Take a Tour: An Oregon Tiny House With Charm to Spare

Reclaimed materials and thoughtful touches make this Troutdale, Oregon, tiny home both sustainable and sentimental. Bonus: You can rent it.

By: Caroline Alkire

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Photo By: Matt Horowitz

Photo By: Katherine Liljegren

Photo By: Matt Horowitz

The Troutdale Tiny House

When Katherine Liljegren purchased the property her 160-square-foot tiny house now sits on, she knew she'd stumbled upon something special. The lush plot of land — only a 22-minute drive from downtown Portland and less than a mile away from the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area — boasts a vibrant shade of green you'll only find in the Pacific Northwest. “I knew I wanted to share it with fellow travel and adventure lovers,” says Kat, who resides in a standard-sized home on the plot. She reached out to her friend, Logan Sullivan, who was in the process of building a tiny home, and together they thoughtfully created Sandy River Tiny, a small and sustainable base camp (complete with a compostable toilet) fit for any adventurer — and available to rent on Airbnb.

Building the Tiny House

With absolutely no building experience, Logan tapped into the world of online blogs and YouTube tutorials to craft the tiny home from scratch, using mostly salvaged materials (such as the colorful wood siding, which he found at Portland Rebuilding Center). “I have no regrets but, wow, custom cutting every piece of the siding was a little adventure of blood, sweat and tears that took about 10 times as long as the blogs said to budget for installing basic siding,” Logan says. His favorite part of the home is the log cabin side of the exterior, which he reveals, “a lot of people [said] wouldn’t work.” Inside, Logan finished off the ceiling with leftover siding wood, pieces of the home's original flooring and scraps from local salvage stores. In fact, Logan even built a used shelf from Portland's famous Powell's Bookstore into the home. The rest of the interior was finished by Portland-based craftsman Chris Froman.

The Tiny House's Permanent Resident

Perhaps the best part of staying at the tiny house is sharing the yard with Kat’s goldendoodle Watson, who always greets guests with an extra-furry hello.

Space-Saving Accessories

Step inside the tiny house, and you’ll see a tiny kitchen to your left. Kat used functional, space-saving furnishings throughout the entire home, but the kitchen boasts some pretty creative tricks — including a mini mounted dish rack and a rail (from Ikea) perfect for hanging utensils. Open shelving occupies the wall above the sink and provides a spot to store dishes, cups and mugs without blocking light or taking up space on the raw wooden countertop. “I combed the thrift stores for pint glasses from local breweries to reinforce the Pacific Northwest vibe,” says Kat. “And there are plastic wine glasses, in addition to glass ones, in case you want to take a bottle outside to the fire pit or hot tub.”

Elevated Sleeping Arrangements

The rest of the home boasts a kitchen table with two stools, a shower room with a compostable toilet and, in true space-saving fashion, a lofted, full-size bed with a sofa and space to hang clothes underneath. A ladder decorated with twinkle lights — a functional (for trips down the ladder at night) and cozy touch — makes it all homey. Kat gets bonus points for hanging an organizer next to the lofted bed, perfect for storing phones, journals, glasses or water bottles at night.

Tiny Details

Look out for a sweet message from Kat on your way up to bed.

Decorating the Tiny House

“I wanted the decor to tie together both the fairly modern aesthetic of the architecture — clean lines, black and white surfaces and raw wood — with the very rustic, ‘Pacific Wonderland’ setting,” says Kat, adding she worked hard to make sure the space didn’t feel cluttered. “Since it’s an open floor plan, everything needed to flow together,” she says. “And of course, since sustainability is a priority I wanted to integrate furniture Logan already had into the design.” Kat gave Logan’s loveseat — “the perfect size for the space!” — a special makeover: a slipcover and some new, maple midcentury feet.

Natural Light

Seventy-five percent of the house’s walls are windows, which make for lots of natural light. The best window in the place is a wonderful skylight that hovers just above the lofted mattress and drenches guests with morning sunlight and nighttime moonlight. And for an ideal sleeping environment, Kat "looked at so many swatches of plaid before I found fabric for the curtains that had the right mix of traditional patterns but with modern colors that would match the black accents, in a fabric heavy enough to actually block out light," she says.

Going Eco-Friendly

Sustainability was big on Kat's and Logan's minds when creating the tiny house. High-quality insulation and energy-efficient windows ensure smart energy use. As well, the majority of the materials used to build the home were salvaged from the Portland Rebuilding Center, Habitat for Humanity ReStore and through Craigslist. Inside, Kat dressed the space with biodegradable hand soap, dish soap, body wash, shampoo and conditioner, as well as cloth napkins and towels and recycled toilet paper from Who Gives a Crap. Guests will also try out the composting toilet, which sits inside the wet room shower off the kitchen. "The tiny house is technically built to accommodate a flush toilet, but where it's currently connecting to our septic line is untenable, so we needed another option," says Kat.

Local and Sentimental Touches

Under the floorboards, Logan left souvenirs he collected while traveling the world doing humanitarian and conservation work. “There's a piece of [about 70] countries built into the tiny house,” says Logan. More obvious is the tapestry hanging above the microwave. “My mom quilted the hanging tapestry depicting Smith Rock State Park, which is one of my favorite places to go play outside,” says Kat. “She lives in Sisters, Oregon, which is a big quilting town and worked briefly at the Stitchin’ Post. I should mention it’s currently on loan in the tiny house while I have another piece of art framed. After that I’m reclaiming the tapestry for display next door in my own home."

Cozy Fun

Kat supplies guests with robes, slippers and slide-on sandals for trips across the yard to the hot tub.

Taking In Troutdale

The tiny house sits on a verdant plot of land complete with a hot tub and fire pit, but if you’re looking to leave for a couple of hours (we know, it’s not easy), there’s lots to do. Only 15 minutes down the road you’ll find some of the most popular hiking trails in the area, including Angel’s Rest, Bridal Veil and Multnomah Falls. In the summer, Sandy River attracts serious paddlers and lazy river floaters alike. “We love to take our stand-up paddle boards out to get some exercise or just cool off,” Kat says. And downtown Portland is only a short drive west.

Stay at the Tiny Oasis

“People come here to get away,” says Kat. “I love giving people a cozy space to curl up with a book and a local beer, or snuggle up with your partner and play a board game. It’s fun, too, to see people traipsing around the yard in the robes and slippers we provide on their way to or from the hot tub because it makes me feel like we live at a resort!” Cozy seems to be the consensus. To stay in this house yourself, check out Kat's Airbnb listing.