Is your home a bit ho-hum? You might be hearing the alarm to move to an out-of-the-ordinary place with more space. Have you considered living in a firehouse?
You wouldn’t be the first to park a car, RV or boat in a garage built for a firetruck.
A 76-year-old, Southeast Portland fire station retrofitted into a live-work unit was put up for sale at $750,000 on Thursday, Jan. 13. A flood of people toured it over the weekend and by Monday, Jan. 17, an offer was accepted.
The structure at 5125 S.E. Ogden St. has a vintage sign on its pitched metal roof that reads “Fire District No. 1.″ Three roll-up doors, separated by red brick, open to a double-height garage with skylights.
Walk through swinging doors, painted with flames like a post-WWII hot rod, and enter the living space, which includes a great room, kitchen with granite counters and a mudroom with original wood lockers.
Then take the stairs to the primary suite on the second floor. The fire pole is long gone, but fire-resistant concrete walls and floors are in place.
The 3,170-square-foot dwelling would work well for someone who “lives life outside the normal box,” said listing agent Kama Dersham with Mathew Wray of Keller Williams Realty Portland Central.
She mentioned a collector, aerial artist, woodworker or welder.
One owner was a sculptor who fired clay and kept her kilns in the sunlit former fire station.
Dersham also envisions a photographer, chef or musician relocating to the Brentwood-Darlington neighborhood to enjoy “great dining and shopping.”
The setting could also be a yoga studio, meditation space or a home base for a small business, she added.
Dersham said her listing was also of interest to eco-conscious home shoppers. The current owners installed energy efficient solar power, heat and cooling pumps, and a tankless water heater.
The structure spans the width of the 4,791-square-foot lot. There are no side yards, but there are trees in the front and a garden in the back with a fire pit.
After the fire station was decommissioned and the firefighters moved out, the 1946 building was used by a limousine service company and as a bath salts factory and flea market. It was converted into legal living quarters about two decades ago.
Many of Portland’s old fire houses have been repurposed:
— Janet Eastman | 503-294-4072
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