Exterior
A grand courtyard, dotted with fountains and flanked by a gorgeous wisteria-clad arbor, is the focal point of this house (and guest cottage) on a knoll above the Valley of the Moon. The house extends along a lengthy axis, enclosing the courtyard on one side, while oak woodlands enclose it on the other, so the courtyard is totally private.
Deft artistic and botanical touches make the space inviting, such as the vine-laced wall behind the saltwater swimming pool and heated spa, almost sculptural in its form. (The pool also has a relaxation-inducing Baja bench.)
On sunny days, the arbor creates a 20-foot-wide swath of shade, making the rockers beneath it particularly enticing. Besides the wisteria that flames in spring, the garden is designed to bloom year-round, producing a succession of jasmine, honeysuckle, lilies of the Nile, citrus and roses. There’s always some fragrance in the air.
Water trickles and tinkles everywhere, thanks to two fountains in the swimming pool and three other smaller fountains around the courtyard. At night, fiber optics make the fountains flicker like little candle pots.
A deck on the house’s opposite side has a sunning area, wicker seats and a small fountain. The view from it goes for miles and miles down the Valley of the Moon, past successive oak and fir-shrouded ridges. The house is especially refreshing at night, when the background to blazing stars is the soothing sound of the fountains.
Interior
If the courtyard and arbor are this house’s outdoor splendors, then its great room is its interior treasure. Made spacious by its cathedral ceiling, and bright by its light-reflecting yellow walls, French doors and skylights, the room is an airy interval between the courtyard and the deck – indoors and outdoors here overlap effortlessly.
There are abundant touches of luxury – a delicately patterned bamboo floor; a pear wood dining table; plush seats facing the fireplace; track lighting in the kitchen, mounted on a sinuous stainless steel frame that floats suspended from the ceiling; a huge slate-topped island that can handle several cooks and kibitzers at once.
The house, wired for sound, has seating areas seemingly everywhere – a “Zen garden” out in the front yard by the entrance; under the courtyard arbor; by the saltwater pool; on the front deck and in the great room. You can see or walk into or out of the house from almost any vantage.
Each bedroom is a self-contained suite, with a bathroom and separate access to the outdoors (including trails that wind through the property’s extensive oak woods). The main bedroom has a kiwa-style fireplace, and the house’s smaller bedroom faces a 200-year-old oak becomes draped in emerald moss in winter.
A separate guest house near the pool has a large shower made of concrete that has been faux-finished to look like weathered stone – a fine touch. Light and life flow through this house, indoors and out.
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Guest Comments
"We had a great time at Kenwood Knoll. It may be one of the most relaxing trips we have ever taken as a family. In fact we hardly left the property unless we needed to restock food & wine. Thanks for making it so easy for us. "
- Miles S