San Luis Obispo | $3.5 million
A hilltop house built in 1994, on 160 acres
This property includes a three-bedroom, two-bathroom main house and a two-bedroom, one-bathroom guesthouse in the See Canyon section of San Luis Obispo, a 10-minute drive from Pirates Cove Beach, on the San Luis Obispo Bay. The property has a well and a water purification system, plus private hiking trails, a garden and chicken coop, and an orchard with lemon, avocado, and stone fruit trees.
The center of town, including the campus of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, is 15 minutes away by car. Driving to Santa Barbara takes around 90 minutes, and both Monterey and Bakersfield are two-and-a-half hours away.
Size: 3,665 square feet
Price per square foot: $955
Indoors: A long driveway leads from the street to a brick driveway, with a path leading from here to the front door.
Inside is a foyer with wide-plank hardwood floors, with a sitting area to one side and the kitchen on the other. Beyond the sitting area is a built-in banquette, and at the far end of this side of the house is a living room with a gas fireplace and sliding-glass doors that open to a stone patio.
In the kitchen, the countertops are a mix of marble and butcher block, and the stainless steel appliances include a Viking range and a Sub-Zero refrigerator. The white farmhouse sink sits beneath a wide window that looks out over the distant hills.
All three bedrooms in the main house are off a hallway extending from the foyer. The primary suite has high ceilings and a wood-burning stove. It’s bathroom has travertine tile, a walk-in shower and a soaking tub. A den off the primary bedroom has three walls of windows and direct access to an outdoor patio.
The main hallway is lined with closets, and the other two bedrooms are big enough to hold queen-size beds. The second bathroom, also off the hall, has a claw-foot tub.
Outdoor space: The guesthouse has an open living room and kitchen, wood-paneled ceilings and several skylights. One bedroom here is painted green and the other pink. The guesthouse has its own patio. The main patio is paved with stone and has an outdoor kitchen. A detached garage has two parking spots and electric vehicle chargers.
Taxes: $43,752 (estimated)
Contact: Chris Richardson, Richardson Sotheby’s International Realty, 805-242-3551
Kentfield | $3.495 million
A midcentury modern house built in 1963, on 0.2 acres
This five-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bathroom house has been owned by only one family and retains a number of original decorative rock walls and wood built-ins. The house sits on a cul-de-sac in Kentfield Gardens, a few blocks from a public elementary school and a park that fronts Corte Madera Creek.
Within a five-minute drive are a grocery store, the Marin Art and Garden Center, a wine bar, and a bakery. The towns of San Anselmo, San Rafael, and Corte Madera are within a 10-minute drive. San Francisco takes half an hour and Santa Rosa takes 45 minutes.
Size: 3,481 square feet
Price per square foot: $1,004
Indoors: A paved path flanked by flowers and a towering palm tree leads from the sidewalk to double doors that open to a foyer. Straight ahead is the living room. The space has wood-paneled ceilings and is divided into a section with a fireplace and another with pebbled floors that continue out onto a patio with a small rock-clad koi pond.
A slightly raised formal dining room has street-facing windows and direct access to an updated kitchen, where the countertops are quartz and the appliances are stainless steel. The wood cabinets are painted green, around a corner is a breakfast room where windows overlook the pool. A powder room is also off this part of the house.
Four of the home’s five bedrooms are on this level, off a hallway from the foyer. The primary suite has a bedroom that fits a king-size bed and a bathroom with a decorative rock wall and closet space.
The bedroom next door has parquet floors, and another across the hall has a built-in desk. All three guest rooms fit queen-size beds. A full bathroom off the hall has a jetted tub.
Stairs off the main floor lead up to an addition initially intended to serve as a craft room. This space, which could be a den or a bedroom, also has its own full bathroom.
Outdoor space: The patio off the main level is partially covered by an overhang of the roof, with space for grilling and dining. A kidney-shaped swimming pool is out back and an attached two-car garage is at the front of the house.
Taxes: $43,692 (estimated)
Contact: Barr Haney, Own Marin, 415-847-7347
Los Angeles | $3.499 million
A 1959 post-and-beam house, on 0.2 acres
This four-bedroom, three-bathroom house is in Kenter Canyon, five minutes from the center of Brentwood and 15 minutes by car from the campus of UCLA. Crestwood Hills Park, which has a playground and basketball courts, is half a mile away, and the campus of UCLA is a 15-minute drive. Brentwood Country Mart, an outdoor shopping center built in the 1940s, is 10 minutes away, as is The Getty Museum.
Driving to Santa Monica takes around 20 minutes, and LAX is a 25-minute drive. Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, and downtown Los Angeles are all half an hour away.
Size: 3,000 square feet
Price per square foot: $1,166
Indoors: This home’s front patio, paved and surrounded by tall trees and hedges, is separated from the street by a long wall. A set of red double doors opens to the foyer, where a wall of glass faces a central courtyard.
Hardwood floors run from one side of the foyer to one of the home’s two wings, this one containing the living room, a dining area and the kitchen. In the living room, built-in benches are tucked into a corner next to a fireplace with a stone surround and wood beams along the ceiling are painted white. A family room is off the living room, with access to a guest bedroom, a full bathroom with a bright yellow countertop, and a laundry room.
Sliding-glass doors open from the living and dining spaces to the courtyard, and the kitchen, on the other side of the dining area, has a center island with built-in seats. The appliances are stainless steel and the cabinets are dark wood.
Off the other side of the foyer is the bedroom wing, with the primary suite at the far end of the hall. The bedroom fits a king-size bed, has floor-to-ceiling windows and a walk-in closet. Its bathroom has a soaking tub and a separate shower with a glass block wall.
There are two additional bedrooms on this side of the house, both with closets and one with a wall of built-in shelves. A full bathroom across the hall also has a glass block wall, as well as colorful tile.
Outdoor space: The home’s central courtyard is paved with a mix of concrete and stone, with a koi pond on one side and space for outdoor dining on the other. An attached carport has two parking spots.
Taxes: $43,740 (estimated)
Contact: Nikki Hochstein, Compass,
The post $3.5 Million Homes in California appeared first on New York Times.
