FHB Logo Facebook LinkedIn Email Pinterest Twitter Instagram Plus Icon Close Icon Navigation Search Icon Arrow Down Icon Video Guide Icon Article Guide Icon Modal Close Icon Guide Search Icon Skip to content
Main Menu
Subscribe

In every issue you'll find...

  • Expert insights on techniques and principles
  • Unbiased tool reviews
  • Step-by-step details to master the job
  • Field-tested advice and know-how
Subscribe Now!
Subscribe
  • How-To
  • Design
  • Tools & Materials
  • Videos
  • Blogs
  • Forum
  • Magazine
  • Members
  • FHB House
  • Podcast
  • Join
  • Log In
Main Menu Subscribe
Design

Building Better Affordable Homes

How to increase style and efficiency on a modest budget.

By Keyan Mizani Issue 224
Article Image

Synopsis: Affordable homes are a key component for any community, large or small, urban or rural. Unfortunately, affordable housing often becomes synonymous with unattractive, uninteresting construction. For a project in Portland, Ore., architect Keyan Mizani worked with Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives to create an affordable, attractive pair of row houses in a developed neighborhood. Built around open floor plans to increase a sense of spaciousness, the houses have high-quality finishing details such as cork flooring, glass- and ceramic-tile backsplashes, and cabinets with bamboo facing. Variations in the rooflines differentiate the houses from their neighbors and make them appear not to be monolithic. A high-efficiency air-source heat pump provides heating and cooling.

Portland, Ore., is known for dense, vibrant neighborhoods. A key component of the vitality of our community is the preservation and development of affordable housing. Affordable homes give people with lower incomes the opportunity to live in a community with rising property values. Despite having to work with a limited budget, I believe affordable housing must be well designed and well built; it must look good and be built to last. Being cost-conscious is essential. However, that should not mean cutting corners, because short-term savings and gains often can result in greater long-term costs. This holds true whether designing multifamily or single-family homes.

This multifamily row-house project is for first-time homebuyers earning 80% or less of area median income, so it was important to avoid passing on higher future operating and maintenance costs. The nonprofit developer, Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives, was committed to creating attractive, high-quality, efficient, durable homes, and it invested time and money on design and planning to do it well. Working as a team, the developer, our firm, an interior designer, and a general contractor collaborated to select lasting design, material, and building systems that met a modest budget.

Crack apart the row house

Typically long and skinny, traditional row houses are built side-by-side, which can result in some undesirable conditions, such as dark interiors, long shotgun-style floor plans, small yards accessed only from the rear, and less overall privacy. We decided to make the most of the project’s corner site by turning one unit 90° to the other so that each home would face a different street.

With this diminished connection, the homes have a greater sense of individuality, and they blend more seamlessly with the adjacent single-family homes. A sticking point for buyers of multifamily homes can be the common wall. People worry about a lack of sound separation. Turning the units perpendicular to each other minimized their attachment, and we increased privacy further by placing only utility and service elements on the shared double wall.

Each home has a surprisingly spacious yard. Parallel to the long axis of each house, the yards are easily accessed and can be viewed from multiple rooms. The building shape also results in greater access to daylight, which we took advantage of by including generous windows for bright, well-ventilated interiors.

Make it look good

Each unit has an efficient, rectangular footprint, capped by roof trusses. However, several strategies were used to avoid the boxy, unvaried appearance of a basic two-story rectangle with a trussed top. Carefully placed bump-outs allow the narrow plans to expand where necessary and to create visual interest outside; recessed porches create welcoming facades. Side porches and stoops offer connections to the yards. All these elements work together to disguise and embellish the homes’ basic rectangular building blocks.

We kept exterior materials simple for cost and durability; they include fiber-cement lap siding and factory-primed flat trim. When a restrained palette is used, enrichment relies on careful building proportions, well-placed windows, and special details such as custom porch railings.

For more photos, floor plans, and details, click the View PDF button below:

Sign up for eletters today and get the latest how-to from Fine Homebuilding, plus special offers.

Sign Up

Get home building tips, offers, and expert advice in your inbox

×
View PDF
X
X

New Feature

Fine Homebuilding Forums

Ask questions, offer advice, and share your work

Log in or create an account to post a comment.

Sign up Log in

Become a member and get full access to FineHomebuilding.com

Up Next

Featured Story

Fine Homebuilding Podcast 329: PRO TALK With Jason Webster

Podcast 329: PRO TALK With Modular-Home Builder Jason Webster

In this Pro-Talk podcast Patrick talks to Jason Webster, owner of Huntington Homes in East Montpelier, Vermont, about the quality, efficiency, and value that comes from building homes in a well-equipped, climate-controlled environment.

Featured Video

How to Install Exterior Window Trim

In this episode of Shop Class, learn how to measure, cut, and build window casing made of cellular PVC, solid wood, poly-ash boards, or any common molding material. Plus, get tips for a clean and solid installation.

Related Stories

  • 2nd Annual Wall-Assembly Contest

  • Podcast 329: PRO TALK With Modular-Home Builder Jason Webster

  • Big Takeaways From Presentations at the Builders' Show

  • Third-Day at IBSx: Pure Learning

Discussion Forum

Recent Posts and Replies

  • |
  • |
  • |
  • |
  • |
  • |
View More Create Post

Highlights

  • Fine Homebuilding All Access
  • Fine Homebuilding Podcast
  • Tool Tech

    Plus, get an extra 20% off with code GIFT20

  • "I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.

    Get home building tips, offers, and expert advice in your inbox

    Sign Up See all newsletters

Video

View All
  • Fine Homebuilding Podcast 329: PRO TALK With Jason Webster

    Podcast 329: PRO TALK With Modular-Home Builder Jason Webster

  • blower door test

    The Blower Door: Why Isn't It Called the Sucker Door? And Other Tough Questions

  • FHB House ep5

    Double-Stud Walls and Insulated Window Bucks

  • Fireplace goes energy efficient

    Dealing With Fireplaces and Energy Efficiency

View All

New Construction

View All
  • Fine Homebuilding Podcast 329: PRO TALK With Jason Webster

    Podcast 329: PRO TALK With Modular-Home Builder Jason Webster

  • illustration of window framing house

    Third-Day at IBSx: Pure Learning

  • modern house with wood-look aluminum siding

    More New Products at the Virtual International Builders’ Show

  • First Day at the Virtual IBSx: Stuff You Won't Want To Miss

View All

BOOKS, DVDs, & MERCH

Shop the Store
  • Code Check Building 4th Edition

    Buy Now
  • Fine Homebuilding Magazine Slipcase

    Buy Now
  • Musings of an Energy Nerd

    Buy Now
Shop the Store

Fine Homebuilding Magazine

  • Issue 297 - Feb/Mar 2021

    • Foundations for Success
    • Staircase Renovation
    • Ditch the Hose
  • Issue 296 - Dec 2020/Jan 2021

    • Insulating Glass Keeps Getting Better
    • Simple Way to Make Old Walls Straight and Plumb
    • Making Sense of Minisplits
  • Issue 295 - Kitchens & Baths

    • Condo Kitchen Reimagined
    • Row-House Remodel
    • Rise of the IAQ Monitor
  • Issue 294 - Oct/Nov 2020

    • Schoolhouse Reimagined
    • Tool Test: Folding Sawhorses
    • A Better Way to Build Tall Walls
  • Issue 293 - Aug/Sept 2020

    • A Practical Guide to Fall Protection
    • Installing Frameless Cabinets
    • Make Any Tablesaw Safer

Fine Homebuilding

Follow

Newsletter

Get home building tips, offers, and expert advice in your inbox

Sign Up See all newsletters

Membership & Magazine

  • Online Archive
  • Start Free Trial
  • Magazine Subscription
  • Magazine Renewal
  • Gift a Subscription
  • Customer Support
  • Manage Preferences

Taunton Network

  • Green Building Advisor
  • Fine Woodworking
  • Fine Gardening
  • Threads
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Careers
  • Copyright
  • Terms of Use
  • Accessibility
  • CA Privacy Rights

© 2021 The Taunton Press, Inc. All rights reserved.

    Main Menu

  • How-To
  • Design
  • Tools & Materials
  • Video
  • Blogs
  • Forum
  • Reader Projects
  • Magazine
  • Members
  • FHB House
  • Podcasts

  • FHB Podcast
  • ProTalk
  • Account

  • Log In
  • Join

    Podcasts

  • FHB Podcast
  • ProTalk
  • Popular Topics

  • Kitchens
  • Business
  • Bedrooms
  • Roofs
  • Architecture and Design
  • Green Building
  • Decks
  • Framing
  • Safety
  • Remodeling
  • Bathrooms
  • Windows
  • Tilework
  • Ceilings
  • HVAC

    Magazine

  • Current Issue
  • Past Issues
  • Magazine Index
  • Subscribe
  • Online Archive
  • Author Guidelines

    All Access

  • Member Home
  • Start Free Trial
  • Gift Membership

    Shop the Store

  • Books
  • DVDs
  • Taunton Workshops

    More

  • FHB Ambassadors
  • Reader Projects
  • Podcast
  • Customer Support

    Account

  • Log In
  • Join

Newsletter

Get home building tips, offers, and expert advice in your inbox

Sign Up See all newsletters

Follow

Join All Access

Become a member and get instant access to thousands of videos, how-tos, tool reviews, and design features.

Start Your Free Trial

Subscribe

FHB Magazine

Start your subscription today and save up to 52%

Subscribe

We hope you’ve enjoyed your free articles. To keep reading, become a member today.

Get complete site access to expert advice, how-to videos, Code Check, and more, plus the print magazine.

Start your FREE trial

Already a member? Log in