This Year’s Street of Dreams Ditches The ‘Street’ For A Regional Tour of Luxury Homes

For the first time in 49 years, the annual summer home show expands beyond a block of multimillion-dollar custom houses to include a variety of dwellings, new and remodeled, throughout the Portland area.

Single-family houses to condos, apartments and standalone backyard living quarters are among the 20 stops on the tour that is open Thursdays through Sundays. A $27 admission ticket (streetofdreamspdx.com) grants entry throughout the run of the event to stops in Portland, Lake Oswego, Bethany, Sherwood, Hillsboro and Oregon City.

Aker Development - 2024 NW Natural Street of Dreams

“It’s a year to explore,” said Rachel Trice of the Home Building Association of Greater Portland, which produces the home show. “People can take several days seeing luxury features that are dream worthy in housing types of different budgets, sizes and styles.”

Stops on the tour include new energy-efficient townhomes and cottages by Fish Construction, Dez Development and Aker Development that are part of the city of Portland’s affordable housing program.

“These may match the dream of someone who wants a brand-new home in a North Portland neighborhood that maybe they grew up in,” Trice told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “A single site wouldn’t be able to include so many housing types.”

She said a wide range of homes on the tour speaks to “the mood about the economy and high cost of new construction.”

Renaissance Homes’ custom-designed Sunningdale, a modern Colonial Revival house in Lake Oswego

High housing costs and limited residential properties for sale have tormented new buyers in the Portland region for years, but average fixed mortgage rates at 6.77% and a median home price of $565,000 in June, according to the Regional Multiple Listing Service (RMLS) report, have pushed the region into record levels of unaffordability.

The level of Portland area properties for sale in June was measured at 2.6 months, the RMLS found. A market is considered balanced between buyers and sellers when it has four to six months of inventory.

Home tours were promotional ideas drummed up by developers to draw potential customers to explore the latest trends in new residential construction, most often in the emerging suburbs. The first home tours, called Parade of Homes and Homearamas, appeared during the housing crisis after World War II.

In 1975, the Home Building Association of Greater Portland cooked up the concept of a “single site” housing show called NW Natural Street of Dreams when the post-recession U.S. housing industry was starting to recover from its worst years since World War II.

Exceptional Homes by Andre’s Goodall custom house in Lake Oswego

At the time, potential home buyers faced a high rate of inflation, mortgage interest rates over 9% and rising prices due to limited homes for sale. Economic signs indicated, however, that housing had started to move out of its slump.

The first Street of Dreams was in the Rock Creek subdivision of Washington County. The houses sold for around $30,000. Since then, each show home has been a reflection of the times, say organizers.

“A single site of new custom homes is rare,” Trice told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “We may have one for next year. But for the last few years, we have been folding in a tour component, because the show is almost 50 years old and we’re evolving with the times.”

Homes on the 2024 NW Natural Street of Dreams luxury home tour have varying open weekends and hours.

New homes on the tour:

Garrette Custom Homes’ two-story Palisade home plan on acreage in Hillsboro has nearly 4,200 square feet of living space showcases a kitchen with top-of-the-line Thermador appliances and adjoining prep scullery, walk-in pantry. Don’t miss the custom wine wall.

Toll Brothers at Hosford Farms Vista Collection’s two-story modern farmhouse in the west Portland suburb of Bethany has 3,378 square feet of living space. The gourmet kitchen has JennAir appliances including a six-burner gas range, 3-inch quartz counters and a large island with a table extension for extra seating. Don’t miss the gas fireplace in the covered patio off of the great room.

Garrette Custom Homes’ two-story Palisade home plan on acreage in Hillsboro

Renaissance Homes’ custom-designed Sunningdale, a modern Colonial Revival house in Lake Oswego, has 5,322 square feet of living space. The open-concept great room has walls that rise two stories high. The primary suite on the second level has vaulted ceilings. A main-level guest suite complete the five-bedroom layout.

Exceptional Homes by Andre’s Goodall custom house in Lake Oswego has a modern aesthetics with a great room links to the outdoor living space. The large kitchen island allows friends and family to watch meals being prepared.

JT Roth Construction’s Denali Summit custom contemporary house in Sherwood was designed to accommodate multi-generational living with 4,523 square feet of living space, five bedrooms, four bathrooms and two powder rooms.

Toll Brothers at Hosford Farms Vista Collection’s two-story modern farmhouse in the west Portland suburb of Bethany

Luxury remodels on the tour include projects by Portland General Contracting in Southwest Portland and Earthchoice Construction in North Portland as well as Anlon Custom Construction and C&K Custom Remodeling, both in Lake Oswego.

Luxury apartments in Northwest Portland’s Slabtown were built by Prometheus Real Estate Group and luxury condominiums by Hugh Development are in Lake Oswego.

Container homes by Relevant Buildings are on display in Oregon City.

JT Roth Construction’s Denali Summit custom contemporary house in Sherwood

Authored By:  Janet Eastman | The Oregonian