Here's the story from this morn's Portland yellow pages. Maybe Tabby could suggest a good lawyer, and have ideas of whom to sue?
Harsh reality hits dream homes
Damage - What appears to be a slow landslide tears at the yards of two multimillion-dollar Street of Dreams houses east of Oregon City Saturday, February 17, 2007PETER ZUCKERMAN
OREGON CITY -- The Street of Dreams has turned into a nightmare for Tina Phan.
A landslide seems to be slowly sweeping around her and her husband Tu's 7,000-square-foot home, nicknamed "Moxie" and priced for last summer's tour at $2.9 million.
Around Thanksgiving, water pipes broke and flooded the backyard. A crack that opened in the ground about 8 inches from the house continues to grow. A few weeks ago, the Phans evacuated to a hotel while workers replaced a septic tank ruined by ground movement.
At a nearby home named "Romeo & Juliet," described in marketing materials as featuring a "Juliet hideaway, complete with balcony and ladder," cracks spider-web across the driveway, which appears to have fallen at least a foot.
The homes were two of six properties featured in the 2006 NW Natural Street of Dreams, a celebration of some of the most luxurious houses in Oregon. They were built in a rolling landscape east of Oregon City called Hidden Lake Estates.
"We don't know what's going to happen to the neighborhood," Tina Phan said.
She said a geologist and geo-technical engineer have examined her property, but she declined to discuss the results, other than to say she plans litigation.
Most of properties in the area appear unaffected, but several homeowners said their lawyers had discouraged them from talking about the situation.
You can't see most of the damage, said Phan, who works as a real estate broker.
Roger LeClair of Hidden Lake Development Co. in the Happy Valley area said he's investigating the cause.
"There's a situation surrounding the soil on the lots," he said. He said it would be unfair for him to elaborate because he doesn't yet have enough information.
Literature advertising the 2006 Street of Dreams described Phan's home -- complete with a golf simulator room, 14 televisions, a billiards room, a wine cellar and cigar humidor -- as "perfectly suited to a 'vacation every day' lifestyle."
Phan said the past few months haven't been much of a vacation, but she noted that the nickname of her home, "Moxie," stands for "the ability to face difficulty with spirit, courage, energy and determination."
Peter Zuckerman: 503-294-5919;
peterzuckerman@news.oregonian
Hidden Lake Estates? Maybe they just discovered where the "hidden lake" is?
