Kalama Captures Views at a Bargain

Kalama is a great little town right off I-5 thirty miles north of America's Vancouver. This is a popular stop off for antique shops as the quaint Main Street through the business is filled with charming businesses. Kalama is built into a west facing hillside that is quite steep. At the top of the bluff there are a variety of developments ranging from 1960s to modern homes. Some of these homes have great views of the Columbia River, the Oregon Coast Mountains and fabulous sunsets.

You know why sunset views are so much better than sunrise views? Who the hell wants to wake up at 5:00 AM to watch a summer sunrise? Sunsets are coffee optional.

Kalama is a sunsetters dream locale. I pulled this listing off the MLS this morning and take a peak at what $335,000 will buy you in this lovely town.

This home is located in town just a couple of minutes to I-5. The ride to Vancouver takes a swift thirty minutes and depending on traffic another 10-30 will get you into downtown Portland.

The ability to feel like you live a hundred miles away from the city when in fact you are only 30 miles out is a plus here in the Greater Metro Portland/Vancouver area.

Back to the house. It has four bedrooms and two and half baths. There is a spacious 2471 square feet of living space situated on a good sized city lot of about 8000 square feet. Move this home 15 miles south to Ridgefield and you jump to half a million dollars! Kalama really is a bargain for view properties!

Away This Week

I am away on business this week, see you next time.

Columbia Gorge-ous!

The Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area is quite spectacular. The area is governed by a commission that makes building homes in the region challenging. The commission must approve all buildings and has a very strict set of guidelines for new construction. This is all intended to protect the integrity of America's second largest gorge behind the Grand Canyon.

All of that gorge commission red tape aside, the views from some of the homes are stunning. This 1.39 acre lot in White Salmon, Washington is listed at $500,000. It is in one of the few urban exemption zones and thus requires no gorge commission review to build. The views are quite amazing both urban and natural. This lot looks across the Columbia into Hood River, Oregon.

Prices are steep for these exempt parcels but the home will have an obstruction free view of one of the worlds most spectacular natural features and the glimmering lights of Hood River on the other shore.

The gorge-ous home shown here is listed at 1.1 million and is on the same bluff as the land listing. This is a spacious three bedroom home with 2600 squares and a three acre lot. The home has equally dramatic vistas. Looking West peers into the temperate rain forest portion of the Gorge. Looking East shows the dramatic transition to arid grass lands.

The Columbia River Gorge is a truly remarkable scenic area and to live up on a bluff overlooking this magnificent natural wonder is absolutely heavenly.

White Salmon is a city of roughly 2,300 people in Klickitat County. It is connected to Hood River, OR by the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge across the Columbia River. This long cantilever bridge spans nearly a mile across the river and features a lift section to accommodate commercial river traffic. White Salmon is 68 miles East of Downtown Vancouver via Washington State Hwy 14.

Hood River, Oregon has roughly 7,900 people and a nice historic downtown area. The city is 65 miles East of Portland, OR via Interstate 84.

This is a great area to retire and soak up the bounty of nature. The Washington side offers some advantages to retirees which you can read about on my Retire to Washington Blog.

I highly recommend you take a lovely drive into the Gorge and please, enjoy the view.

On Vacation, see You Next Time

I am entertaining guests and relatives from Scotland this week. I will return to this blog in two weeks. In the meantime enjoy this view:

San Juan Island across the Straight of Juan de Fuca

Soaring in the Heights

If you want to 'enjoy the view' Vancouver's Heights is a great area with a mix of older and newer homes. Today I am featuring three properties currently listed on the MLS. All of the photos in this post were excerpted from the public MLS site.

The first home is modestly priced for a view property in the Heights. Listed at $449,000 it still manages to offer 3780 square feet of space with three bedrooms and three bathrooms. It also offers a very nice view. This home was originally built in 1960 but has had more recent remodeling. This home offers up million dollar views for less than half that amount. The home is charming and quite comfortable. And about that view across the mighty Columbia over to downtown Portland; that's just really nice.

The second home featured today is a touch more spendy, priced at $875,000. It is however, a more modern home and quite a bit more elegant as well. This one offers 4821 square feet with four bedrooms and three bathrooms. The view here is a sweeping panoramic from Mount Hood to the Interstate Bridge. This home is located lower on the hill off of Evergreen Blvd. The River is closer but the view is from a lower elevation than the first home. None-the-less this home was built around the view. It has a gorgeous covered patio that takes in the full 180 degrees of panoramic bliss. I could really get used to this place. It has a bit of that Mediterranean villa vibe and the view is worthy. Like I said, I could get used to this.

The third home has a prestigious address. It lies off Dubois Drive and is perched out on the bluff that overlooks the River. It features views across to Portland. This one is priced in the millionaire's club at $1,200,000. It has 5816 square feet of space with four bedrooms, two full baths and three partial baths. This home is also situated on a junior acre (0.91). There is a fantastic veranda that wraps the whole rear of the home, providing spectacular unobstructed views. Homes on the south side of Dubois like this one, are nicely positioned on the edge of a bluff that drops abruptly. This is why these homes have completely unobstructed views. The top of the bluff is about 300 feet above the Columbia River. I really love this house!

Views Revisited

I am away with my wife up in Victoria, British Columbia so I can't write the blog this week. I can however revisit a past post from several months ago in case you missed it :) I just took some out of town guests to the Columbia Shores neighborhood for a some drinks at McMenamins. The loved that neighborhood.

Waterfront Living with a View

America's Vancouver can really deliver the goods across most price ranges when it comes to waterfront living. If you have ever partaken of a meal at Beaches Restaurant or the McMenemins on the Columbia you have been to the Columbia Shores Neighborhood.

This tidy little community offers a wide variety of condos in a village like setting right on the shores of the mightiest river in the West. These condos range in price from the upper 170s to nearly a half million dollars with the expensive ones featuring a view from up high. All of them offer access to the gorgeous river walk that runs all the way downtown.

Along with Beaches and McMenemins there is a nice little shopping area with great shops and services.There are few nicer hotels and very close access to Vancouver's downtown core. Speaking of access there is a nice interchange at SR14 to offer speedy delivery to either I5 or I205 just a few blocks away.

For those looking for something a little more plush and secure; a little further upriver will bring you to Tidewater Cove. This is a project that offers a more luxurious condominium for the discriminating buyer with deeper pockets. Here you will find prices well over $500,000 with larger units fetching upwards of $2 million. Here you are protected behind a stately gate and offered up rich amenities. There is also that unparalleled 180 degree sweeping view up and down the Columbia River from Mount Hood and the Gorge to the Interstate Bridge downtown.

The original Vancouver offers some great view opportunities, no matter what kind of view you desire. These fabulous waterfront properties are all actively listed from $185,000 for a 900 foot 2 bed unit to $1.9 million for a spacious 2800 foot unit right on the water. I love me a good view, don't you?

All images displayed in this article are property of the RMLS. These images are from listed properties on the RMLS for which I am utilizing under my rights as a member in good standing of the RMLS. 

Mount Vista, the name says it all.

Google Image from WSUV

Mount Vista is a neighborhood just east of Salmon Creek off the 134th Street exit. This venerable neighborhood features homes with views of either Mount Hood or Mount St. Helens depending on the direction the home is facing. Some have a view of both!

The neighborhood was built in the late 1970s

Google Image from WSUV

and through the early 1990s. This was a planned community and features and CC&Rs to protect the neighborhood. The area overlooks the WSU-Vancouver University campus and remains today as a desirable place to enjoy a view property. The photos are images from the University campus, The homes in Mount Vista tend to be higher up above the campus.

Overview of the area including the WSUV campus

There is a very broad range of styles and sizes in this neighborhood with prices in the mid $200s to well over $500k. The location is desirable for more than just the views. This area is very near the interchange between I-205 and I-5. It is an easy on and off to both major north-south freeways.

This neighborhood is worth a look if you want to enjoy the view in Northwest Vancouver.