I really like the staircases on the back of the house. They look neat. The bookpages on the walls of the bathroom are neat too.

I like it. I think the redesign was well executed.
Was in Portland this past spring and I. LOVED. IT.

wow, i really dislike this! I would LOVE to have a Victorian style house, mainly for my Gothic sensibilities. But I wouldn't change a thing in the house for exactly that same reason. I intesely dislike what these folk did to their beautiful house. The interior shots don't seem that bad -love the bathroom wallpaper- but that back yard, ugh! however... if they really like it then it is a success! The black paint of the house is dreamy! This is the perfect example of one persons eyesore is another persons castle -literally. So, congratulations to them for creating a place that is perfect for them and their lifestyle.

Inside looks great, front looks great.. I totally dont get the wood wall in the back. I love mixing modern with old stuff and I LOVE the way the room opens completely up to the outside, Just seems like there could have been a better way to incorporate that feature with the house a little better. Just looks a little strange to me.

I'm really starting to doubt AT readers' taste levels.

I think it looks great. There's no rule that says you have to keep an old house old.
Love it.

Love some of it, don't love some of it. To each his own! What matters is that they love it. I'd love to have seen a before pic, though. We here in Portland do love our multi-colored Victorians. :)

Also, I said love A LOT in that post. Sorry. LOVE

What a gorgeous home. Love.

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE x a billion! I am a fan of bright and cheery explosions of color, but I ust LOVE the black!!!

The black is nice enough. The back addition thing is a travesty.

Pretty vicious use of a Victorian, though, IMO. And judging from the interior shots, going to date significantly worse than a more sensitive period restoration.

@ malisams - I love that you love saying love.

I read this in Portland Monthly just this past week and enjoyed looking at the house. I love the charcoal grey house color and am glad they got rid of all the colors. The row of Victorians on NW 17th & Glisan give me a headache whenever I go past them.

super awesome! love the addition. love the paint.

i want to see plans ... aww shucks.

I don't entirely hate it, but suspect it's going to look more dated than classic very quickly. I guess the important thing is that they like it, but not sure why you'd buy a Victorian if you don't love the architecture of the period.

I like the house, but not the disparaging tone about non-MCM architecture. Victorian houses can be boho and creative, in an Anthropologie/World of Interiors way. It's not de facto "stuffy." And plywood isn't inherently "warmer" than a period interior -- it's usually the exact opposite.

Great house and I love the spiral staircase. I should be so lucky.

You can do a lot of things to nicely modernize the inside of older homes, but this I don't get. Horrible. Why buy a historic house if you're going to turn around and do something so ugly to the exterior. Shame on them for ruining that place.

Hmmm... the second I saw this, I was instantly reminded the remodelled house in 'Beetlejuice'. It's the way that fashionable, large scale modernism has been forced onto a delicately featured Victorian.

However I love the use of feature wallpaper under the breakfast bar. Very cool.

I love what they did. Who cares, its their house they can decorate it just like they want. So they didn't want and old stuffy, dark interior that was all cut up in a bunch of closed off rooms.

OH MY GOSH TOTALLY BEETLEJUICE!

Yeah, reminds me of that other couple who ALSO lives in the PNW and are wrecking their Victorian home. (Which AT has writing for re-nest now, argh). Why not just buy the type of home you like to begin with?

P.S. SO tired of that birch wallpaper.

I love it all!

OK......I see where they are going and admit the charcoal grey color and the mod addition is kinda cool, but if they want a modern house just buy/build a modern house. It is cool and hip today, but in 20 years it will look like a cracker jack add on with no thought. To bandwagons comment I love the beetlejuice house, it is executed brilliantly. This one does not remind me of that house.

I'm not a fan...but, as you might guess from my handle I own a Queen Anne Victorian (pictures forthcoming when renovation is done).

One thing I keep in mind with my house, as we live in a historic area, is that we're kinda the home's caretakers. We're not the last owners, there is no planned obsolescence to our home - we live next to a large, famous, university and professors will call this place home long after we're dead. So we try not to do anything that can't be undone.

At some point in my house's history someone painted ALL the woordwork in lead paint. We're not taking the paint off, but we're not doing anything to the wordwork that can't be undone. We've added yet an other coat of paint yes but if someone decides to come by with a heat gun in 60 years the original white oak woodtrim will be waiting for them.

So...the house in the picture above - they own it, I understand why they'd want to put their own stamp on it, but is IS highly personal, I think it will present a problem for future owners and I don't find it all that good looking.

wow, this is someone's home, there is a right way and a wrong way to comment on something you dislike. sheesh

I love the soothing charcoal exterior, the spiral staircase, the modern Victorian interior. That said, it is an absolute travesty what they did to the back of that house. I understand adding a deck and big doors that let in the outside. There are a hundred ways that that could have been done and still preserved (or increased!) the charm of the home on the whole. That addition, though, looks like it was designed without thought or care for the home it was being added on to.

As QueenAnneTheFirst stated, when you purchase a home like that you have to understand that you are a caretaker linking the past to the future. These people should have perhaps chosen a modern home that reflected their personalities better instead of ruining a piece of history.

I actually love the exterior color contrasts of the charcoal paint with the reddish brown natural wood. In fact, I wish that the front had more natural wood accents than just the front door. I only wish that the back was not quite so square and angular.

As for the inside? I was not able to make any of the pictures in the provided link larger so it was difficult to tell.

I love the house and some of the interior shots; I don't love the lighter wood on the back of the house, but I do love the openness and transition to outdoor living space.

I love what they did with it. Yes, the back seems very modular, but interesting in it's own right.

American's are very particular on keeping things the way they were meant to be, but breaking the rules is a wonderful surprise. Bravo!

Oh man, totally Beetlejuice. The back of that house is AWFUL. Inside is really cool, but why have such a disparate element on the back. FAIL.

Having grown up partly in San Francisco, I'm stunned to hear people describe Victorians as dark and stuffy and cramped. They may be stuffy in stuffy parts of the country, but in cities they were (and are) often wildly exuberant. Historically, they were brightly, even garishly painted (You think Domino Magazine invented intentional color clashing?). The interiors were the period equivalent of Muriel Brandolini. Victorians are fun and outrageous.

They put a bird on it.

the back of that house reminds me of the storefronts you see in some parts of Brooklyn, where the main building is a beautiful old brownstone, and then they throw up some boxy plywood sign and large window in front, so you can only see half of what the building used to be. In this home, the back addition doesn't connect visually to the older style at all.

Agree with the person who said it would affect resale possibilities.

Oh thank goodness! I was flipping through this magazine at the Portland airport on Sunday and fell in love with the exterior paint job. Since I didn't buy the magazine, I thought I would never see it again! Miracle of miracles! Thank you for sharing!

Wow, I can't believe some of the nasty comments on here! A "travesty"? Nooo... quite the opposite. It's a home that they they love, and that's a wonderful thing! It's truly unique now (and that bathroom wallpaper is awesome!).

I guess I've never worried about resale on my house, because I've never gone into a home purchase already planning to sell it. If that's you, then it makes sense to consider those things, but if you're planning to live there for a good long time, why not do what you want, rather than decorate to some imaginary future person's tastes? I recognize that my red kitchen cabinets and black countertops might not thrill other people, but they make me happy. I painted them because I didn't like what was there when I bought the place; so can they. People's homes are their castles; if they want to add a modern drawbridge to them, they're entitled to please themselves.

Trendy, much like seafoam green/mauve and lots of brass from 25 years ago. As long as they think they will continue to love the trend for the life of the products they chose, well, it doesn't matter what I think.

i seriously have had with all of the negativity in the comments section of these types of posts. there is a more thoughtful approach and better way to phrase your opinions. do we have to hate on everything? this is a great house, and i'm happy for access to websites like apartmenttherapy that offer a venue for showcasing them.

I love the front of the house in the dark charcoal color. I think everyone can basically agree that the profile of the house from the backyard is destroyed, however. If it's functional for them, that's great! It does look slapdash.

The interiors are great, overall. I applaud anyone who can make the interior of a Victorian work for them in this modern age. If that means moving/removing walls, updating all the appliances/fixtures, then great! Most of the Victorian charm (in my opinion) is from the street view anyways, and it looks like they have preserved that.

A modern full width rear extension contrasting with a victorian house is very desirable in the UK - we like our period buildings but we also like the kitchen diner opening to the garden. I can see exactly why someone with London-tuned style would choose something like this.

I love the outside, maybe it's because I haven't learned to put homes in a historical context. I don't think that just because something is "trendy" means that it will be out of style in the future, I think there is style among the trends that can be timeless, of all of the trends of time past the best of the best remain. I do think that the wall papers have been over done, but the ordinary person won't think so, and it would still be a pleasant place to live. I like that they filled in the cutout wall with the birch wall paper as well, it seems to me to create a sense of depth -like the forest is growing back into the walls.

I normally dislike Victorian, but this is awesomely cool!

Just for the record, the owner mentioned that the rooms were stuffy in the article. It's not AT's stance that all Victorians are stuffy! Personally, I've toured some Victorians that were gorgeously light and airy and others that were claustrophobic.

When I first looked, I thought they were two very different houses, one in front of the other. Then I looked again and thought it was a lean-to garage.
I'm thrilled with it if the homeowners are. My personal taste with additions is to see a very thoughtful blend between original and new.

I'm not sure what to think! I looove the black exterior, and I like the modern deck area, but together?? Eww.

The photos of the interior look promising, but I'd have to see more :)

Cheesy

That wood has taken ALL the beauty out of the rear exterior. Victorian in the front, ghetto in the back.

OT, what breeds are the dogs? Is the pretty black one a whippet? Is the cute spotted one a spaniel?

If they're happy with it, that's what's important. Just glad I don't have to look at it in my neighborhood. As far as negative comments, people who allow their homes to be displayed to all and sundry should be prepared for a range of comments, as we don't all have the same taste. And looking at this mutation, thank God for that!!!

GEEEEEEEZZZ. Why aren't I this cool?