Bucolic setting in Novato
Oak trees surround Cape Cod-style 4-bedroom
Tommy and Natalie Schnuck adore their Novato home. They love hosting guests on the patio and watching the wild turkeys plod along the 1.6-acre estate. They wouldn’t even be putting 116 Oak Shade Lane on the market if it weren’t for their jobs requiring they relocate elsewhere in the Bay Area.
“The yard is really special. I didn’t know something like this could exist in Marin,” Tommy Schnuck said.
As the street name implies, oak trees pepper the rolling landscape. Pathways meander about the lot as mature rose bushes accent the grounds.
“It’s like a private park,” said Radhi Ahern of Pacific Union Real Estate, who is co-listing the home with Scott Kalmbach for $2.3 million.
They bought the home after learning Natalie Schnuck was pregnant, and they’ve raised their girl there the last two years. They often spend mornings wandering the patio, looking at the hummingbirds as they dart from flowers to the feeders.
The open kitchen and family room opens to the large entertainment patio that includes an outdoor fireplace. Stone counters and stainless steel appliances outfit the kitchen that revolves around an island with a built-in microwave.
“It’s a great house for cooking,” Tommy Schnuck said.
The temperature-controlled wine cellar offers the Schnucks a place to store vintages for their guests.
Though they only spent a little more than two years in the home, the couple put their stamp on the place. They built a retaining wall in the backyard and wallpapered a number of rooms. The couple also converted a downstairs room into a formal dinning room, transforming a large closet into built-in cabinetry and a buffet.
At the end of the day, they retire to the owner’s suite, a voluminous space with a barrel-vaulted ceiling and a spa bathroom with a soaking tub, frameless glass shower and garden views.
Learn more at www.116oakshade.com.
Listing agent: Radhi Ahern and Scott Kalmbach, Pacific Union Real Estate, (415) 5312981, team@ahern-kalmbach.com.