If I were to pinpoint one house that truly made me a Lookiloo, it would be this Carmel hideaway. I first went through it in 2003 when it was on the market, and now, as I gasp for breath, it is for sale again. I saw it last weekend and have been obsessing about it ever since. It doesn’t look like much from the front — a brick wall spans across — but it hides a midcentury modern masterpiece inside. Enter through a gate, wander down a brick path and step inside the front door. Stand on the elevated landing and you look across a sunken living room to a wall of windows. Outside is a courtyard with three live oaks and a stone fireplace.
This house actually has a Lookiloos provenance: I wrote about it in June 2003 in an essay about my open house obsession for the San Jose Mercury News. I wrote about Lookiloos like me — and this was some five years before I co-founded this website. (I’m true blue!) In it, I wrote this: “A wall of windows overlooking a courtyard of a Carmel open house makes me imagine myself a famous novelist with a salon of literay friends who drive down to Nepenthe for inspiration.” I called myself the “Walter Mitty of real estate.” Is it so hard to believe, I wrote, “that living in a great space can be inspiring and life-transforming?” I still believe that.
The house has an open staircase with one end attached to the wall and the other suspended by cables. The whole house is less than 1,400 square feet, with one bedroom and a loft, plus a studio guest house. But with the open, airy feeling and 18-foot ceilings in the living room, it feels huge.
The house was designed by John Gamble, who designed a number of modern homes on the Monterey Peninsula. And now it’s for sale again, for $1.29 million. If you buy it, please let me know. Maybe you can invite me over.
For more information about the house, contact Merritt Ringer at Alain Pinel Realtors at mringer@apr.com.
And I’d love to know, if this house were yours, how would you decorate the living room?
You can also look at a couple of my other favorite Carmel and Big Sur house stories:
Big Sur’s Nepenthe Turns 60, But Log Cabin is still home
Dreaming of this Carmel Cottage Compound
Here’s the complete slideshow:
I love Victorian architecture from the outside. The front porches and the intricate detail work creating amazing patterns that keep your eyes mesmerized, but on the inside I’ve felt they can be a bit dowdy and dark. Until now. This Victorian has been remodeled and has a wonderful Metropolitan Home feel throughout.
I don’t even know where to begin. This home is truly amazing. The wrap around front porch grabs you–I imagined myself coffee in hand with the paper in the morning and a glass of wine with the husband in the evening. The living and dining areas are so spacious–perfect for fun dinner parties. I’m a sucker for a kitchen that opens to the family room–perfect for keeping an eye on little ones or teenagers. Let’s face those ages need the most supervision! Seriously, this is a gem and it’s walking distance to downtown Palo Alto. Don’t even get my started on the master bedroom–oh so dreamy. Check out the virtual tour 
This place is so cute! I love the angle of the flat roof line. It has been completely remodeled and has all the modern conveniences. Plus it has a good size yard. Larger than some brand new homes in the area. It’s open this weekend–stop by to check out this adorable home and you can get all the details 
Cute curb appeal–that’s what I first noticed. This home is super cute but needs some updating. The location is amazing–just a short walk to downtown Willow Glen. Oh the shopping and dining and no worries about parking. That’s a dream! The other thing I love about this little place is the pie shaped lot and all the way in the back was an artist studio. Cute little space that I could spend time working on my latest project–oh I’m just a little green with envy. Check out the virtual tour 
This completely remodeled Eichler in Sunnyvale is spectacular. I loved shooting this home. The remodel kept a perfect blend of new and mid century modern design. Eichler himself would approve.
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