Designed by Doug Leach in 2001, this 5 bedroom 7 bath home measures an estate-sized 7,528 square feet and sits on a generous 21,030 square foot lot. One would expect a home on this scale wouldn't be complete without a pool and movie theater (it has both). It also has a central courtyard and fountain.
(Source: NJC)
(Source: NJC)
While the other Sisters have a semi-circular driveway, this one has a driveway down the left-middle of the front yard. I'm not a fan. It minimizes the expanse of the wide stretch of grass. It's not even centered! Its skewed 1/3 to the left, 2/3 from the right. Huh? How does that make sense? I'm also not feeling the palm trees - they obstruct the view of front. Too distracting.
Moving on. This house had a lot of promise. I like the arched windows on the left side. I like the stone rail on the second floor veranda. The roof lines. The recessed central hall. The stone work for the door surround. It all just works. That's where my 'likes' end.
Now the issues. I get that in some dialects of Italian architecture asymmetry is a key feature. So one would think in this home, the fact that the left wing and the right wing are of differing sizes would make sense. However, I just don't get it. It doesn't mesh well. The central hall looks crowded by the two protruding wings, and the right wing of the house is just a mess - the first floor windows are far too large. The support structure for the second floor balcony also has too much bulk, while the wrought iron railing is too thin. There's no balance. No sense or reason for the scaling of the facial features.
(Source: NJC)
Let's go to the backyard. Again, Doug chooses to be different. Unlike the other two Sisters that have pools which run the width of the lot, this pool runs length-wise. As you'll see from the photos, the back yard is quite formal, driven by symmetry and balance
(Source: MLS)
All things considered, the house is ok. This ranks third of the three Sisters in terms of visual appeal. It had a lot of promise (and with a few tweaks, could be quite attractive). However, in its current state, its not my favorite.
The most recent info I found online showed that this house was last listed for sale in August 2010 for $5.995M. It was removed from the MLS a month or so later but exists as a pocket listing with one of the local Peninsula real estate agents.
Update: At the present time, the current owners of this home are in the process of building a new residence at 700 Via Horcada in Malaga Cove. According to public records, the couple purchased 700 Via Horcada for $2.8M last year and have hired Doug Leach (again) to design a 6,800 square foot home on the private 1.0 acre steeply sloped lot.
KEY STATS
Location: Lunada, PVE
Style: Italian
Year built: 2001
Architect: Doug Leach
Square footage: 7,528sf
Lot size: 21,030 (103x222)
Style: Italian
Year built: 2001
Architect: Doug Leach
Square footage: 7,528sf
Lot size: 21,030 (103x222)
1 comment:
I like this sister the best.
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