly from

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of the largest piece, the Rufino Tamayo,”

says Jessica. “It was one of the first

pieces we bought together at an auc-

tion, and it remains one of my favorites

in the house.” The couple purchased

the midcentury dining table at an estate

sale with every intention of selling it.

But once Jevon refinished it, they just

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minimal graphic pendant provides the

perfect balance to the gallery wall, as

do the chairs that Jessica reupholstered

in bold Pendleton fabric.

SUNSET JULY/AUGUST 2019 39 --