Wyers End

If you love Ross Chapin’s cottage designs as much as I do, you’ll be happy to know that another pocket community is now open in the White Salmon/Hood River area of  northern Oregon. The community is being developed by Smart Development and built by Skyward Construction. The landscape architect is Andrea Flint.

Wyers End is a small community of 18 cottages situated in a grove of mature oak trees with views of Mt. Hood and the Columbia River. The land parcel that the community is situated on used to be a high crime area until Chapin and Smart Development took over. They proposed to the city that the existing streets be narrowed to reduce the impervious surface area and avoid overheating of the microclimate.

Each of the cottages will have a private garden and will share the green spaces and the community building. They will also be situated to take advantage of the amount of natural light that comes in through the numerous windows. The cottages average about 1,100 square feet and include custom built-ins and cabinetry and low-VOC paints. The landscaping will be built for low water use. Parking will be on the community periphery.

“There is a market in tight times for well-designed, thoughtfully-built, smaller homes in a community setting,” Chapin said in Builder Magazine. “Baby Boomers, especially, are looking ahead and reconsidering their options. Most don’t want to end up isolated in a sheetrock castle.”

Photos courtesy of Ross Chapin Architects and Smart Development

By Christina Nellemann

If you enjoyed this post, subscribe to our feed