An ever-evolving estate in O.C.
Kevin Pfeifer has a tough time concentrating in his home office these days. Besides a distracting view of Mt. Baldy, he can look out and soak in more than a decade’s worth of remodeling on his Yorba Linda estate, a combination of early California, Santa Barbara and Tuscan elements spread over more than three-quarters of an acre.
Pfeifer bought the property as a foreclosure in 1992. At the time, it was abandoned and in desperate shape, he said, after previous owners attempted to remodel parts of it. The main house had been built in the 1940s.
“One of the first things we did was put in the circular driveway,” said Pfeifer, a longtime consultant to home builders. “We also improved the front landscape but didn’t really start on the house until ’99. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out the puzzle.”
Among the complexities was how to tie together all the different roof heights and materials on the main house, guesthouse and detached garage.
Breezeways and a roof over a walkway connecting the structures solved that problem.
Although the 1955 pool was still in good shape, the area between the pool and the back of the main house needed to be regraded to prevent flooding into the family room when it rains.
Now completely remodeled, the area measures 40 feet by 20 feet and has side-by-side, 12-foot sliding-glass doors with transom windows. It opens to an expansive entertainment area, including fully equipped kitchen prep and serving islands.
A raised patio with a gazebo and fireplace provides one of several outdoor seating areas.
Inside, the traditional wood-beam and panel-ceiling living room, which has a raised hearth fireplace, is constructed of adobe brick.
The master bedroom suite has an outdoor sitting area looking out to the pool. Three walk-in closets and a coffee-wine bar area connect it to the master bathroom, which blends travertine, a trowel finish and faux paint and includes his and her toilets, a combination steam room-shower, an arched ceiling and a raised bathtub with a bay window.
There’s one bedroom and a full bathroom on the second floor that could be used as a second master suite or as a multimedia room.
In the bell tower, a sitting area provides 180-degree views.
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Listing details
Location: 17427 Rockrose Circle, Yorba Linda 92886
Asking price: $1,999,950
Size: Four bedrooms, 5 1/2 bathrooms in 5,000 square feet
Lot size: 0.78 acres
Additional features: Custom kitchen cabinetry; granite-topped island; stainless-steel appliances; raised-hearth fireplace; 900-square-foot detached studio, one-bathroom guesthouse; 1,000 square feet of finished office space with private entrance and kitchenette; 2 1/2 -car attached garage and another two-car workshop.
Around the neighborhood: Through June, 187 single-family homes sold in the 92886 ZIP Code, according to MDA DataQuick, at a median price of $610,000. That was a 19% price drop from the first half of 2008. There were 231 homes listed for sale last week in 92886 at Realtor.com, priced from $225,000 to about $6 million.
Listing agent: Paula Pelton, Prudential California Realty, Anaheim Hills, (714) 348-2359
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