entry atrium - one of three atriums
One of the first blog posts that I wrote here on the Modern Homes Portland site was a visit to a home that was on market designed by architect Frank Shell for his personal residence. Frank and his wife lived in this house until he passed away in 2003. The Shell house was then sold, a little bit of work was done to it then it was sold again. The home then went back up on market a short time after, that listing turned into short sale, a sale never happened so it went back to the bank. During the couple of years it took the bank to take it back and re-sell it, the property ended up suffering from a bit of deferred maintenance. I lost count on how many times I have showed this house but let’s just say that I know it quite well.
During the years that the property was in short sale/bank owned limbo, the fear for most mid century architecture preservationists was that a builder would see a good deal in the land/lots for development and raze the house to build something more “profitable” since it is in a desirable, close-in SW neighborhood.
The good news: I was contacted recently by the new owner, who is a contractor, and very much enamored with the form as most of us are. He is currently working on preserving the structure and updating the systems as necessary but is making an effort to keep many of the details intact and taking care to research the architects original vision for the home.
The owner let me take a look around the other day and take a few photos while they were working, slideshow below:
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I can’t wait to see what it is like when he is done and we are so happy that the Frank Shell house will be here for many more years, thank you new owner….next stop, historical register?
Original post on the Frank Shell House.
I toured this house once while shopping for a home, it was totally out of my price range but what the heck! Glad to see it is being restored. I live a few blocks away…may have to swing by and sneak a peek.
This is wonderful news. I too have been worried about the fate of this gem. Thanks for the update!
Wow. As a young girl I frequented this home often in the 70’s and early 80’s. Went to school with Franks daughter-Trisha. I remember thinking that the home was so unique. Loved the light switches and rock floors. Very cool someone is going to take care of it.
I’m happy to report that the Shell house restoration is complete!
It really came out beautifully… In fact, only two days after I finished working on it, I was emailed by both Shell’s oldest daughter and his grand-daughter. They expressed their gratitude that the house was preserved and given new life. They sent me some really wonderful pictures of the house during construction and in the mid-80’s that shed some new light on the house’s livability.
This incredible house is better than new now and is available for purchase if you know of any interested parties.
Thanks very much for all of the support!