WHAT -- One-bedroom house
WHERE -- Blue Hill, Me.
We call this house our retreat house; it's eight minutes from our home. This an intentionally spiritual place for Howard and me. For years, we've been going to Buddhist retreats to meditate and those experiences are what inspired the creation of this house. We wanted to incorporate the solitude we experience there into our lives here in Maine.
Technically, the land we fell in love with was completely impractical. The road was too steep to be used year-round. And the site where we wanted to build, by the pond, was extremely small.
The front of the house is completely round and looks out onto the pond. There are two meditation rooms, one for each of us, on opposite sides of the round room. At the heart of the house is the spiral staircase. To us, its roundness, like the roundness of the front room, represents the feminine principle and offers a balance to the more masculine angles and straight lines of the rest of the house.
Wonderful Maine craftspeople created the cherry wood staircase, which arrived preassembled. Putting it up was no small feat. Our builder had to drive into town and round up everyone in sight to help. Watching it go up was like watching an old-fashioned barn-raising.
At sunset, we climb into the canoe and slip across the pond, the house lit up and glowing against the fading sky. We take our dog, Cuzco, whose name, loosely translated, means center of the universe. As the three of us float out there on the water, it feels as if that's exactly where we are. As told to Bethany Lyttle
ON THE MARKET
Information was provided by owners or listing companies.
WHERE -- Uppaway, Nev.
WHAT -- 3-bedroom house
HOW MUCH -- $5.3 million
Built in 1990, this 6,292-square-foot house has a custom oak and mahogany
spiral staircase connecting three floors. Another spiral staircase goes to a
sauna above the family room. The property, about half an acre, has 185 feet of
frontage on Lake Tahoe, which is visible from floor-to-ceiling windows. The
house has a sunken great room with 12-foot ceilings and cherry floors, five
fireplaces and four and a half bathrooms. Agents: Jon Kolb, Richard Bolen and
Gary Bolen, McCall Realty, (800) 923-9022;
www.bolenandbolen.com.
WHERE -- Bloomsbury, N.J.
WHAT -- 3-bedroom house
HOW MUCH -- $745,000
This 1850 barn has been converted into a 3,200-square-foot home with hand-hewn
siding and wide plank floors. A brick-enclosed spiral staircase leads to a
lower-level family room. A carved interior balcony was originally a church
altar rail. The property, 60 miles from New York, has a pond and is almost two
acres. Agent: Russell Poles, N. T. Callaway Real Estate, (609) 397-1974;
www.ntcallaway.com.
WHERE -- North Hudson, N.Y.
WHAT -- 3-bedroom house
HOW MUCH -- $300,000
Two metal spiral staircases help conserve space in this 1,900-square-foot log
house, which the current owner built about five years ago. It has knotty pine
walls and ceilings, exposed fir rafters, a workshop, two tile-and-cedar
bathrooms, a large deck and a detached two-car garage. The property, which is
40 acres and has a deep pond and views of the Adirondack Mountains, is 45
minutes from Lake Placid and an hour from Saratoga Springs. Broker: Gary
Glebus, Glebus Real Estate, (518) 532-7191;
www.glebusrealty.com.
WHERE -- Portland, Ore.
WHAT -- 2-bedroom condominium
HOW MUCH -- $485,000
This two-level loft condominium in the Pearl District has a spiral staircase
that leads from the living level to a library. The apartment is 1,500 square
feet and has hardwood floors, 17.5-foot ceilings, two bathrooms, a terrace and
garage parking for one car. The apartment has city and courtyard views and is
one of 28 condos in the building. The Pearl District, on the Willamette River,
is home to galleries, cafes and boutiques. Broker: Craig LaTourette, Craig
LaTourette Real Estate, (503) 977-0608;
www.latouretterealestate.com.
WHERE -- Germansville, Pa.
WHAT -- 4-bedroom house
HOW MUCH -- $675,000
This 5,500-square-foot house was built in 1987 by an architect as his own
residence. A spiral staircase connects the master suite with a lower-level
den, which has a fireplace. The house has vaulted ceilings, a fireplace in the
kitchen, three and a half bathrooms, marble floors and an office with a
separate entrance. The property is 16 acres; there is a pond with a small
island. Germansville is 100 miles west of New York City. Broker: Loren
Keim , Century 21 Keim Real Estate, (800) 648-4421;
www.pahorsepropery.com.
WHERE -- Bluffton, S.C.
WHAT -- 6-bedroom house
HOW MUCH -- $5.9 million
A wooden spiral staircase rises beneath a 54-foot domed ceiling in the foyer
of this Gothic Revival house, called Rose Hill Mansion, built in 1857 and just
restored as a private home. The house is 9,500 square feet and has 14-foot
ceilings, a standing-seam copper roof, board-and-batten cypress siding and
nine bathrooms. There is a one-bedroom, two-bathroom cottage. The property,
12.5 acres, is eight miles from Hilton Head Island. For sale by the owner, the
Middleton White Foundation, (843) 757-6045; www.rosehillmansion.com.
