Photo: Point Well Taken: This large Carmel Point home offers a near-perfect location and an elegant lifestyle.

You don''t find a 2300-square-foot, four-bedroom home like this in Carmel often," says Realtor Pat Berry. Berry is standing inside the sun-filled entry of Jenny and Jim Catchot''s perfectly ordered home. Polished hardwood floors and light Berber carpeting appear to be in new condition. Large windows and skylights provide views of the trees and flowers surrounding the house.

Decorated in a classic, comfortable style, the home feels at once both California beach cottage and traditional elegant. A remodel that added a second story to the home creates the sense of space, while the intimate proportions of the living areas and the sloping ceiling maintain the sought-after Carmel coziness.

On the first level, three well-sized bedrooms and two full bathrooms provide space for an office and the Catchots'' girls. The largest bedroom has a private bath and French doors that open underneath a trellis of flowering vines into the rear garden. A kitchen filled with gleaming appliances and built-in bookshelves leads into a dining area with more built-in display shelving, and side garden views.

A cozy living room with a slate fireplace and a sloping, beamed ceiling also has another sitting area for having a cup of tea or playing board games.

Past the main floor bedrooms, and a tucked-in laundry area, double doors open to a hardwood staircase that leads to the upstairs master suite. A hanging mirror separates the luxury bathroom from the sleeping and office areas. In the bathroom, a steel oval of a sink sits below the mirror suspended by hooks. Across from the sink, an oversized glassed-in shower area has its own skylights and window to look out at the treetops. A separate, enclosed water closet adds privacy.

Two window seats with built-in bookshelves allow for reading nooks above the trees, and a built-in desk, more bookshelves, and walk-in closets complete the functionality of the marble and wood suite.

Outside, rambling roses wend through a white picket fence, container plantings pop with color, and decks and patios provide quiet spots to read a book or eat amongst the flowers.

Besides the comforts and beauty of the home, the neighborhood has an array of options. Down the block, the top-rated Carmel River School is just a minute away. Around the corner, the Carmel River Beach is about a five-minute walk, and in the other direction, Carmel Beach isn''t much further. The shops and restaurants of Carmel is about a 15 minute walk, the Carmel Mission and the Mission Ranch is several minutes away, as is access to Highway 1 and the shops at the Crossroads Shopping Center.

"It''s probably one of the best buys in Carmel right now," says Realtor Judith Profeta. "For the location, the size of the home, and the condition it''s in--there isn''t anything else out there like this."

Price: $1,795,000. 26271 Camino Real, Carmel. Contact Judith Profeta of Alain Pinel Realtors at 620-6118.