Portland homes

We moved to Portland in February of 1990. Before that we were living outside of Forest Grove on 700 acres with lots of room and definitely a rural life. Our house was heated with a wood stove, we shared our phone line with three other families and only got 2 television stations. When we moved into Portland we landed on 12th and Alberta, right in the inner city. This was a huge change for us and the kids. The toughest change was the noise. It was constant and never really went away. This is the first house we bought in Portland.

We had 3 bedrooms and 1 bath. The main floor had a kitchen, large dining room and living room. 3 bedrooms and the bath were upstairs. Over the years we added 2 bedrooms and a TV room in the basement. This house was originally built where the Minnesota Freeway,

 ( I-5), goes through North Portland. They cut off the backyards of 3 houses along Alberta to create the lot for it and moved it here in 1965. It was a great house. 

In 1998 Diane and I separated and I bought a townhouse about 5 blocks away on Emerson. This let the kids wander between houses and made it easier to get them to school and activities. The townhouse was brand new when I bought it, well insulated and very efficient. Quite a difference after the house on 12th which was 85 years old and a little drafty. We had 2 bedrooms and 1 bath upstairs and kitchen, dining area and living room on the main floor. This is the townhouse. Its the one in the middle with the large porch. The porch was a great feature. 

I lived here alone or with the kids till 2003 when Diane sold her house on 12th and her and Parker moved in while we looked for a bigger house. One of our must haves in the new house was more than one bathroom. In the almost 30 years since I moved out of my parents house, I had never lived in a house with more than 1 bathroom and for the last 14 years it had been on the top floor of the house. 

In 2004 we bought the house we still live in. 

This house was also brand new. It had the same layout as our other houses in Portland, living room, kitchen and dining on the main floor but it also had a half bath on the main level. Upstairs were 4 bedrooms and 2 baths. It took a while to get used to having a bathroom on the main floor and even after a year in the house I would still run upstairs to use the facilities. Now with the kids gone it is a 2 bedroom house with a craft room and office. We'll be here till we retire and love our neighborhood and location.