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Ernie and Dorothy Singleton’s home is in a woodsy greenway around the Pebble Beach Golf Club just across from the Equestrian Center only steps from the 18th green at Spyglass Hill. The house sits in the most stellar of locations, wholly worthy of the company it keeps, but it might just be mistaken for not being there at all.
Don’t look for massive gates, impenetrable walls or a long, vanishing driveway. No need for time-obsessed rabbits to lead you hither and yon. The Singleton property is in plain sight, if you know where to look. Not to imply Lewis Carroll enchantment, the house does have undeniably magical qualities, one being that it exists with uncompromised privacy in the middle of an internationally renowned resort.
The home is at the corner of Bristol Curve and Bristol Lane, which is not really a corner at all (exclaimed Alice). A formal path leads through the Singleton’s high wood fence to a courtyard 64 feet long, nearly nine feet wide, fully enclosed and downright invisible except from inside the house. Demarcations are suggested by dark green foliage artfully grown; a quiet fountain acts as a huge birdbath. It’s a delectable recipe for lingering.
The first step into the 11-by-eight-foot foyer introduces a feeling of well-being that doesn’t dissipate ‘til the house disappears from the rearview mirror. Dorothy Singleton says, “Everything we wanted for our ‘forever house’ was here.” It’s undeniably gracious, a generous place for a house full of guests or just the two of them. Singleton says, “Even after living here nine years, we’ll still look at each other and say, ‘This house is wonderful.’”
The living room stops you in your tracks until you can absorb its lovely effect. By arrangement of their over-stuffed furniture, antiques and huge Persian carpet, the Singletons created a formal living room and a smaller family room back to back. On the family side, a huge wall full of handsome built-ins really does it. In both areas, sliders to the 84-foot-long deck, the proper grandstand for Dorothy’s award-winning gardens, bracket the custom fireplace. Light romps around the room all day playing with colors in the rug and slipping over to the formal dining room with other windows on the courtyard.
No awkward areas destroy the flow of the living space. For example, there are three master suites; two at one end of the house and the main master (a world unto itself) at the other. Singleton says, “We thought if we ever needed in-home care, those suites are perfect.”
Their own master suite is a treasure. Aside from the roomy bedroom, there’s a sitting room, studio or office with very tall walls supporting a peaked skylight, his-and-hers dressing rooms plus amenities beyond telling, all most enviable.
“I really love this kitchen,” Singleton says. “I just love cooking.” The space is gracious and packed full of assets, including a Thermador Professional stove and double oven, a Sub-Zero fridge and pantry.
“We’re moving to a senior community in PG,” Singleton smiles. “We’ll still play golf. My garden will be small but we’re really excited about walking every day around town there.”
Price: $2,950,000. 1214 Bristol Lane, Pebble Beach. Contact Susan Freedland and Don Tibbitts, Sotheby’s International Realty, 594-2327.