For Jake Woodruff, a job isn’t worth doing unless it’s done right. That mantra is what drove him to start Northwest Quality Roofing a decade ago.
Woodruff moved to Bend and started working at a roofing company when he was 19 years old. He followed the roofing career path and honed his skills, then moved onto the business side of the industry.
After working for roofing companies that would cut corners to save costs, or wouldn’t keep the customers’ best interests in mind, Woodruff wanted his company to be different. “I just wanted to service customers better and hire high-quality individuals to represent the company on the job site,” he said. He formed Northwest Quality Roofing with his wife, Gretchen. “She’s the organizer and driver of the company,” he said.
There’s a sign above their shop door with a quote from Henry Ford that reads, “Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.” It’s a daily reminder for the company and its employees to always put service above costs.
Northwest Quality Roofing primarily works with residential homeowners. They work on custom and new construction projects as well as re-roofing projects for Central Oregon homes. “Customer satisfaction is our number one goal,” said Woodruff. “It’s a huge purchase, and no one is excited about it. We try to navigate people through the process.”
Woodruff said that not sacrificing quality is what sets them apart in the industry. “It’s important to us to make sure clients are getting the best project for their budget. We sometimes take hits on price at our end, but we want to make sure the customer is getting the best possible job they can get.”
In Central Oregon, Woodruff said that the biggest trend in roofing is that customers are making sure they are protected from snow damage and ice dams. Northwest Quality Roofing has taken on those projects head-on to prevent that problem in the future for customers. “We don’t do things we know aren’t right for this climate,” said Woodruff. They have a shop where they can create all the custom flashings that customers may need for their roof. “We offer the overall package when it comes to water-proofing the roof,” he said.
They’re also committed to giving back to the community that has supported the company in its growth. Each year, they hold the annual “Raise the Roof” contest to give away a free roof to someone in need in the region. Community members can nominate themselves or someone they know, and Northwest Quality Roofing employees, about 35 in all, vote to choose the winner. The company also sponsors local youth sports and volunteers with Habitat for Humanity.
“We just want to be the company that does the right thing, no matter what,” said Woodruff.
Waterfront Old Mill District homes capture iconic Central Oregon city living.
Imagine sitting on your private rooftop deck, watching paddleboarders navigate the Deschutes River, seeing birds catch an upward draft, the full array of Cascade Mountains spread before you and live music drifting over from the Les Schwab Amphitheater. Those are among the many benefits of owning a townhouse at the heart of Bend in the Old Mill District.
High Plateau Development, a regional company based in Bend, has developed several luxury residential properties along the Deschutes River. Its current development includes four townhomes being built by Stillwater Construction. “People who buy these townhomes want to be in the middle of everything, all the activities that draw people to Central Oregon,” said Bart Mitchell, a lifelong Central Oregon resident who started Stillwater in 2007.
That aspect was among the selling points that drew a Portland couple to the first townhome finished by Stillwater. “We know a lot of people who have moved to Bend and wanted to be more remote and more chill, but we loved the idea of being right in the hub of things,” the homeowner said. The couple moved into the home in March after a good building experience with Stillwater.
“We’d never built a house before and were kind of skeptical about how things would go,” the homeowner said. “Bart gave us a date, and he came through with everything. The home design was wonderful. Because we got in at the ground floor, we were able to make a few changes and customize our home to us.”
Mitchell said his company spends extra time up-front on planning and budget forecasting. “We provide clients with daily progress reports, photos and updates on what comes next,” he said. “We have constant communication, and a consistent and loyal group of subcontractors.”
A key team member is Melanie Buccola, owner of Inside Buccola Design, who took the lead on interior design decisions. “When we started working with the architect, we had the challenge of a tall, narrow space,” she said. “One of the coolest things is how the townhome expands space and integrates indoor and outdoor living.”
The townhomes face west and are a few feet back from the walking path that meanders between Farewell Bend Park and the Old Mill shopping and dining district. The patio with its retaining walls, native grasses, water features and firepit provides a nice transition to the home’s interior. Because of foot traffic on the path, especially during summer days, the architects designed the patio to be ten to twelve feet higher than the trail for privacy if an owner wants it.
Each unit contains about 3,000-square-feet of space, spread over three vertical floors, with maximum orientation toward the views. Access is either through the one-car garage with a convenient entrance into the mud and laundry room or through the front door. Both entrances are off Theater Drive.
Designed by the architectural firm, Ascent, the townhomes have the unusual feature of two large sliding glass doors by LaCantina in the great room that open onto the patio with no post between them. “The inside corner, zero-post doors are a major trend right now and are on everyone’s hot list,” Mitchell said, adding that they seamlessly blend indoor and outdoor living spaces. In addition to the main floor sliding doors, the second and third stories have multi-slide doors onto outside decks.
The first-level great room is open and light filled, with the kitchen separated from the dining room by a quartz-topped island that allows someone preparing food to enjoy the view and be part of the room’s activities. Harvest Moon Woodworks custom made the kitchen cabinets in a mix of styles—dark woodgrain and high-gloss white to create an ultra-modern feeling. All appliances are professional grade made by Dacor.
A gas fireplace is surrounded by floor-to-ceiling black concrete, created by Cement Elegance, and provides warmth on cold winter days and ambiance for entertaining or reading a book.
A “floating” staircase of steel construction and white oak steps connects the three stories. The floating part refers to a style of construction in which the vertical rise or back of the stair is eliminated, creating an open space between steps. Each step is fused to a massive steel beam for support and the creation of a modern, industrial feeling. The bottom of each step has a strip of soft LED lights for safety and ambiance.
Four large skylights at the top of the staircase beam natural light downward and onto the middle of each floor.
Each townhome has three bedrooms, four baths, a powder room, an office and a family or bonus room. Although the floor plans can vary between units, the second and recently completed townhome has three bedrooms on the middle floor. Two bedrooms, including the master, have full west views. The third bedroom has its own bath and small east-facing deck. The master bedroom has a private bath with a vessel tub, large shower enclosure and closet space for two.
The family or bonus room on the third floor has a built-in wet bar with an icemaker, mini-frig, bar, sink, dishwasher and wood-grain cabinets for storage. It also has a bathroom, a large wall for a big-screen TV and lovely Turkish, textured mosaic tile from Ann Sacks. Sliding doors lead to a deck for dining, entertaining or sitting under the stars.
The three remaining townhomes are being marketed by Ryan Buccola of RE/MAX Key Properties. One of these was finished in May, and the developer hopes to have the other two townhomes ready for sale in early 2020, with an asking price of between $1.9 million and $2.l million. “This is a unique location,” Buccola said. “We’re selling waterfront homes in the desert in the heart of the Old Mill.”
An alpine-view home inspired by the wings of a bird of prey.
It’s hard not to notice the large lava rock boulder embedded in the concrete floor just inside the entryway of Glenn and Suzanne Walker’s home near Sisters. But at the same time, the rock blends into the new home the way it once blended into the land on which the property sits, overlooking a sage-hued meadow and gentle bend in Wychus Creek.
The rugged landscape is Central Oregon to the core, with majestic mountain views and abundant wildlife—including a resident Red-tailed Hawk that appeared each time designer and architect Wendy von Kalinowski visited the property. That hawk, in fact, became the inspiration for the project, with the floorplan of the modern home reflecting the outline of a hawk’s wing extended for flight and the design taking on the name, “Hawk’s Wing.”
It’s all just part of the vision of Studio von Kalinowski Design, a partnership with Wendy’s husband, master craftsman and builder Mark Smeltzer. The unique setting was a perfect match for the studio’s mission to work hand-in-hand with clients on creating a holistic design that brings daily inspiration to their lives. “Each project is a design journey and working with the Walkers became a creative collaboration of expressing the design concept all the way through in every detail,” von Kalinowski said.
Along with the lava boulders, the home’s interior is styled with raw materials and elements befitting the landscape. Custom pine planks milled into bench seats and bedroom side tables were both made from wood harvested on site. Hot rolled steel panels with matching flame effects, sculptural pendant lighting and built-in niches for personal treasures are unique and reflect the home’s surroundings.
Massive, charred beams above the main living area represent the wings of that Red-tailed Hawk. “Wendy never stopped revisiting her ideas with us to be sure it was what we wanted,” Suzanne said. “The entire process was inclusive, and we so appreciated that—and her eye for detail—at every turn.”
The single-level home sits on a rimrock cliff overlooking Willow Springs Preserve, a 130-acre protected area along Wychus Creek managed by the Deschutes Land Trust. Views of the meadows and the mountains beyond dominate the living room, dining area and kitchen thanks to massive windows and bi-folding doors. With light pouring through every corner of the home, it’s as though the design brings the wilderness inside.
“We love the way our home captures the expansive views,” Suzanne said. “The careful placement of the windows frames the different peaks from the Three Sisters to Mt. Jefferson. It gives each living space its unique perspective.
The home is actually a little larger than the Walkers initially wanted, but von Kalinowski was able to create a coziness within the 2,700-square-foot layout. With a home office “wing” for Glenn, and dedicated spare bedroom for visitors, it serves the family’s desired multi-functional needs.
“My goal is always to design spaces that support, nurture and inspire those that will live in their home,” von Kalinowski said. “For me, this home captures not only the physical elements and aesthetics that define its unique setting, character and richness, but also the holistic side of my clients’ lifestyle.”
For the Walkers, yoga and meditation are central to that lifestyle so von Kalinowski designed a space in the master bedroom for yoga and a small, inviting alcove off the living room that doubles as an extra sleeping space. “We start every morning “sitting” together, be it in meditation or contemplation and study,” Suzanne said, “so we wanted a cozy east-facing sacred space where we could wake with the sun and welcome the day in our way.”
Glenn is also a musician. A separate music room showcases several of his beloved bass guitars and gives him a creative retreat of his own within the home.
Outside, the home is both striking and remarkably unassuming considering the exterior is much darker than the other homes in the area near Aspen Lakes Golf Course. von Kalinowski said the color palette for the home’s finishes are “all visible within the soft plumage of the hawk if one could get so close, but more easily found on the surface of the site itself.” The burnished color of lava rock, the soft grays of juniper trees, the charred charcoal color of trees once struck by lightning help the home once again both stand out and blend in.
Bryan Rhodes, the design team’s official “rock guru,” was able to create lava rock steps that look like they appeared naturally, leading from the wrap-around back deck to a pebbled sitting area and fire pit. Lava rock berms are extending arms from the rocky ridge, built up in front to add to the topography and create additional separation from the home to the road. And a septic system is virtually unnoticeable thanks to strategically placed trees and rocks.
The Walkers selected plant materials used both inside and out that were either native to the area or would further enhance the native landscape. “From plan to finish, the concept stays within the site’s natural elements that inhabit the immediate and surrounding environment,” von Kalinowski said. “The design focuses on the uniqueness of the property.”
Suzanne said the home turned out exactly as they hoped. “It’s challenging to explain and express what you dream your home to be,” Glenn said. “You use feelings and words that your designer has to interpret into physical spaces and Wendy did just that.”
