John and Sandy Bonifas’ Carmel cottage is under 1000 square feet, but is filled with such luxurious details that the petite size hardly matters.

A faux painted dutch door leads into the home, antique light fixtures and door latches abound, and designer plumbing fixtures are trimmed in shiny chrome, like the claw foot tub modernized with a spa feature.

“I think Carmel is such a unique little place,” John says. “Big houses are wonderful as well, but sometimes you can get by with a lot less space.”

The two-bedroom, two-bathroom home, built in 1926, has a traditional Carmel feeling to it, with interesting angles, sloping beamed ceilings, a Carmel stone fireplace, and cozy eating nooks, but is replete with elegant touches like imported English tile and hand-hewn wide plank pecan and hickory floors. In the kitchen, an Art Deco-style stove and refrigerator look antique, but are brand new.

“I think the thing that’s interesting is that it’s an old Carmel cottage and it’s so easy to bulldoze them over or build something bigger,” John says. “For me there was a certain charm to try to keep the original appearance but make it cleaner looking. We put in kitchen appliances that are new, but look like they are from the 1920s.”

A sunny deck off the dining room provides a private resting spot, and because the house is set far back from the street, the entire front yard—with all new landscaping and drip irrigation—offers multiple areas for outdoor entertaining.

“The setting is so pretty because it backs up to a kind of ravine,” says John. “You are there in your own little world once you get behind that gate.”

The privacy is enhanced by the fact that Lincoln dead ends on the Bonifas’ block.

“It’s not a through street and you can walk across a little wooden bridge to get to town—it’s just quaint,” John says. “You’ve got no traffic going by from town. It’s a unique little hidden area.”

Price: $1,090,000. Lincoln 3 SE of Third, Carmel. Contact Robin Aeschilman of Coldwell Banker Del Monte Realty at 622-4628.