96 Isabella Avenue, ATHERTON

This extraordinary West Atherton estate, extensively remodeled, expanded and landscaped, is an exquisite expression of the guiding principles of Japanese aesthetics and offers visual appeal around every corner. Affording seamless integration between the interior spaces and the Japanese gardens outside, abundant windows and sliding doors with pocket shoji screens open to the exquisitely landscaped grounds. The emphasis on naturalness is further reflected by the lavish use of honed and polished stone, honey-toned oak flooring, and yellow Alaskan cedar woodwork throughout. The formal rooms are arranged to function as a large unified space for grand entertaining or as intimate salons demarcated by sliding shoji panels. 1.78 acres with authentic Japanese tea house, deliberately indirect slate pathways curve through groves of bamboo and sweeps of raked gravel, stone slab footbridges arch over calm ponds, one with koi. The dark-bottom pool blends with the gardens. Menlo Park schools