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>>REALESTATE

Once upon a time Kent and Carla Zilliox were driving in the neighborhood around Buena Vista Del Rio in Carmel Valley looking for a particular open house. Carla asked Kent to stop in front of a different house as they passed. He wondered why, because to him it looked innocuous at best. Carla felt something special.

As the story goes, they parked. They walked in. They immediately loved it. They bought it and they still love it, even after moving into Carmel.

The Zilliox house is not a showboat from the street, with its inscrutable facade—minimalist, though not austere, with a few architectural angles that reveal their raison d’etre handsomely inside. Redwood sides the exterior. The front door, all the shutters, and full trim are painted a deep teal. A long, banistered, wrap-around deck extending from one side of the house to the other disappears around a corner to the right, ending at the attached garage. Three steps from a gently serpentine stone path lead to the door.

The cool thing about this property is what a complete ruse the facade really is. When the door opens to guests, their first look through the huge foyer evokes a quiet wonder.

Built with wood and stone around a somewhat open floor plan, many windows, custom skylights and a 20-by-20-foot deck (with secluded hot tub beyond, through living room sliders), the home recalls country retreats. It’s truly well-designed, marginally rustic and precious.

Mighty ceiling beams in the great room feel protective without dominating, partly because they’re whitewashed, but mostly due to excellence of spacing. A massive, broad and handsome fieldstone fireplace along the main wall has a high mantle and deep hearth, irresistible for tucking close to the embers. On either side of it are built-in bookcases lining the length of the room, ending in a window seat facing south.

The great room is separated, with a divider, from the kitchen (with its garden-house window over the sinks) and dining room. This provides both flow and a Zen-like effect. Still on the ground floor, one discovers the half-bath, laundry room and a step-down studio (which can serve as a fourth bedroom).

Behind the staircase to the second floor, natural light emanates from a vertical window set about half way up. On the landing above and to the left is a magical master suite (14-by-23) with cathedral ceilings, big closet, spacious bath, fireplace, big windows and sliders to a deck echoing the one off the living room. Two other bedrooms (each 11-by-16) with vaulted ceilings sit at the opposite end of the hall landing with a full bath in between. That layout is at once separate and private for each, yet proximate for a family with small children. Wall-to-wall carpeting covers the bedrooms and hall.

The Zilliox property is not only visually intriguing, it’s also a thoughtful house with all commodes and showers installed with environmentally appropriate low-flow action.

The property has nearly half an acre of flat-to-steep topography, fenced garden within a natural setting and a pair of very tall, graceful, wind-shaped oaks, one forming an arch that curves to the ground with a 30-foot apex, speckling the ground with lacy shade.  

Price: $999,950. 4 Buena Vista Del Rio, Carmel Valley. Contact Carol Franklin, 277-6643, or Frank Gallagher, 236-9974, of Keller Williams Realty.