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Elin Kelsey & Company

45.5283° N Nob Hill, Portland

Selected Works · 2016–2026

Three houses, measured.

Case studies from Portland, the Columbia River Gorge and the Willamette Valley, documented the way we draw them: room dimensions, millwork schedules, lighting plans, and reverberation times before and after.

Studies
3 residential
Range
2,340 – 4,050 sq ft
Common thread
Rift oak · lime plaster · tunable light

Northrup Street Residence

Study 01 · Nob Hill, Portland

A 1908 four-square on a 50-foot Nob Hill lot, re-planned for a composer and a landscape architect. The brief: a mixing room that disappears, a library you can work in all winter, and a kitchen that holds the house together.

The second floor was opened to create a home studio at the core of the plan with a workspace on the north-east corner and a library along the west wall. Original fir floors were retained and refinished with hardwax oil. All new partitions are double-stud with a 50 mm air gap for the studio, reaching STC 52 against the primary suite.

The studio was measured before and after: a hand-clap decay of 1.14 seconds in the stripped room fell to 0.36 seconds after slatted rift oak over 50 mm wool batt was installed on both side walls and the rear wall, with a wool rug and a bookshelf diffuser completing the treatment.

Lighting plan

  • Studio: 2700–4000 K tunable linear in a plaster slot, 300 lux at console, dimmed to 50 lux for mixing.
  • Workspace: 4000 K tunable task light from above and front, 500 lux on desk until 11:00, 3500 K after.
  • Library: 3000 K shelf wash, CRI 95, 150 lux at seat; north glazing raised to 8'-4" head height.
  • Circulation: 2700 K at 10 lux after 20:00 on astronomical clock.
Floor area
2,340 sq ft · two levels
Studio
12'-0" × 11'-6" × 9'-2"
Workspace
10'-10" × 14'-0" · DF 3.8%
Library
13'-6" × 8'-0" · 1,200 volumes
Studio RT60
1.14 s before · 0.36 s after
Partition
Double stud · STC 52
Completed
2023
Millwork schedule
RefElementSpecification
MW-01Library wallRift white oak · 3 mm reveal · 38 lin ft
MW-02Studio consoleWalnut top 40 mm · routed cable channel
MW-03Slatted acoustic panels25 × 12 mm · 50 mm wool · 214 sq ft
MW-04Workspace deskWalnut · 10'-0" · steel-plate arm mount
MW-05KitchenRift oak inset · LEGRABOX · hardwax oil

Orchard House

Study 02 · Hood River, Columbia River Gorge

A new single-storey house on the edge of a pear orchard above Hood River, for a couple who both work from home and wanted the wind, the river and the light to be in the house without the glare.

The Gorge delivers hard east light in the morning and steady wind through the afternoon. The plan places the two workspaces on the north side with clerestory glazing to the sky and a lime-plastered light shelf that throws daylight deep into the rooms. The great room opens south and east to the orchard behind a 2.4 m overhang that cuts summer sun while admitting the low winter sun.

Interiors are white oak, lime plaster and honed basalt throughout. The two workspaces are acoustically separate, each with felt baffles in the ceiling and a measured RT60 of 0.48 seconds, which lets both occupants take calls at once without closing a door.

Lighting plan

  • Workspaces: 4000 K tunable from clerestory-side plaster slot, 500 lux morning; 2700 K at dusk.
  • Great room: 3000 K up-light on fir ceiling, 100 lux; 2700 K table pendant on separate circuit.
  • Exterior overhang soffit: 2700 K at 5 lux to hold the view out at night without reflection.
  • All drivers DALI-2 DT8 on an astronomical schedule set for 45.7° N.
Floor area
3,120 sq ft · single level
Great room
28'-0" × 18'-0" × 12'-6" ridge
Workspace A
12'-0" × 13'-0" · DF 4.6%
Workspace B
11'-0" × 13'-0" · DF 4.2%
Workspace RT60
0.48 s · 0.47 s
Glazing
Low-e triple · VT 0.62 · SHGC 0.30
Completed
2024
Millwork schedule
RefElementSpecification
MW-01Kitchen islandWalnut top 50 mm · oak base · 11'-0"
MW-02Workspace desksWalnut · wall-cantilevered monitor shelf
MW-03Window seatsRift oak · wool cushion · 2 no.
MW-04Entry bench & storageRift oak · TIP-ON · 3 mm reveal
MW-05Ceiling bafflesWool felt 25 mm · 300 mm deep · 400 mm o.c.

Vineyard Residence

Study 03 · Dundee Hills, Willamette Valley

Renovation of a 1990s hillside house for a winemaker. The owners asked for a tasting room that could also be an office, a kitchen that reads as a workshop, and bedrooms that encourage sleep after long harvest days.

The existing house had low ceilings and small windows facing the valley. We removed a central partition to make a 24-foot tasting room and office with new west glazing stopped at 7'-0" to control the late sun, then lifted reflectance everywhere with lime plaster. A rift oak wall of wine storage runs the full length of the room; its slatted front doubles as acoustic absorption so conversation at a table of twelve stays comfortable.

The primary suite was moved to the east with 2700 K wake-up lighting that ramps over thirty minutes from 05:30 during harvest. Measured evening vertical illuminance at the pillow is under 10 lux.

Lighting plan

  • Tasting room: 3000 K tunable linear in plaster cove, CRI 95 / R9 80 so wine colour reads true; 300 lux at table.
  • Office mode: 4000 K at 500 lux on the table from 08:00 to 12:00.
  • Primary suite: 2700 K ramp from 0 to 150 lux over 30 minutes; evening ceiling < 10 lux at pillow.
  • Kitchen: 3500 K under-counter task, 500 lux; 2700 K after 20:00.
Floor area
4,050 sq ft · two levels
Tasting room / office
24'-0" × 16'-0" × 9'-6"
Tasting room RT60
0.92 s before · 0.58 s after
Primary suite
15'-0" × 14'-0" · DF 2.4%
Kitchen
18'-0" × 12'-0" · honed basalt
West glazing
Head at 7'-0" · VT 0.68 · 3% roller
Completed
2025
Millwork schedule
RefElementSpecification
MW-01Wine wallRift oak slatted · 24'-0" · 50 mm wool · 480 bottles
MW-02Tasting tableWestern walnut · 12'-0" × 3'-6" · 50 mm
MW-03KitchenRift oak inset · blackened steel reveals · LEGRABOX
MW-04Primary wardrobeRift oak · TIP-ON · integrated 2700 K wake light
MW-05Bath vanityWalnut · honed basalt top · wall-hung

Your house

Begin with a room and a number.

Run your most important room through the acoustic and daylight planner, then write to studio@elinkelseyandcompany.com.

Open the Planner