By Connie Mears
In Fairy Tales, three is a magic number—three little pigs, three blind mice, three bowls of porridge. Over on High School Road, Chris Whited is building fairy tale house No. 3, and it’s a charmer. Inspired by a quirky building with a high-pitched roof he once saw in Cannon Beach, Chris built his first cottage in 2005, and later gifted it to his wife to use as a henhouse. Next, he built a playhouse on spec, but the man-hours involved in cramming that much character into 50 square feet put the price out of reach for most folks.
Since last November he’s been working on a full-sized one-bedroom rendition he calls “a three dimensional jigsaw puzzle.” Although the interior walls are plumb, the varying angles of the exterior walls and the wild slope of the roof have proved challenging. Whited said city inspectors have been patient, taking the project step-by-step. He’s hoping to have the 1,200-square-foot accessory dwelling unit (ADU) finished this fall to offer as a vacation rental. The interior includes a living area, kitchen with eating nook, bedroom and bath, and a one-car garage that offers space for laundry.
The exterior features a sloped cedar-shingled roof and arched door, flanked by a cottage garden. Whited is working on the pièce de résistance—a giant wooden waterwheel that will grace the stonework front. The jury’s out on whether it will be functional or merely decorative, but it’s sure to become a special place to make a wish, or two, or three.
