| Domaine Beau Soleil
BeautifulPlaces, Inc.
539 First Street West
Sonoma, CA 95476
800.495.9961
This 5BR/4BA, 80-acre property, set on a steep hillside north of Calistoga, boasts 500 fruit trees, including olive trees. The south-facing French-style vineyard, which the owners hope will produce big-tannin wines that show European restraint as they age, is planted to cabernet, cabernet franc, merlot and petit verdot. The view east across the steep valley is almost Imax-like in its vertical scale. The Palisades, a rugged fluted wall of uplifted volcanic rock that turns fiery colors in the sunset, soar almost 3,000 feet. Beneath their heights, steep slopes planted to vines plummet ñ this is a place that feels higher than it actually is, as though you are at the beginning of a great mountain range. The site ís Tuscan-style and the house faces the view over a square infinity pool. Very wide and shallow steps in the pool make handy places to sit and soak, and there are a large hot tub and water slide one level above it. Artfully hand-finished stone tiles and walls add to the Italian feel. A guesthouse next to the pool shelters under a large redwood and Douglas fir, and oak and fir forest comes down to just behind the house. On the vineyard-facing side of the house an elaborately terraced hillside is planted to lavender, herbs and flowers. The view from the terraces looks through oaks to the vineyard and a picnic table on another terrace located across a seasonal creek.
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