Like many urban areas, fitting new construction into existing neighborhoods while keeping the flavor of the area is always a challenge. In fact, Portland, Oregon's citizens began complaining about lackluster new construction so much that city officials decided to do something proactive about it.

They solicited design ideas in a contest called "Living Smart" for better use of the typical 25-foot wide subdivided lots of urban Portland neighborhoods. The goal was to come up with a few good plans that could be pre-approved and fast-tracked for development and not invoke local backlash.

What they came up with is a shining example of design ingenuity. Two slender residences now sit snugly together on a home site on Portland's Knapp Street (formerly containing one single-family home). Their original price tags of $319,000 each were Portland-affordable, the neighbors love them and the clincher is that the plans came with a bonus -- a permit-ready 50 percent discount on development fees -- something for which many builder/developers would surely dance a jig.

The tidy three-bedroom, two bath homes selected by the city were designed by Berkeley, CA-based architects Roxanna Vargas and Trent Greenan to act as models of what skinny infill should embody. Graced with exposed cedar outriggers, heavy timbering and deeply recessed windows, the Knapp Street homes epitomize the Pacific Northwest style.

The 1516 square foot front-loaded garage configuration (which can grow to 1700 square feet if a garage space is made into living space) also boasts an energy efficient rating that exceeds Oregon code by 50 percent. The home also has more windows than a typical home of its square footage because of the narrow nature of their design. For more information, cue in "Living Smart" at portlandonline.com.

Published: March 25, 2008

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

A veteran of the real estate and homebuilding industries since 1986, Dena Kouremetis first joined Realty Times as a new homes writer in 1998. Since then, she has authored four books, written consumer columns on new homes issues for websites and newspapers all across the country, contributed to builder trade magazines, appeared as a guest expert on several radio shows and even created a ten-chapter podcast for LendingTree.com’s homebuilder website, iNest.com, now available on iTunes, entitled Uncharted Waters; Navigating the Purchase of a New Production Home. Kouremetis recently joined her local Folsom, CA Coldwell Banker office as a broker associate while continuing to write for the real estate industry. For the past three years, she has been training real estate agents for both the resale and new homes industries, putting her experience, research expertise and gift of expression to work to help others entering the business.