William Timmons is a Carmel artist renowned from days when the village was known for people here who created original art. They had their houses/studios “out of town” in many locations that, without moving a centimeter, are now smack in the heart of coveted neighborhoods.

The present owners of Timmons’ property, David and Lauren MacQuown, remodel homes while living in them with their young daughter, the juggling of which must be an art all its own and probably not fully appreciated for the expertise required to avoid an I Love Lucy episode every week.  

MacQuown’s set-back home is a magnetic inspiration complex enough to duck easy descriptions, though conceived and rendered with clean lines and minimalist refinements. On an elevated third of an acre, with close to two-dozen well-managed oaks and pines of venerable age and good health, sits a house with gently obtuse angles reminiscent of a wing extended in flight. Although subtle, that sense of movement was ideal for the MacQuown’s ideas.

What they chose for the dull façade of garage doors seen everywhere facing any street is blessedly creative and functional. They removed all semblances of garage-iness by replacing the roll-downs with full frontal glass of custom-made tri-fold French doors. The floor is sealed natural slate that they extended out the length of the driveway. A properly engineered drain sits under the line of demarcation. The inside is insulated and heated with the two other outside walls providing exquisite window designs; the interior lighting incorporates a series of understated sconces that quietly relay the rhythm of the room. When the French doors are pulled back, the opening is the same size as any two-car garage. The room is equally intended as 340 square feet of warm living space.

Throughout the home, MacQuown built thoughtful details into rooms with bamboo floors and expressive qualities unique to each. One of the two bedrooms opens onto the redwood-and-copper decking that follows the shape of the home in back, articulating the inner boundary of this big fenced garden cut with paths for meandering. The second bedroom has lush views of swirled oaks and flowering myrtle.

Both bathrooms are done in marble with vessel sinks of artful glass, the one in the master having a waterfall faucet making visual art worthy of MOMA. The construction details are perfect.

The deck contains a sunken hot tub and provides one means of arrival at Timmons’ studio. Still the same footprint, it now has a Dimplex optical-flame wall heater of great efficiency and styling. The new windows provide perfect light with Timmons’ original drawing table serving as the centerpiece.

The kitchen has granite counters and natural maple cabinets plus stainless appliances. MacQuown designed an ergonomically enviable pantry he could trademark. Several cabinet doors lift up and close silently on compression hinges, another peaceful aspect.

In the living room, the gas fireplace is extended from one corner, giving wall and floor space more practicality. The cornered windows span the front of the house for gazing onto the rose-colored brick patio in front with a bench and lavender in the garden beyond. Importantly, it’s the specifically chosen colors like that, both inside and out, that so well define the success of living tranquility here. Every edge and wall has been considered when painted, every color muted, the whole a powerhouse realized.  

Price: $1,465,000. 25245 Ward Pl., Carmel • Contact David and Lauren MacQuown, 238-3522.