Elegant touch

Steve and Melissa Alfstad’s South Hill home is a hidden treasure. The Mission-style brick house, complete with bell tower, is screened from view by tall shrubs. A pathway winds up to the house.

“I distinctly remember walking up this pathway for the first time,” Melissa says. “It felt like it was meant to be.”

Surrounded by tall pines, the 1938 house sits on a double lot. Previous owners had added on to the original house but kept its architectural integrity intact. When the Alfstads purchased the house, Steve Alfstad continued the work, adding his own artistic flair.

He laid reddish-brown Saltillo tile, throughout the first floor. The earthy flooring perfectly complements the Spanish flavor of the home.

Elegant arched, multipaned windows add light to every room.

Wrought iron arches adorn the library and kitchen entrances, and the Alfstads use iron and metal as accents throughout the house. Steve washed the living room walls with a coat of warm gold paint overlaid with glaze.

The library is a book lover’s dream. Floor to ceiling bookcases are filled with the couple’s books. Shelves span the top of French doors that open to the living room.

A hand-fired sink from Mexico rests in the center of azure tile in the main floor bathroom. The den glows with vibrant fuchsia walls topped with a cedar plank ceiling.

A unique metal banister crafted by local artist Rik Willmering is the focal point of the upstairs master bedroom suite. The fan-style arches are similar to an exterior wrought iron accent that graces the window above wood-trimmed French doors. The doors open to a small, private balcony, overlooking the front of the house.

Another flight of stairs leads a third floor bedroom that used to be 16-year-old Blake’s room. But it wasn’t long before she discovered a problem with the room’s location and traded it for a room for one on the main level. “I had to walk through Mom and Dad’s room to get to mine,” she says.

The small third-floor sitting room and bedroom are decorated with a whimsical air.

“These walls tell a story of where we’ve been,” says Melissa. “Guests say this home has such a sense of peace about it.”