Developer Kevin Cavenaugh’s latest brainstorm – a proposal for a 14-unit residential project in the Nob Hill neighborhood – got a hearty go-ahead from Portland’s Historic Landmarks Commission on Monday.

DAO Architecture designed the Unicorn Bed Apartments, two three-story buildings, for Cavenaugh’s Guerrilla Development. The complex will occupy a 5,000-square-foot lot at 2171 N.W. Glisan St., and drawings suggest it will strongly resemble the type of wood-clad walk-up commonly found a century ago.

“I like the simplicity of the design and I like the more modern interpretation of a historic design, including the iron railings,” Commissioner Matthew Roman said just prior to the unanimous vote to approve the proposal. “It’s putting a modern building together that still has the warmth and human scale; it just feels like it’s not just a machine-made monster unpacked from someplace else.”

An existing triplex is set back from the street on the lot, with a small surface parking lot in front. The building will be demolished to make way for the new development, which will feature 13 two-bedroom units approximately 600 square feet each. The 14th unit is intended to provide residents with a day care space, but it could be converted into another residence.

At least one of the ground-floor apartments will be fully accessible for persons with disabilities as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Exterior materials will include a concrete foundation, wood lap siding, aluminum-clad windows, standing-seam metal roofing, and ornate, laser-cut metal railings.

Commissioners approved requested modifications to building height, side setbacks, landscaped areas and pedestrian path width.

The proposal calls for bicycle storage in the building’s basement, but no motor vehicle parking.

The building is geared to serve single mothers with young children, and the on-site day care space is intended to attract such tenants. The plan is for rents to be “affordable.”

“Existing zoning would allow a much larger structure here, but our client and landowner have prioritized a different direction to fit a special population of tenants,” DAO Architecture principal David Horsley said. “We believe it’s this program and the architectural features of the project that have garnered such positive feedback from the neighborhood association.”

Guerrilla Development has gained much attention for its colorful, bold projects such as the Fair-Haired Dumbbell and Tree Farm. But the Unicorn Bed Apartments, at a glance, does not follow suit. The neutral color palette, siding and metal railings all hark back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when multifamily buildings came in many more shapes and sizes than typically are found in Portland now. The surrounding neighborhood features a mix of historic single-family and multifamily structures.

“We wanted to create a modest, welcoming, dignified project for families that blends into the neighborhood context,” DAO Architecture principal Joanne Le said.

The commission did not spend a long time deliberating. Instead, the jovial discussion ended up in laughter.

“It fits in so well,” Commissioner Derek Spears said. “I can see that the building in that spot fits in perfectly. One thing, and humor me here, but I don’t see any unicorns on the side though.”

Roman quickly answered.

“Some,” he said with a chuckle, “argue affordable housing in a historic district is a unicorn.”

But maybe not.

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