LIVING ROOM

The Portmans built a bigger version of a house they loved

BY ASHLEY LODATO

Cliff and Debbie Portman loved the small vacation home they bought in Winthrop North Village in 2014. The “Bench House,” located on one of the neighborhood’s shrub-steppe benches, was within walking distance of town, had high ceilings and plenty of natural light, and was a convenient launching pad for the Portman’s many outdoor adventures. The only problem was, as the Portmans began to divide their time equally between Seattle and the Methow Valley, they felt like they were outgrowing the Bench House. “We were ready for a bit more elbow room,” says Debbie. “And a garage for our gear,” adds Cliff.

The Portmans began looking at houses on the market, but couldn’t quite find one that met their needs as effectively as the Bench House. So they took a leap and settled on what has turned out to be the perfect solution: buying another lot in Winthrop North Village and building an expanded version of the Bench House on it.

“Our Realtor, Delene Monetta, helped us figure out that we’d get our needs met best by building,” the Portmans say, “despite the fact that even the thought of building was so daunting.” But the architect and builder that Monetta recommended the Portmans work with shepherded them through the process so smoothly that both Portmans laugh when they think of how intimidated they initially were by the building process. “It was so much fun,” they agree.

Their architect, Howard Cherrington of Integrated Design Concepts, points to the Portmans’ clear ideas of what they wanted in a house as the primary factor in the ease of the design process. “They already had a house they liked,” Cherrington says, “but it was just too small.” Cherrington took the basic concept of the Bench House — a small vaulted

PHOTO COURTESY OF CLIFF & DEBBIE PORTMAN

living space with surrounding rooms flat, and “basically just blew it up,” resulting in what the contractor, Bart Schuler of Schuler Build Company, calls a “timeless” gable design.

MATTER OF SCALE

Cherrington did, however, have to be attentive to scaling the house. “We had to be careful with width versus depth because of the narrowness of the new lot,” he says. “This wasn’t a 5-acre building site; these lots in town are often quite narrow and you have to be aware of property lines and setbacks.”

Situating houses on specific plots of land is Cherrington’s specialty and his passion. “A house has to fit the terrain,” he says. The Winthrop North Village lots were designed thoughtfully, so that each parcel would have a relatively private view in at least one direction, “so that you don’t have neighbors looking straight into each other’s houses.”

The Portmans’ new Winthrop North Village lot had a “commanding view to the north,” says Cherrington, “so we oriented the great room toward that dynamic northern view, and gave the guest bedroom the southern view and solar gain.”

With the house oriented on the lot, Cherrington turned his attention toward the primary functions of the home according to the Portmans’ priority list: a comfortable vacation home that is conducive to relaxing in after outdoor pursuits, suitable for occasional dinner parties, and easy to close up for the two weeks every month that the Portmans spend in Seattle.

Features like the wood-lined vaulted ceiling and ample glass in the living room and dining area create an expansive ambiance in a modest-sized house, while the lower ceiling in the kitchen gives that space a cozy vibe. Like the main living space, the hallway that leads into it from the entry mudroom receives natural light throughout the day,

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PHOTO COURTESY OF CLIFF & DEBBIE PORTMAN

an effect achieved in part by the width of the hallway.

Cherrington says this extrawide hall is no accident. Because of the way the house is situated on the lot to take advantage of the northern view, the entry needed to be at the opposite end of the house. But Cherrington didn’t want the feeling a long, narrow hallway would create. “You don’t want to come into a space and have it close down on you,” he says. “It’s not very inviting. You don’t want to feel like you have to keep moving to get somewhere.”

So Cherrington opened the house with a line of sight straight from the mudroom, through the hallway, to the tall windows framing the living space. “When you come in the front door you look straight to the north view,” he says. “It’s very feng shui. You’re carried through the house to the view.”

Instead of a traditional 4-foot hall, Cherrington widened it to 5 feet. “That makes it a legitimate

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space of its own,” Cherrington says. “You can put bookcases in it, or small tables.” The Portmans have created an entry gallery, lining their hallway with an eclectic collection of art, ranging from prints created by a slave in the 1800s to art by Methow Valley artists to a painting that was special to Cliff’s mother.

FAMILY TIES

With the surname “Portman,” Methow Valley readers may wonder: Yes, Cliff is one of those Portmans. He’s the younger brother of Don Portman, longtime Methow Valley ski guru and Cliff and Debbie’s connection to the Methow Valley.

“Don and Sal have been here 40 years,” says Portman of his older brother and his wife, Sally, who many know as the Winthrop librarian. “Debbie and I would always come to the Methow to play, and my dad and my brother, Chris, would join us. Eventually our dad bought a family house here — the Bar None Ranch — in the early 1990s and we were frequent visitors,” says Portman. Now, he says, all three Portman brothers own Methow Valley homes, and the couples all enjoy skiing, hiking and biking together.

Dirty passions, all those activities: muddy boots, dusty daypacks, oily bike chains. Cherrington accommodated the Portmans’ recreational habits with a few key design features: a covered porch, for shaking off snow or rain; a tiled entry where it’s OK to hang dripping gear; a side garage for storing bikes and skis; and a wonderful mudroom with storage and laundry machines. “A place to divest of dirty gear and move in cleanly,” Cherrington says.

Cherrington and the Portmans were almost uncannily aligned during the design process, both parties agree. The Portmans credit Cherrington for the harmony. “Howard is responsive, communicative, and never pushed us to do something we didn’t want to do,” Debbie says. “I follow the clients’ lead,” Cherrington demurs, adding “I’ve already designed and built my own dream home. Now I simply want to help others build theirs.” The Portmans share Cherrington’s affinity for a house in harmony with the land, built of “elements that speak to Methow living” — wood, glass, stone. Additionally, both parties prioritized working with local suppliers for building materials and items like flooring, windows, doors, and cabinets. “We’ve never been big about purchasing online,” says Debbie, “and it also just felt right to work within this community.” Firewise was another point of agreement. “It’s something I talk to every client about,” says Cherrington,” especially after my own experience of ‘being in the black’ after the Twisp River Fire in 2015” (which means that the fire burned virtually everything around his home except for the house). “The year 2014 [after the Carlton Complex fire] was a sea change for designers and

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builders,” Cherrington continues. “We all had to get familiar with cement siding, with Firewise vents in a vented roof or foundation. Now all the designers, builders and clients are conscious about it.” Cherrington says that Winthrop North Village used to require all-wood siding; but recently decided to allow “wood appearance” siding in order to offer more Firewise options.

Cliff wonders philosophically, “Why are any of us living in a wildfire-prone valley?” But he knows well the answer: these mountains, these ski trails, these rivers, this community. Winthrop North Village is outfitted with fire hydrants and isn’t forested with layers of fuels on the ground; still, the Portmans have surrounded their house by gravel with concrete patios on two sides, with no plantings close to the house. It’s Firewise, and it’s also low-maintenance, so the Portmans don’t have to worry about watering when they’re in Seattle, and they don’t have to spend time doing

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WATCHING THE PROCESS The Portmans took great delight in watching the house go up. On daily walks from the Bench House to the new house, they noticed constant progress, and are complimentary of Schuler and his crew. “He’s such a pro,” the Portmans say of Schuler. “It felt like he was working toward our goals the whole time. He was very attentive to our budget, as well as to our priorities.”

Schuler notes that because the Portmans were “positive, appreciative and decisive,” they were “an absolute joy to work with,” echoing the Portmans’ assessment of the collaboration among designer, builder, and home owner. “It was just such an easy relationship,” says Debbie.

Cherrington’s understanding of the building side of the process surely facilitated this ease. Although Cherrington is solely a designer now, he was a builder for more than 20 years. “When I design I am building the product in my head,” he says. “I’m imagining what the guy is doing, how is everything coming together.” Cherrington’s familiarity with tools and processes helps him design, and it helps the builder have confidence that what he draws is actually going

to be buildable. “Howard and I understand each other and have worked well together for many years,” says Schuler. A foundation for this mutual understanding is Cherrington’s background in construction.

Building keeps Schuler engaged because “it is a complicated process with simple parts,” he says. It’s also immensely gratifying to present homeowners with a dwelling that suits them. “It is very satisfying for the whole team to have happy owners at the end of the process,” Schuler says. And according to the Portmans, they could not be happier with their spot on a hill overlooking the valley they love.

With the building process behind them as just a happy memory, the Portmans are now intent on enjoying their new home, entertaining friends, curled up in the cozy study reading, or putting away their gear from another day in the hills. The house accommodates all these uses — and more — just as they had hoped. “We’re just tickled pink,” says Debbie. “This house is not only the house we envisioned and wanted, but it’s also light years beyond what we expected. When we had the little house — the Bench House — we were always happy and joyful to come over from Seattle to it. With this new house, we know we’ll remain that way.” 

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