Who needs to flip through a book about Arts and Crafts architecture when you're surrounded by fine examples in Portland?

The first collection of Craftsman homes was built in Northwest Portland in preparation of the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition. Then the revolutionary style jumped across the Willamette River to the evolving streetcar suburbs.

The Irvington Historic District has mostly early Craftsman houses mingled among Foursquare and Queen Anne homes, English cottages and Classical Revival dwellings.

A wedding-cake white, four-level Craftsman house, built in 1911 with an inviting porch, and original features and updates inside, is for sale at $1,525,000.

--Janet Eastman | 503-294-4072

jeastman@oregonian.com | @janeteastman

Chuck Collier Schmidt/Living Room Realty

"The house is a textbook example of Arts and Crafts architecture," which celebrates natural materials and skilled handiwork, says listing agent Lance Marrs of Living Room Realty.

With at least one exception: The wedding cake white exterior stands out. In the past, Craftsmans’ clapboard siding has been painted in earthy browns, muted greens and stone-like blues. Eaves, pillars, railing and other decorative trim usually stand out with carefully selected accent colors.

But not here.

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Chuck Collier Schmidt/Living Room Realty

One of the hallmarks of a Craftsman instantly greets visitors at 2201 N.E. 23rd Ave.: The inviting wide porch is shaded by low-hanging eaves and supported by square columns.

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Chuck Collier Schmidt/Living Room Realty

Walk through the grand front door and into the hallway. Marrs points to unpainted tiger oak and other original woodwork. Three sets of pocket doors slide away into thick walls and the same stone at the base of porch columns is seen on the fireplaces in the living room and master suite.

As you continue through the house, notice the stained and leaded-glass windows, and other carefully made antidotes to the Industrial Age.

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Chuck Collier Schmidt/Living Room Realty

The halcyon days of Craftsman houses were from 1900 to 1929, but the style is still constructed today.

In Portland in the early 1900s, custom Craftsman houses cost about $2,500 to design and build. But in the true spirit of the Arts and Crafts movement, bungalows were also affordable to the middle class, with plans priced at $5 and entire building kits, from lumber to plumbing, sold through the Sears Roebuck catalog and other sources for about $1,000.

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Chuck Collier Schmidt/Living Room Realty

The first owner of the house was Charles A. Buckley, according to "The History & Development of Portland's Irvington Neighborhood" by Roy E. Roos.

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Characteristics of a Craftsman can be seen in the living room: High windows are on both sides of the fireplace, wich is centered on an outside wall. A wide opening links the living room -- or parlor -- to the dining room.

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Chuck Collier Schmidt/Living Room Realty

“Buyers with an appreciation of the style, size and setting in one of Portland’s premier neighborhoods will not be disappointed,” says Marrs. “It’s an entertainer’s home with grand rooms and a floor plan with great flow.”

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Chuck Collier Schmidt/Living Room Realty

The formal dining room has box-beam ceilings.

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Chuck Collier Schmidt/Living Room Realty

Built-in cabinets and a sideboard provide attractive storage in the dining room. Wainscot rises up walls and creates a ledge to display framed photographs and decorative art.

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The expanded and updated kitchen has contemporary cabinets modeled after early Craftsman's spare, Stickley style.

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The house has four bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and 5,208 square feet of living space, which breaks down to $293 a square foot.

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Sleeping porches off a corner bedroom allow breezes to enter from different directions. Once open or screened, this sleeping porch has been enclosed and the walls clad in clapboard to match exterior walls.

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The fireplace in the master suite is made of rusticated stone.

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Bathrooms were updated while matching the original character of the century-old classic house. A claw-foot tub rests on hexagon tiles.

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The third floor was finished ...

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... and designed to accommodate a large workspace.

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Where is the garage? Craftsman homes commonly have a carriage house in the back.

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New black-and-white photos represent the vintage details of the house.

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