New Kid on the Block

.......................our expanding family

Good friends of ours, one of my fraternity brothers here, gave me a "living" birthday present -- a three-month old Shih Tsu; we/I named him Noah. He looks very much like Nikko, who seems to get along with him OK, and has the same coloring. Nikko, now almost 17.5 years old or around 84 in human years, has gone blind and does not hear very well anymore. In contrast, Noah is full of energy and runs around like crazy; he's also very loving but has not yet figured out why Nikko would rather sleep than play. He also loves to watch Nikko eat and then licks the bowl for good measure. He doesn't yet realize that he's supposed to function as "seeing eye dog" for Nikko.

The Ponderosa Floorplan

The house is set in an area of rolling hills and to take advantage of the terrain, the house is split level.

The main part of house is essentially one floor, with a step up or down here and there.

As you enter the house you come into the foyer. Immediately to your left is the powder room, next to it a staircase going down to the garage, and next to it the staircase that leads up to the guest quarters.

When you turn right from the main door, you come to Noel’s master bedroom, then the study/library and at the end Hans’ master bedroom. The two bedrooms are linked by a shared master bathroom.

If you go straight from the front door, you pass through the foyer and then enter the living room with cathedral ceiling and, through that, you come into the dining room overlooking a pineapple farm. To the right of the dining room is the gourmet kitchen with stairs leading down to the dirty kitchen and maids’ quarters which are located partly under the gourmet kitchen and dining room. Also downstairs are a storage room and electrical room that one day may house a generator.

The living room has three French doors on each side – one side opening up to an oversized patio good for outdoor seating even if it rains; the other side also has a patio but not as wide; the patio overlooks a "fishless" pond and waterfall. The kitchen and side patio overlook the swimming pool and garden.

Up the stairs, you go to the guest quarters – two spacious bedrooms with a multi-purpose room in between. One bedroom has a terrace facing the street and the other a terrace with a view of the pineapple farm. There is a shared bathroom.

Below the guest quarters is the garage, laundry room and driver’s quarters.

HOUSE VIEWS

It's kinda hard to give a good description of our new house but, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Here are some pictures of the outside of the house; I have labeled the different sections so you'll have a better idea of what you are looking at. Of course, the best is to come and take a personal look.