Photos: A 1909 Pacific Grove cottage has been "opened up" with windows, mirrors and French doors that open onto a perfect little garden (far left) and a tiny, functional patio (left). A four-year-old hilltop retreat in Cachagua Valley offers vistas of vineyards (near left).

Potato Bush Cottage

Barb Phelps has spent two years learning how to be neat. Extremely neat. With just 750 feet to work with, clutter is not an option. Somehow she has created dimensions and flow in a small space that feels open and peaceful.

In her remodel, Phelps kept the feel of the white-picket-fenced 1909 Pacific Grove cottage, a few blocks from Lovers'' Point, and added the new comforts along with new plumbing and wiring. She added windows to bedrooms, replaced a wall with a set of French doors, and punched out an opening between the living room and an office.

"I needed an atmosphere where I could open up the house and see through it," Phelps says. "That''s the secret to little houses. Otherwise you go a little nuts."

It works. "I grew the space with mirrors," she says.

The many mirrors, along with a light, airy color scheme, add to the feeling of space. Well thought out closets and pantries provide storage.

The house has funky angles and redwood slat walls that add to its interest. A claw-foot tub in the bathroom and a tiny Swedish gas stove in the living room add character.

The doll house-sized garden is in perfect scale with the house, and is filled with flowering potato bushes and white-petaled vines that Phelps planted, giving it the name Potato Bush Cottage.

Phelps'' two Shi Tzu puppies play in the little garden while she rests on the deck off her office under an umbrella. The plants she added to the garden screen her house from the neighbors.

"I''ve taken a little house and learned to live simply," Phelps says. "You get very selective about what you want."

The home is one of the more affordable in Pacific Grove. "The cottage lifestyle makes sense in a high-priced area," she says.

Price: $469,000. 232 Congress Avenue, Pacific Grove. Contact Dan Hopkins of Coldwell Banker at 277-2226 or Lynda Nichols at 626-2276.

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While washing dishes in their airy kitchen in Carmel Valley, Chuck and Sally Guimbarda can stare at unbroken views of the Cachagua Valley and look out over the Galante and Bernardus vineyards.

The three-year-old, 3,200-square-foot Mediterra-nean home sits 2,200 feet above sea level and provides better than 180-degree views.

"The view looks almost directly south," says Realtor Jamal Noorzoy. "You see the valley below you, vineyards, and the whole Santa Lucia range, almost down to Santa Barbara."

An Old World feel permeates the three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath home, with touches like bullnosed plaster walls and arched doorways leading between the open rooms. It also fits nicely into the open plan of its subdivision--a gated community of widely spaced properties, 40 minutes from Highway One in Carmel.

"The unique thing about this property is you have acreage and serenity," Chuck says. "It''s just a real private country feeling out here away from the hustle and bustle and the fog." Then there''s the grapes: 700 newly planted premium Cabernet vines stabilize the 10 acres of rolling hillside.

"The new owner could contract with local wineries or produce their own vintage," Chuck says.

Besides the grapes, there are oak trees, more than 400 roses, lemons, and a new fruit orchard including apples, pears, plums, peaches and nectarines.

For relaxation, there''s hanging out in the sunshine on the flagstone terrace or playing a game of Bocce Ball on the game courts. The property, on a private well system, has water and a spot picked out for a pool.

"It''s just essentially a place for people interested in a country estate," Chuck says. "If you want the privacy and the serenity of mountain views it''s a breathtaking place. Not everybody wants that."

Price: $2,250,000. Open house Saturday, September 21, from 12-4 pm, to coincide with the Days of Wine and Roses event at neighboring Galante Vineyards. Contact Jamal Noorzoy at Alain Pinel Realtors at 622-9903.