One Beach House, Please
In the spotlight: The 50-year-old Cape Cod-style home of entrepreneur Isabelle Villasenor, owner of seven McDonald’s restaurants in Orange and Los Angeles counties. The trilevel, $1.5-million Corona del Mar house with its eye-popping view of Little Corona Beach is at once a sanctuary and family hub for this hard-working, divorced mother of two grown daughters.
The house she wanted: She wasn’t looking for a new residence two years ago when she stumbled upon her beloved casa, only an “adventure,” Villasenor said. “It was a Sunday afternoon and I was alone and doing my regular power walk. I’d gone to Little Corona, stopped on the beach and gotten into a yoga position and said, ‘OK, God, I need a new adventure. Please give me direction.’ ”
A short time later, she added, she chose to walk down a Corona del Mar street new to her. And there it was: the open-house sign on the property that held her dream home.
“Over the years, I’d seen every beach house for sale in Corona del Mar and thought, ‘I can’t afford it--forget it!’ But when I walked into this house and saw the view, I went home, called my accountant and asked if the amount they wanted was doable. He said yes, and that was all I needed to hear.”
Villasenor has lived in Corona del Mar for 16 years. “I love the neighborhood,” she said. “You can walk to the market or to the finest restaurants in Newport Beach.”
Aging gracefully: Remodeled several times over a half century, the 3,000-square-foot home--once known to locals as the Boat House because of its nautical motifs--has undergone a loving transformation under the watchful eye of the stylish Villasenor.
A master bath has been expanded to include a built-in Jacuzzi surrounded by honed, cream marble. A ceiling in the living/dining area has been pushed up and out to expand the view of Little Corona. A kitchen--paved with used brick--has been completely remodeled to include up-to-the-minute appliances and a honed, Carrara marble multilevel counter top that evokes the richly appointed kitchens of French gourmets. The master suite has been expanded so Villasenor can see Little Corona from her plush bed. “What a treat--to wake up and see that lovely beach. I always say ‘Thank you, God.’ ”
Signature style: No sooner do visitors pull up to Villasenor’s gray shingle home than they are taken by its feminine charm. A bower of scarlet roses forms a natural arch over the courtyard entrance gate. Boxes filled with brightly colored blooms frame each window. Wind chimes sing from the towering courtyard pine tree.
Inside the house, guests are enchanted by the owner’s love of fragrance and floral arrangements. Each of the home’s fireplaces--in the living, master bedroom and den--have scented block candles burning on their hearths. “I love the scented room,” said Villasenor, daughter of an immigrant gardener who tended the manicured estates of Hollywood notables.
Bouquets of roses, Casablanca lilies and sunflowers dot every room.
“My father always insisted on roses all over our house. He always had a rose garden.”
She winces when she recalls his reaction to her trimming some of his precious roses when she was a preteen. “He’d cut some long-stem roses in the garden, brought them in and laid them aside. I decided to surprise him and cut them down to a nub to squeeze them into a tiny glass. I thought he was going to die!”
A tribute: Villasenor’s notion of an ideal weekend is to hold court in her light-filled kitchen, preparing fare for her family.
Standing at her stainless, six-burner-and-grill stove, she is likely to whip up meals that contain fresh vegetables purchased at a local farmer’s market.
Above the stove’s hood is a blank wall that seems to be begging for a wood plaque with a saying carved on it, she said. “And I think I know exactly what it will say: ‘Con el favor de Dios,’--a favorite saying of my father’s. It means ‘With God’s help.’ ”
*
Ann Conway can be reached at (714) 966-5952 or by e-mail at ann.conway@latimes.com.
