7/2/12

Burgundy to Portland

While looking for an escape from the heat yesterday, I found myself browsing through the vineyards of Burgundy.
  Burgundy House via Jessica Helgerson Interior Design, photo Lincoln Barbour
A couple of photos caught my eye.
Burgundy House via Jessica Helgerson Interior Design, photo Lincoln Barbour
I clicked to learn more and found my way to Sauvie Island and the charming front porch of Wild Goose Farm.
Tiny House Exterior with Green Roof by Jessica Helgerson Interior Design, photo Lincoln Barbour  
  Sauvie Island is not in France, it’s located on the Columbia River 15 minutes north of Portland Oregon.
 
Sauvie Island, photo Mathew Dodson 
  Wild Goose Farm sits on five-acres of this agricultural heaven. Deep in lush island grass, the farm is surrounded by garden patches, beehives, chicken coops, a greenhouse & a big barn.  Can you say “sustainable?” 
 
Tiny House Family Garden by Jessica Helgerson Interior Design, photo Lincoln Barbour 
   Wild Goose Farm is also home to Interior Designer Jessica Helgerson, her Eco-Architect husband Yianni Doulis and their two children.
“Tiny House” as it is often referred to, has been their home & Eco-experiment for the last several years.  Their goal was to restore its original 540 square feet using mostly reclaimed materials while creating a comfortable home for their growing family.
Wild Goose Farm, photo by David Lanthan Reamer for Portland Monthly Magazine
“As part of the remodel, the worn-out roof was replaced with a green roof, planted with moss and ferns gathered along the Columbia River Gorge. The green roof offers insulation as well as a playful visual counterpoint to the traditional white cottage.”  JHInteriorDesign
 
Tiny House Front Porch by Jessica Helgerson Interior Design, photo Lincoln Barbour
 
Clean & uncluttered best describes Jessica’s style. 
For any project, her goal is to ensure that the fundamental design and the materials are classic, long-lasting, and appropriate to the building and its period. Then she likes to layer on fresh, contemporary elements—such as lighting, furniture, and art—that feel just right for the clients and for the moment.” JHInteriorDesign
Step inside the front door and find absolute charm, pure & simple.
 Tiny House Kitchen from Front Door by Jessica Helgerson Interior Design, photo Lincoln Barbour
 
You have to see more of this “Tiny House!”
I’ll let MARTHA STEWART LIVING  & photographer Lincoln Barbour take you on an up-close & personal tour.
Meet me back on the porch because I want to share with you a different kind of story about Wild Goose Farm.
 
Once a month Jessica & Yianni turn their farm into a kind of homestead. Long tables covered in white linen set the mood for evening dinners on the lawn to reflect their love of food, drink, and design.




























Tiny House Setting for a Summer Dinner by Jessica Helgerson Interior Design, photo Lincoln Barbour
 
Friends from LA, colleagues, French-speaking wine connoisseurs & families all come together for starlit evenings &  four courses of some of the best food to be found.
 
Wild Goose Farm, photo by David Lanthan Reamer for Portland Monthly Magazine 
This feast is farm-picked & requires many helping hands. Even Jessica’s daughter does her part in cutting cucumbers fresh from their garden.

Wild Goose Farm, photo by David Lanthan Reamer for Portland Monthly Magazine
And thank goodness for the barn!
For these artisanal dinners, it becomes a regular gourmet kitchen complete with a three burner camp stove!  This beautiful barn also adds culinary charm & introduces Portlanders to talented newcomers and cooks not attached to traditional restaurants.  Wild Goose Farm began its 2011 series with chef Thomas Boyce (below, center) who spent 15 years at LA’s famed Spago restaurant under Wolfgang Puck!
Wild Goose Farm, photo Karen Brooks for Portland Monthly Magazine 
Menu
Appetizers:
elegant oysters beneath finely grated radishes and a collection of wood-fired pizzas sporting porcinis, fava beans, and other seasonal surprises to match a honey-tinged crust. 
Course one:
Yianni Doulis’s chicken liver terrine (featuring his own chickens) to match Boyce’s rhubarb mustard and eye-popping spring salad, with each vegetable cut to reveal hidden beauty.
Course two:
breathtaking fresh pasta pinched into beautiful packets.
Course three:
expertly wood-oven-roasted salmon with skin as crispy as bacon.
 
The feast also included:
Yianni Doulis’s artisan cheese board accessorized by thoughtfulness, from wood-roasted cherries soaked in port and pinot noir.
Wild Goose Farm, photo Karen Brooks for Portland Monthly Magazine
And for dessert:
The chef's baker-star wife Kim Boyce prepared hand-folded rhubarb tartelettes! 
Wild Goose Farm, photo Karen Brooks for Portland Monthly Magazine
  Seated family-style & reflecting the bounty of the season, the feast begins.
Wild Goose Farm, photo by David Lanthan Reamer for Portland Monthly Magazine   
Respect for the abundance and traditions of the region coupled with an appreciation of the playfulness and freshness of modern design prove that the landscape of Wild Goose Farm is just as important for creating a sense of place as is Jessica Helgerson’s Tiny House.

Visit Jessica Helgerson Interior Design to see her incredible portfolio & more of her family place in Burgundy.
Her firm does “Big Houses” too!
Jessica Helgerson Interior Design, Home Office, Portland Oregon   JHInteriordesign.com

Photos & Additional Sources Courtesy of