Journalist By Nature: Garden Home Lives Up To Its Name

Magnolia tree in bloom

Unseasonal summer-like weather has blessed the Northwest recently, hurrying spring's brilliantly colorful opening act by several weeks. The yards of the Garden Home community in southwest Portland showcase the exploding pink, white, yellow and blue blooms of trees, shrubs and bulbs on well-tended larger lots. This district, established over 100 years ago, was included as a stop on the Oregon Electric Railway. East coast investors of the day envisioned grand expansion and wealth in the west and helped to bankroll this early form of transportation. This helped to bring more people to the Portland area and Garden Home in particular. Today it is a neighborhood of well-maintained homes on generous acreage, wide streets winding through the development, skirting the Portland Golf Club nearby and jumping over the roaming drainage system of Fanno Creek and its tributaries. The median price of homes here is $317,000 but one 5,800 square foot residence was on the market for $1.3 million. The six pages of sales literature were worth studying!

Trail lined with white blossoms

Nestled west of the Sylvan hill area, Garden Home boasts a lengthy trail system through a nature park, part of the Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation District. The trail is paved and follows the topography of Fanno Creek. This particular sunny day the trail was in heavy use by joggers, stroller moms, dog walkers and walking groups. Signage along the way provides park history as well as directions to various streets and trails. Many of the streets in this area dead end at the creek so through traffic is challenging. Beavers are reputed to be slowing the creek flow with their dams, much to the chagrin of bordering homeowners who don't want their lots flooded.

Fanno Creek

Birds of water, marsh and land habitats were in abundance, chubby from insect consumption and eager to start their new families. Visibility was at its best with leafless trees and shrubs providing little camouflage for these feathered creatures. Bird calls played through the warm air currents as we made our way out of the park and into the housing areas. Yard services and construction equipment were actively sprucing up various properties with maintenance as well as renovation work. Neighbors we talked with were proud of their section of the city and its consistently attractive ambiance. It would be a very appealing area to live in with easy access to major highways and upscale amenities.

Breaking out of the trail at McMillan Park we stood on the sidewalk bordering the busy Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway, such a noisy contrast to our nature park quietness. Across this treacherous roadway stood our lunch destination McCormick and Schmick's, a seafood specialty restaurant. Walking a quarter mile to a stoplight and pedestrian crossing seemed the safest route to arrive there. We were graciously seated in a back room where tables were set with white linen cloths, a full compliment of silverware and greeted by a handsome, black-clad waiter of a certain mature age. He adroitly managed to take our orders amid requests for separate checks, splitting plates, counting wine glasses and answering questions about the particulars of menu items. Professional in his every move, he arranged our plates without asking who ordered what and maintained a discreet surveillance of our meal. It was a pleasant and refreshing interlude to our six mile city walk.

If you can't make the entire walk, at least make a visit to the nature park and stroll along the golf course's southern border to enjoy the pleasures of this little gem in Garden Home.