NORTH PORTLAND · BY FARRAGUT PARK

Jungle Cat Compound

Two bedrooms. Available December 1.

Join our three-home community, with shared gardens, meals, and room for your own life.

$1,600/month+ $100–$150 utilities

Our blue house with brick steps, autumn garden plants, and playful Halloween decorations.

The apartment

Two spacious bedrooms, your own kitchen, bathroom, and living space, plus a separate entrance.

An open staircase connects to our upstairs home, with no door between the two areas. You’re welcome to use all upstairs spaces, including laundry, and the compound’s shared spaces.

About us

We’re Shallin and Trish, a queer couple raising our one-year-old upstairs. We love garden-to-table cooking, tea and craft projects, climbing, skiing, and trips with friends.

We’re looking for housemates who enjoy having a young child around. Families with kids of their own are especially welcome.

WHOLE BASEMENT$1,600 / month

Utilities$100–$150/month
Refundable security deposit$1,600
Move-in dateDecember 1
LeaseOne year
NeighborhoodPiedmont

Utilities are for the whole apartment: power, water, internet, and trash/recycling. No last month’s rent upfront.

Unfurnished · Plentiful street parking · Space for one bike; limited other storage.

Pets considered case by case and must be comfortable around our child. Ask us about accessibility needs.

Email us about the rental

Inside the apartment

The apartment is rented unfurnished; the photos show examples of it furnished. Click any photo to see it full-size.

Lower-level living area with a sectional sofa, white cabinets, a sink, and high windows. — Basement living area

An unfurnished lower-level room with a large window well, pale walls, and wood-look flooring. — Second bedroom

The apartment kitchen with white cabinets, black countertops, a double oven, microwave, and stainless steel refrigerator. — Kitchen

A basement bedroom staged with a bed and bedside table beside a window well. — Bedroom

The lower-level bathroom with a dark hexagonal-tile shower, toilet, and wooden vanity. — Bathroom

The basement living space showing a sectional sofa, high windows, and the adjacent steps and hallway. — Another view of the living space

Another view of the unfurnished basement bedroom, showing its closet and doorway. — Second bedroom and closet

THE COMPOUND

Living here

Nine adults, a one-year-old, and two cats live across our three homes in Piedmont. Two houses share a property line; the apartment is in our house on the next block.

Sharing resources and living sustainably are important to us. So is having room for our own lives and friendships alongside community life.

Being part of the compound

We’re looking for people who want to take part in the everyday work and fun of communal living: cooking, cleaning, tending shared spaces, and showing up for one another. Experience living in community is welcome; clear communication and a willingness to work through things together are essential.

Social justice is central to how we want to live, both within the compound and in the wider community. Between us, we work in healthcare and nonprofits and volunteer with Portland NETs, PIRC, and other community organizations. We’re looking for housemates who share that spirit of care and think thoughtfully about race, gender, sexuality, power, and privilege in their relationships and everyday lives.

How we organize things

We get together for a compound dinner or brunch once a month. Weekly evening hangouts are optional but encouraged.

Everyone is expected to attend monthly compound meetings, where we discuss ideas, issues, plans, and what we each need at home. We make decisions by consensus and share garden and land-care chores.

Spaces we share

Across the compound, we have four gardens, a greenhouse, a large shared backyard with a covered hangout space, and a bouldering/climbing wall in one of the garages. At our house, there’s also a separate office/gym and a guest room for lounging. All of these spaces are available to the people renting the apartment.

Raised garden beds, flowers, a green lawn, and a hammock in the compound backyard. — The compound garden.

A long wooden picnic table surrounded by trees and lush garden plants between compound homes. — The picnic table in the shared yard.

A compound living room with sofas, houseplants, a striped rug, and a fireplace. — One of the compound’s shared living rooms.

Time together

Backyard concerts, weddings, adventure-themed parties, and plum-wine bottling have all happened here. We love food, especially finding fun ways to turn our garden harvest into meals to share.

There are quieter activities, too: movie nights, letter writing, pumpkin carving, or an evening with our craft projects. We like making things and learning from each other.

Musicians playing violin and accordion for friends seated in the backyard. — A backyard concert.

A climber on the garage bouldering wall with a friend spotting below. — The garage climbing wall.

Friends around a wooden table writing letters, with envelopes and stamps spread out. — Writing letters together.

Friends sitting together on the living room floor carving pumpkins. — Carving pumpkins.

An adult holding a child among raised vegetable beds in front of the blue house. — Spending time in the garden.

A living room with a projector screen, chairs, a sofa, houseplants, and string lights. — The living room set up for a movie.

Friends in colorful hats gathered around a homemade quiz board in the backyard. — A backyard game show.

Friends bottling plum wine together in the kitchen. — Plum wine for everyone!

Adventures and trips

We love adventures and trips together, whether we’re heading out to climb, taking a ski trip, or making the most of a snow day in the neighborhood.

Three friends building a snow sculpture with snowy mountains behind them. — A day in the snow.

Two people cross-country skiing down a snow-covered neighborhood street. — Skiing around the neighborhood.

Friends in helmets and harnesses rock climbing beneath a leafy forest canopy. — Climbing outside together.

And the cats

Our two cats have their own favorite places around the compound.

A blue-eyed cat lying belly-up on a sunny window perch. — Making the most of the sunshine.

A tortoiseshell cat sitting outside with green plants behind it. — Out in the garden.

Interested?

Email Shallin and tell us a little about yourself, who would be moving in, and what you’re looking for. Questions about the space or the compound are welcome. We’ll be in touch within a few days.

A few things we’d like to know

Why do you want to live in community? Have you lived in communal housing before?
What do you do to pay the bills?
Do you have any animal companions?
What are you like as a housemate, and what kind of housemates are you looking for?
What’s your ideal move-in timeline?
We have shared COVID guidelines that we revisit together. How do you feel about negotiating those agreements as a group? Are you vaccinated?

Email Shallin

shallin.mayher@gmail.com