The hand-built Seattle Hacienda celebrates early California living without sacrificing comfort. Securely walled, the residence reflects a program typical of the California Mission’s early 18th-century padre’s bedroom quarters attached to a grand open-plan living space. Sensitive later additions include guest quarters over the garage, a swimming pool, and a spa.

The residence features a heavy-beamed open-plan living/dining area, 4 bedrooms, 5 baths, a family room/library, guest quarters, or a separate office with a bath and kitchenette, a garage, a pool, and a spa on nearly 1/2 acre. Located at the top of Nichols Canyon, the site affords a uniquely forested microclimate rare for the Santa Monica Mountains. Here, if one turns off the computer and cellular phones, the peacefulness of country living comes alive with a romance that arguably even surpasses Helen Hunt Jackson’s setting for Ramona’s home at Rancho Camulos.