Fitting the Profile

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An Alameda bay front manse offers more than jet-set appeal.

Alameda’s 12 Ennis Place is that rare bay front home that comes on the market once in a blue moon. In Harbor Bay Isle’s posh Promentory neighborhood, the 3,800-square-foot home is a combination of ornate brick, stacked stone, and broad board siding. It faces the bay like a stalwart sentinel built to withstand a Cape Cod nor’easter.

“The prospective buyer for this house is very ‘niche’,” said listing agent Ruth Frassetto of the Grubb Co. “We’re seeing international jet-setters looking to buy a Bay Area pied a terre, and others are looking at the home as a residence while their children attend university in the U.S.”

“With four bedrooms and three bathrooms, it’s also ideally suited for a multi-generational family home. Given the home’s proximity to downtown Oakland and San Francisco, we’ve had a local celebrity, a pro athlete, and people from the city looking to scale down,” added Frassetto. “The location is stellar.”

The grand, two-story entryway opens to an Italianate foyer, grounded in marble tiling, and elevated by an elegant spiraling staircase. Custom oak railings and arched doorways lend an Old World aesthetic to the traditional interiors.

“The interior of the house was painted in a variety of colors. We brought everything back to a neutral palette to best showcase the home’s intrinsic personality—elegant, refined, and Mediterranean,” said Frassetto. “The décor we chose was meant to soften all the hard surfaces and present ‘what could be’ to potential buyers, marrying the traditional with a more modern sensibility.”

Step down into the sunken living room, an expansive, versatile space with views serving as the art. Tall ceilings balance the room’s sense of scale, while recessed lighting adds nighttime drama. The living room’s exquisite carved marble fireplace provides a hard-to-ignore focal point and warmth for chilly evenings. Banks of west-facing windows flood the room with shimmering light and unparalleled bay and city views.

A spacious family room, complete with second fireplace, is the home’s less formal “hub” and entertainment room. Hardwood flooring offers a break from the marble tiling and lends warmth to the room, a perfect place for friends and family to take in a ballgame, play some cards, or taste test the latest cocktail concoction at the well-provisioned wet bar.

The home’s unique location and property footprint presented the architect with an opportunity to maximize its bay exposure. A formal dining room, adjacent to the kitchen, provides almost-al fresco dining opportunities, with French doors opening directly to the bay breezes. A curved eating nook off the kitchen—surrounded in arched windows that frame fantastic views—provides an informal space for family meals.

Upstairs, an amply proportioned master suite provides its occupants with must-have luxury amenities like a spa-worthy en suite bathroom with step-in soaking tub and more spectacular San Francisco vistas.

Additional bedrooms are roomy, with home-office or other multiuse possibilities.

Like to run, walk, or just stroll the dog along the bay front, paddle, or windsurf? Take a step outside the home’s private locked gate directly to a portion of the San Francisco Bay Trail and the bay beyond. Love the links? Grab your sticks and head over to the Chuck Corica golf complex for 18 holes.

If all this sounds like you, you may just fit the profile.