Room of the Day: Southern Porches Inspire a New Sunroom in Portland
Tree views and sunlight abound in a new hangout space off a modern living room
During a conversation about making changes to his client’s living room, architect Richard Brown noticed how the topic soon shifted to his client’s fond childhood memories of screened porches and sunrooms in the South. One thing led to another, and the project expanded to include a new enchanting sunroom extension, where the client now reads and hangs out with her grandchildren.
Viewed from the living room, the new sunroom can be seen behind the fireplace wall.
To carry the original lines of the house to the sunroom, Brown matched the door height to the horizontal mullions in the living room. Adding a thick glass shelf the same width as the fireplace helped reinforce the transition between the two spaces without blocking the light.
Shown here, a ceramic vase sits on the glass shelf, appearing to float.
Washed cedar wood on the walls and soffit, Brown says, is reminiscent of whitewashed Southern porches and was selected to soften the natural light coming in.
A site-cast concrete countertop that runs the length of the sunroom allows for a variety of activities.
Shown here, a ceramic vase sits on the glass shelf, appearing to float.
Washed cedar wood on the walls and soffit, Brown says, is reminiscent of whitewashed Southern porches and was selected to soften the natural light coming in.
A site-cast concrete countertop that runs the length of the sunroom allows for a variety of activities.
A large sliding pocket door separates the sunroom from the rest of the house when closed.
Brown says he’s fond of the two Louis Poulsen hanging lights selected by the lighting designer, Tom Dearborn. “Their shape fits well in the space, and they give off a soft light,” he says.
The homeowners worked with Portland designer Henry Brown Interiors for the furnishings. The hanging chair saw a lot of use this past summer when the homeowner hung out in it and read the entirety of War and Peace.
Urban Balance Sphere hanging chair, Outback Company; daybed: custom full-size Lee double chaise 7072-95, Lee Industries; St. Germain slipper chair: McGuire Furniture (discontinued); pendants: PH Snowball, designed by Paul Henningsen for Louis Poulsen; recessed downlights above concrete countertop: IRiS P3LED, Cooper Lighting; linear LED wall washers for upper wall: Orion Sword, Bruck (discontinued); floor: travertine; walls and ceiling: washed cedar; exterior sliding door: Fleetwood
Brown says he’s fond of the two Louis Poulsen hanging lights selected by the lighting designer, Tom Dearborn. “Their shape fits well in the space, and they give off a soft light,” he says.
The homeowners worked with Portland designer Henry Brown Interiors for the furnishings. The hanging chair saw a lot of use this past summer when the homeowner hung out in it and read the entirety of War and Peace.
Urban Balance Sphere hanging chair, Outback Company; daybed: custom full-size Lee double chaise 7072-95, Lee Industries; St. Germain slipper chair: McGuire Furniture (discontinued); pendants: PH Snowball, designed by Paul Henningsen for Louis Poulsen; recessed downlights above concrete countertop: IRiS P3LED, Cooper Lighting; linear LED wall washers for upper wall: Orion Sword, Bruck (discontinued); floor: travertine; walls and ceiling: washed cedar; exterior sliding door: Fleetwood
The sunroom opens to a landscaped garden and patio area. Following the roofline, a cedar trellis overhang architecturally transitions the indoor to outdoor space. The garden consists of mature plantings that have been in place since the 1960s. Hardscaped walkways and planting borders lead to a swimming pool about 60 feet away from the home.
A floor plan shows the existing living room on the left and the new sunroom on the right, and depicts the continuous rhythm of the post and mullion spacing between the two areas.
Team: Richard Brown, Geoff Harker and Jason Didion of Richard Brown Architect; Henry Brown and Maddy Sprague of Henry Brown Interiors; Dearborn Lighting Design; Erik Ostmo and Bob McCurdy of Ostmo Construction; Dale Lang (photographer); Jesse Wolf of Grummel Engineering (structural engineer); Hoichi Kurisu of Kurisu International (landscape designer)
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Team: Richard Brown, Geoff Harker and Jason Didion of Richard Brown Architect; Henry Brown and Maddy Sprague of Henry Brown Interiors; Dearborn Lighting Design; Erik Ostmo and Bob McCurdy of Ostmo Construction; Dale Lang (photographer); Jesse Wolf of Grummel Engineering (structural engineer); Hoichi Kurisu of Kurisu International (landscape designer)
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Location: Raleigh Hills neighborhood of Portland, Oregon
Size: 14 by 19 feet (4.3 by 5.8 meters)
Brown began with the shape of the sunroom. Because the room was an extension of the existing living room, it needed to maintain an architectural relationship to it. Brown achieved this by continuing the rhythm and scale of the wall openings and the proportions of the posts and mullions.
“Our next focus was to define the amount of glass at both the walls and the roof,” he says. The tree canopy offsets the generous amount of glazing. “Being in Portland, there’s little complaint about too much sun,” he says.