Every week, our House Calls feature takes you into homes with great style, big personality, and ineffable soul. Today, we look at the Portland, Oregon, home of Jesse Leyva. As a creative director in the skateboarding world, Leyva?s job involves designing on the cultural cutting edge. However, the home he purchased fell squarely in the pedestrian territory. Even his real estate agent cautioned him that the late 1970s ranch house was "so not you." He looked past the dated finishes and saw potential for something more.
The house sits on a winding road and is surrounded by trees. It?s an idyllic site, but Leyva says that before it was remodeled, the house?s exterior walls and deck were a "pukey brown" hue and the interior walls featured odd color combinations ranging from brown and purple to orange and green. "The crazy colors appeared to go back to the 1970s," he speculates.
Top: In the living room, large windows give Jesse Leyva the illusion of living in a treehouse; inside the feeling is enhanced by a rustic wood clad beam. The fireplace surround is made from Dimensional tile by Heath and topped by a slender piece of walnut wood. Bottom: A Mag table by Eric Pfeiffer holds some of Leyva?s collections.

The agent may have been skeptical, but Leyva wasn?t. "I thought the bones were really good," he says. "I liked the ceilings and beams."
To achieve his vision, he hired Leela Brightenbur...