The Twin Houses of an Odd Couple

By NANCY KEATES

Portland, Ore.

Roland Zehetbauer and Ted Wardlaw met when they were both married and lived two houses away from each other. They became friends, holding dinners and barbecues with their families and going on skiing, biking and mountain climbing excursions together.

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Roland Zehetbauer and Ted Wardlaw live in a pair of nearly-identical, 1,500-square-foot three-story houses separated by about 30 feet?close enough that the occupants can see into each other?s windows.

Now both divorced, the two friends still hang out with each other and their current girlfriends. But they are even closer neighbors: They live in nearly identical, 1,500-square-foot, three-story wood-and-glass contemporary houses, which they built on the same lot.

Two guys, both recently divorced, decided they wanted to live in the same house, but with separate entrances and totally separate living spaces. They built twin homes in a downtown Portland neighborhood. Roland Zehetbauer and Ted Wardlaw join Lunch Break.

The tall, rectangular-shaped twin houses, each with three bedrooms and 2? bathrooms, are separated by about 30 feet?close enough that the occupants can see into each other?s windows. It?s like a modern version of ?The Odd Couple?, says Corey Martin, who designed the project with architect Ben Kaiser of Portland-based PATH Architecture. ?On some level, it?s every guy?s dream. They get their freedom but they?re not doing it alone. There?s built-in camaraderie.?

The friends say their arrangement is working well. They have dinner a couple of nights a week. They share an Internet account. They still go skiing, camping, biking and hiking together. ?I know when Ted is home, who is going in and out of his house, which lights are on, what he is up to,? says Mr. Zehetbauer. ?It?s companionship. Other people come and go. The only constant is Roland,? adds Mr. Wardlaw. They share the outdoor space and are currently planning a vegetable garden together.

If this is the Portland version of ?The Odd Couple,? Mr. Zehetbauer, a 52-year-old woodworker and partner in a furniture company, would be the ?Felix? character, as he pays meticulous attention to details. ?One of the reasons you build is that you don?t have to make compromises,? he says. Mr. Wardlaw, a 46-year-old freelance sports-marketing consultant and the more easygoing of the two, says he viewed the process as a learning experience where he benefited from his friend?s background. ?The most important thing was to maintain our relationship,? said Mr. Wardlaw.

It?s a relationship that survived two divorces. Mr. Wardlaw separated from his wife in 2008 and moved to a rental. Mr. Zehetbauer separated from his wife in 2009 but was still living with her when he found the 6,250-square-foot lot in an urban, increasingly gentrified neighborhood in the Northeast section of downtown Portland. He bought it in 2009 for $155,000, initially planning to build three houses and sell or rent the other two. But when he mentioned the idea to Mr. Wardlaw, they decided to build together, settling on two homes for financial reasons.

Having grown up in a woodworking family in Austria, Mr. Zehetbauer was able to enlist the help of his brother, who prefabricated the windows and siding all to the architects? specifications and shipped everything to Portland. Then, with Mr. Zehetbauer acting as general contractor and Mr. Wardlaw in charge of product research, the two built the houses and interior cabinetry themselves, putting in what they estimate was thousands of hours.

As a result, the cost of the project was only about $400,000, and it took about two years. They moved in last summer but are still working on finishing a few things. A two-bedroom, 2?-bathroom, contemporary 1,300-square-foot single-family house nearby is for sale for $355,000.

Referred to as the ?towers? by architect Mr. Kaiser, the twin homes are almost identical in layout. Both have large studio spaces on the ground level that can work as bedrooms or offices. Both have large, open living spaces on the second floors, with kitchens, dining areas and living rooms and two bedrooms each on the third floors. There?s lots of storage space for sports equipment, and 150-square-foot wine rooms below both ground floors.

The interiors are very open, with enormous floor-to-ceiling windows and walnut cabinets Mr. Zehetbauer designed and made in his store, Altura Furniture. The kitchen cabinets are paired with stainless steel appliances. In the main living areas, dramatic walnut wall units reach up from the second to the third floors in front of open metal staircases.

Though the layouts are almost identical, the two houses have their differences. Mr. Zehetbauer?s large dining table is handmade from Oregon walnut with an ash base; much of Mr. Wardlaw?s furniture comes from IKEA. Mr. Zehetbauer, who had first pick of the homes, chose the more private house in the back, which has windows that look out to the hills in back and to laurels along the sides; Mr. Wardlaw has a view of the street.

The openness makes both houses feel like one giant master suite, with little privacy between the spaces and pocket doors that tend to remain open. Both men said they wanted the floor plan to reflect their new freedom?the fact that the whole space was theirs and they didn?t have to find separation from other people.

That can create some tension with the women in their lives. Mr. Zehetbauer says his girlfriend complains that the door on the powder room on the main level is made of glass (?I tell her it?s frosted glass,? he said). But Eleanor Wardlaw, 10, likes her father?s new home and lifestyle. ?I get to sleep easily there and I don?t have to wake up at some ungodly hour,? she says.

Write to Nancy Keates at nancy.keates@wsj.com

A version of this article appeared April 5, 2013, on page M4 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: The Twin Houses of an Odd Couple.

Article source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323296504578396581572399580.html?mod=residential_real_estate

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