Seeking warmer summers and a more exciting, diverse urban lifestyle, my wife and I recently relocated back to Portland from the Oregon Coast. I'm a 5th generation Portland native, and am now enjoying retirement. My wife, Susan, grew up on the coast, and got to know and love Portland while attending college here. She is a former newspaper owner and is now a business communications consultant; she works from our home.

We love to travel, and together have enjoyed trips to Madagascar, Zanzibar (for our honeymoon!), South Africa, Spain, Italy, France, England, Morocco, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico and most recently, Chile, where Susan's son is living.

In our 12 years of togetherness we've frequented vacation rentals almost exclusively when we travel because we prefer that lodging experience over a hotel.

We love to eat and Susan loves to cook; one of our favorite summer activities is bi-weekly visits to Portland's many farmers markets for locally- grown produce, cheeses and meats.

We're also avid mushroom hunters. (No, not that kind!). Funghi foraging opportunities abound in the region, but our favorite season is fall, when we find and feast on chanterelles, hedgehogs, matsutaki, lobster and the occasional but generally elusive cauliflower mushroom.

There's much to enjoy in and around Portland, and we're happy to share what we know with our guests!

Peter Gearin purchased this house in 2013

When an aging neighbor made moving plans to be closer to family, he gave us the opportunity to purchase his home for future use by Susan's mother. The home was in need of some TLC, and we were up to the challenge.

As Susan's mother isn't relocating here in the near future, we made the decision to transform the home into into a fun, feel-good vacation rental property in the interim. It was a natural outlet for our creativity - including that of Susan's very artistic Mom!

Also, as frequent vacation rental guests and with a family that formerly owned a luxury boutique hotel, we wanted to use the knowledge of what we liked - and didn't - in vacation rentals around the world to create a welcoming, warm home for travelers to Portland and our neighborhood.

This 1000 sq. ft. home sits on a very large Portland lot, allowing for a great deal of outdoor space. With the home sitting far back on the lot, the front yard enjoys a great deal of sunshine.

We like that because we are sun worshipers, and expect others are, too! A summer vegetable garden is in the works, and guests will be able to partake in the seasonal bounty.

Inside, while a simple home, the efficient floor plan uses every ounce of space (no hallways!) making it seem much more open and airy. Natural light streams in washing over the colorful walls; my family refers to it as 'The Happy House.'

A very pleasant surprise for us was the honey-toned hue of the original floors, revealed when we had them refinished.

While we live just steps away, as our remodel and furnishing process was nearing completion, we found ourselves enjoying an end-of-day drink or lunch on the front patio with family and friends at THIS house instead of at our own home!

In short, this house FEELS GOOD. We hope you think so, too.