Location:
While only 2 miles from Guerneville's dining, shopping, nightlife and river beach, Starlight Retreat offers a remote mountain hideaway experience like no other. This home is at the top of a forested mountain with the incredible views to match, accessed by a long driveway, steep and narrow in places, but well-maintained. Wine tasting is only minutes away.
House:
Secluded on its mountain, Starlight Retreat is a contemporary home, once featured in Architectural Digest, custom-designed with unique and luxurious materials. Soaring, open beam ceilings, skylights and windows galore bring glorious nature into every room. Every inch of this home is beautiful and interesting. Flooring of various exotic woods, stone and tile, and custom wood doors, cabinets and built-ins are found throughout. The sunken living room has stone flooring, two walls of soaring windows, and a U-shaped built-in sofa big enough to seat eight. A large stone hearth at one end of the room holds the wood stove and a 22" TV with DVD & VCR (for movies only). Open to the living room, the formal dining room for eight opens to a deck with outdoor dining and grill. The kitchen features unique wood cabinets, tile floor, gas stove and a window wall. Just outside the kitchen, there's a breakfast nook with seating for up to four with a view through french doors, overlooking the living room.
Starlight Retreat sleeps eight in four bedrooms on three levels. On the ground floor, one bedroom has a queen bed, skylight, and bay window with window seat. Just beyond, there's an adjoining bedroom (with solid door between, in addition to its own entrance) with a double bed. The bathroom on this level has tub/shower. A sculptural wood staircase leads upstairs to a landing with desk and built-in seating, overlooking the living room below, and opening to the upper deck. Beyond the landing, the master bedroom has a queen bed, its own door to the upper deck, and an interior window with wood shutters that overlooks the entry hall and kitchen below. The bathroom has stunning wood cabinets and counters, and a large, tiled shower. The toilet has its own separate room. Also from the landing, a ladder-stair leads to a loft bedroom with glass walls, two twin beds, and the best view in the house - for the agile only.
Please note, as the ultimate get-away-from-it-all destination, this home has no TV reception or high-speed Internet. It's so remote, these are not available, even by satellite.
Grounds:
Starlight Retreat is surrounded by 50 acres of mountainous, mixed redwood forest with defined hiking trails. The wooded grounds bordering the house include a sculpture collection and hillside amphitheater with wood seating. There's a brick path from the parking area to a large front porch which runs the length of the house. From the far end of the front porch, a set of steps leads down the hill to a promontory with a deck which features a 3-person hot tub, an outdoor shower, and a wood bench, surrounded by a forested valley view. There is also a large deck off the dining room with lots of outdoor furniture, a grill, and two large, free-standing outdoor gas heaters.