In 1980, Portland registered architect Mel Kroker put pencil to paper and titled his drawings simply — The Olsen Solar Home. What he designed was anything but simple. Earth-sheltered into a hillside of old-growth Douglas fir, this passive solar estate speaks the language of Frank Lloyd Wright — concrete and glass and black walnut and light, shaped by the land rather than imposed upon it. A sculptural portecochère. A soaring angled glass curtain wall. A solarium. Sweeping Tualatin Valley views that change with every season. Built in 1985 and cherished by one family for four decades, it is offered now for the first time. There are homes that shelter you. And then there are homes that change you.
This is the second kind.