Carriage House Drive, Arcadia, California
Today's Spanish style home in Arcadia, California is in a gated community on a cul-de-sac. Not only does that make it easier to get to know the neighbors -- it also means you can steal their decorating ideas because their houses look like yours.
This home was built in 2003 and has Mediterranean details with arched doorways and a stone terrace.
The foyer also has nice details with its gleaming wooden cased doorways:
It opens to the living room, which is pretty, but offers no ideas for the neighbors to steal:
Here's how I would decorate it, with a little help from designer Danielle Rollins:
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Before I got busy photoshopping, I browsed over at the neighbors', just to see how they handled their window treatments. Two of them went grand to play up their rooms' proportions...
{it's also for sale, here}
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...while this neighbor saved the drama for a gorgeous color scheme:
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If these neighbors invited me over for drinks, I'd be busy measuring their drapes. So when it comes to decorating the family room in our listing house...
Our listing house has 5,943 square feet (almost 800 more feet than its colorful neighbor, for whatever that's worth). The dining room opens to the terrace and has a striking wood and tile floor:
The kitchen is a "wok kitchen" that also has beautiful floors:
There's also an den/office downstairs and an den/TV area upstairs:
There are 6 bedrooms and 7 bathrooms:
Was that 6? I lost count. I was too busy admiring this master bathroom and closet:
Of course, the outside has had as much attention paid to it as the inside:
Arcadia is 13 miles northeast of Los Angeles. It was founded by Elias "Lucky" Baldwin in 1903. Lucky added color to Arcadia with saloons, horse racing, and peacocks. The peacocks still roam freely (and noisily) at the Arboretum and in the surrounding neighborhoods.
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Those peacocks can be pretty powerful, judging by this story which reminded me of Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner.
Arcadia is also a popular filming location. Among other noteworthy projects, Seabiscuit was filmed at the Santa Anita racetrack, and the Queen Anne cottage at the Arboretum was the home base for Fantasy Island.
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