Magical: You can see for miles and miles
ADDRESS: 4026 River Road, Faber
ASKING: $1,295,000
SIZE: 5000 fin. sq. ft.
YEAR BUILT: 1982
NEIGHBORHOOD: Nelson County
CURB APPEAL: 9 out of a possible 10
LISTED BY: Jim Bonner Roy Wheeler Realty Co. 951-515I
Roll up, roll up for the Mystery Tour!
That's an invitation
Roll up to make a reservation
The Magical Mystery Tour
is waiting to take you away
The Beatles probably never saw this house in Faber, but it's only fitting that it should go on the market in the 40th anniversary year of their first visit to America. Because they described it to a "T": Visiting the house is a magical mystery tour.
Never mind that it wasn't built until 1982. This place is all about the '60s– synergy, sun worship, communal living, back-to-nature, flower power, skinny dipping, and, yes, orange shag carpeting. Just walking through it is a ticket back to those days of peace and love.
First of all, it's an honest-to-goodness geodesic dome, a structure of self-bracing triangles championed by Buckminster Fuller. The spherical structure of a dome is one of the most efficient designs for human dwellings, according to Fuller's devotees. Such buildings get stronger, lighter, and cheaper per unit of volume as their size increases and air and energy are allowed to circulate without obstruction.
The lack of interior walls in this house makes such circulation possible the main room is a huge open space, 31 feet from floor to the glass dome– divided into living and dining areas with views of seven ranges of the Blue Ridge through a front wall of windows. Everything is painted white, and light is the overwhelming impression of the place.
Off the main room is a large master suite and spacious bathroom with raspberry-red accent tiles that provide a luminous glow amid so much white. Lights in large mirror-front closets throughout the house come on as the doors are opened. Another room on this level is currently used as an office but could easily become the sixth bedroom.
A circular staircase rises through the space. The helix leads up to a large loft spanning the back of the structure and containing two large bedrooms joined by a long bathroom with two sinks and dressing areas, tub, and WC.
Down the staircase from the main level is a space of equal size, a little darker because it's beneath the big dome room, but with a similar wall of glass doors leading to a patio and an in-ground pool facing the mountains. On this level are two more bedrooms, two more full baths, and the utility room.
Back on the main level, the comfortable kitchen provides all the usual necessities as well as a clever tucked-away pantry. A huge deck encircling almost the whole building seems made for entertaining. But be warned with these views by day and the unbroken nighttime canopy of stars, you'll have a hard time getting people to leave.
As for the flower power, outbuildings include a huge (100' x 50') shed/garage, a root cellar, and extensive raised vegetable and flower gardens. Cold frames, fruit trees, and a propane-heated greenhouse make "gardener's paradise" an apt description.
Down the gravel driveway toward Route 6 there's a large pond, a couple of cleared building sites (for those who want to finally realize those '60s communal-living dreams), and unobstructed views of Wintergreen Resort. 170 acres are part of the package.
Yes, it's 28 miles down Route 29 in Nelson County. Yes, you'll have to put up with the raised eyebrows of your cronies in Glenmore. Wasn't "marching to a different drummer" your credo back then?
And as for the orange shag carpet? Let it be.
PHOTOS BY JEN FARIELLO
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