I have never met Mr. and Mrs. G. (having contacted them by phone and promised not to use their name), but they live in a home so acknowledged in Pacific Grove that it has a name of its own.

The Shaeffer House appeared in the 34th Annual Historic Home Tour on October 5, 2003. The Shaeffers were not the original owners, but they lived there nearly forty years and are remembered well in town. Built around 1930, the house has many markers of that era, including the stucco exterior and open-out windows so popular before screens were common.

The design of the home is Mediterranean, with a geometrical tower for the master suite and bath, plus an office with an ocean view.

“There’s a roof patio on top of the tower where you can lie back and watch the sun set over the Pacific,” says Mrs. G.

Patios are the triumph of this double-lot property. A stone, tree-graced one directly off the living room and accessed through the dining room door is secluded on the other three sides by high walls and foliage. One of the walls has an inserted series of arched glass panels through which a secret garden the house keeps from the street is revealed.

The entire second lot behind the house contains wrap-around decks, patios, a hot tub, canopied gardens with winding paths, a mini-lawn, raised vegetable beds and a wide perimeter of flowers in many varieties.

“There are tons of bulbs out there and something is always in full bloom,” Mrs. G says.

The feeling is of a huge, sunny and shady old-world sanctuary. Against the alley at the end of the property sits a two car garage with aged exposed beams and lots of overhead storage. Along one of the broad paths is a tiny room with windows and all-pine interior: a great writer’s cabin. Both buildings are stucco and painted to match the look of the house from the front.

A burst of color greets visitors upon arrival. Festive, sunset warm paint, and a deep turquoise trim on the many windows combine with an exuberant pastel Bougainvillea that shimmies by the front door. A vibrant green lawn completes the color wheel.

“There’s that big, antique lantern too, by the sidewalk, that the Shaeffers acquired from an old bank in Salinas.” Mrs. G. says. “Our neighbor, Collin, who is an artisan, painted the metal

gold for us because it had been a funny green originally.”

Inside the house are wood floors, archways between rooms, and stucco walls.

The living room is large with a fireplace and staircase leading to the tower suite. The dining room is formal, and the kitchen is set conveniently between that and the sunken family room.

“It’s an easy kitchen where you can really serve dinners or just put food on a tray in the family room,” says Mrs. G.

The eat-in kitchen itself is open, has terracotta tile counters, a Thermador stove and grill with convection oven, oak cabinets and a built-in,  beveled-glass china hutch.

The master suite upstairs has a bath with heated towel racks and floors.

“Toasty towels and warm feet are so wonderful on damp days,” Mrs. G. tells me.

Directly beneath is a second bedroom and bath on the main floor.

The house contains four bedrooms in all, two and half baths, a laundry room, full basement and lots of off-street parking in this friendly, long established neighborhood.

Price: $1,450,000. 940 14th Street, Pacific Grove. Contact Maureen Mason of Coldwell Banker Del Monte Realty at 626-2226.