I was on the lookout for an easy to maintain vacation home for buyers whose primary residence was on the east coast. We toured Carmel Highlands, Carmel-by-the-Sea and Pebble Beach, but I knew the townhome at Spanish Bay was going to be the winner.

Situated between the Spanish Bay golf course and 17 Mile Drive, you'll find 80 well manicured townhomes behind closed gates. Amenities include concierge, housekeeping and even room service from the neighboring Spanish Bay hotel. The properties are also well looked after by a highly respected on-site property manager. This was a perfect scenario for my clients. In April 2008, we closed escrow on a 4200sf townhome with 3 bedrooms, an office and stunning ocean views.

Upon closing, the new owners immediately began renovating the unit. They quickly enlisted Ken of Harvest Construction to oversee the project and hired their trusted interior designer, Hollie Alper of Greenwich, Connecticut for the design. Their overall goal was to create an interior that was airy and minimal, yet still had a cozy and comfortable feel. The first order of business was replacing the old wood floors and carpet with ¾" white oak floors using Big Oak Hardwood Floor Company out of San Carlos, CA. They installed new windows through Coast Counties Glass of Monterey and purchased stone from Carmel Stone to surround the three fireplaces. They added arches to the main floor hallways and reconstructed the weight-bearing pillar in the middle of the main floor to soften the lines and make it more architecturally interesting. In the dining room, they removed the passé wetbar and transformed it into sophisticated shelving and storage. 

They also had a custom bookcase built by Harvest for the office. They choose beautifully textured wallpaper and calming interior paint colors of browns, pale blues and grays with the help of Wm. B, Saleh.  And they selected statement artwork from local Carmel galleries including the Carmel Art Society. 

Their main focus on the exterior was to enhance the spectacular ocean views by removing the overgrown landscaping and planting draught tolerant, deer resistant plants, accomplished by their gardener Martin Ochoa, who does much of Spanish Bay's landscaping.

The renovation took about 10 months from start to finish and the end result is a peaceful, oceanfront oasis where the owners are able to genuinely relax and get away from it all.