720 NW Saint Helens Ave

720 NW Saint Helens Avenue is a jewel of midcentury Northwest Modern architecture, in a tranquil forested setting just minutes from downtown Portland. Completed in 1961, the house was designed by Saul Zaik, one of Oregon's most celebrated architects, whose work has been featured in magazines like Dwell, Sunset and Architect. This was Zaik's own personal residence where the architect lived with his family for nearly six decades. Zaik's original vision is intact and it's now being offered for sale for the first time, ever. The four bedroom, wood-ensconced house is nestled into a tree-filled hillside within a few hundred yards of Forest Park (the nation's largest urban wilderness), and situated amongst mature Douglas firs and maples. Zaik's overriding vision was to bring the outdoors in, and indeed, living here one continually feels the presence of the wooded landscape. Zaik's design divided the home into two pavilions, separated by a dramatic glass walled entry pavilion and accessed via a cantilevered entry deck. In the flat-roofed bedroom wing, where two of the bedrooms (and one bathroom) are located, glass doors open onto an intimate garden carved into the hillside. The public wing, with its soaring vaulted Douglas fir ceiling, cantilevers over the hillside to offer expansive views through a wall of glass. The lower level bedrooms each look out at the forest through walls of glass sharing a second bathroom. Surrounding the two wings are decks, providing a variety of outdoor spaces. Mature maples and Douglas fir trees come within inches of the facade, making 720 Saint Helens feel like a treehouse. Dappled sunlight, filtering through the forest canopy, fills the house from every side. A landmark of the Northwest Modern movement, this is quite simply, architectural zen.