Mochas and mortgages

By Anthony Roberts

The Sherwood Gazette, Jul 2, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Anthony Roberts / Sherwood Gazette

Shane and Jennifer Bridges outside of Bridges Financial and Kate and Harry's Coffee House; a private shop for their clients.

Jen Bridges remembers the exact moment when she decided it was time she and her husband Shane needed to move their real estate business out of their home.

"I was sitting on the edge of my tub, talking to a client," she laughed.

The couple is opening Bridges Financial & Realty and Kate & Harry's Coffee House in an Old Town home in July. Before that, their company - 15 people total - had been working out of their Tualatin home. Shane was working out of the basement and real estate agents were set up in the kitchen.

They've carried that casual atmosphere over into their new digs, which is hardly a conventional office. The house at 15922 SW 2nd St. is devoid of the typical office décor - cubicles, pale walls and thin carpet. Instead, the Bridges gutted the house, which they already owned and were renting out, and installed wood floors, stone accents on the walls, new lighting, a flat screen television, a small coffee bar and a number of other special touches. About all that's left of the old building are a few walls.

The space is designed to keep their formerly cramped employees, and clients, at ease.

"You're often meeting clients at a Starbucks anyway," Shane noted. Now, the office is a place to grab a cup of coffee. In fact, there are few desks in the Old Town office. The layout is more or less the same as a café, with tables and chairs spaced out across the main room where Bridges' agents will be able to meet with clients.

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