SKYLINE RESIDENCE

Within five miles of a thriving downtown, there is respite in the trees in a community overlooking the valley below. Its unique location posed microclimate conditions, with its dense canopy cover employing use of a hardy plant palette. Formerly steep drops in elevation were sculpted into nooks in the hillside for places to gather and tiers of usable space.

This was my first major construction project, and of course right in the thick of Covid. Our client had a healthy budget, but due to access limitations, masonry quotes were eating up the majority of our budget. I had overseen stone walls a number of times, and after our mason bailed a week before breaking ground, I decided to execute the project myself.

The rear yard sits 2 stories above the road in the front, and with no staircase or clear pathway, moving up or down 20 vertical feet was no easy task. I adjusted the designed so our cut and fill match, in theory removing the need to haul off dirt. All gravel, block, concrete bags and ledgestone was calculated exactly to ensure no waste. I hired a crew of 4 laborers with little experience, and for 4 months sat on this hillside with a 8 month old baby strapped to my back while my wife and I sculpted the land you see below. Two men spent 100 days of their life pulling and pushing a wheelbarrow full of material, while the others excavated, poured, graded and cleaned. It was a well oiled machine, and it maintained our sanity during the lockdowns, intense forest fires and city wide riots. 

This project truly is art.
The energy and love poured into the soil here can be felt every time you visit. It's truly a magical gem hidden in the mountains of Portland.  

Location: Portland, OR
Budget: $90,000   Construction Timeline: 4 months
Designer: Aaron Hinish
Contractor: Aaron Hinish & CS Metal