Thank you so much for your comment. I agree with the bronze. And yes the inspection will have to do a thorough check on the roof.

This is an awesome home and the property and location look wonderful from this side of the monitor. You can easily get the lighter look by painting the exterior stucco. Moving the front door would be pretty challenging, probably not worth the cost. The pillars in the kitchen appear to be part of the support structure for that beam/lighting structure, so I would make sure they are needed for some structural purpose. Doesn't look like it from the few photos, but might need to verify that. I think this home has amazing potential. I agree with comments on making sure about that roof. That is probably your biggest vulnerability. Very important for an experienced, tile roofer to inspect underlayment professionally. Giant project if you have to replace underlayment. Think $50K for this size and complex roof. Could be more! You will never find an existing home that meets ALL your checklist of wants. So it sounds like you are very close and I wish you great success. Just remember one rule with large homes. Everything you do costs 3-4 times the cost of smaller homes. Just the "rule of scale" and eyes on your wallet from contractors!

Symmetry is overrated. A good location is not.

@cpartist - You are right about that :)

Yes, location, location, location!! But that roof is a potential Achilles heel.

@Flo Mangan - can you please explain what that means? :( I'm not an expert in this area which is why I am seeking some answers/thoughts/suggestions here. WE will of course do a roof inspection.

What I mean is, quite often we see tile roofs like these installed improperly and that results in leaks that become extremely difficult to track down. As someone mentioned above, the valleys (joints between angles of roof lines) must be done properly to prevent leaking at those joints. There are wonderful underlayments today, but don't know when that roof was installed. A good inspector can get under the roof lines (hopefully) and look for water stains which can indicate where there might be problems and remove a few valley spots to check installation of underlayment. What I mean by "Achilles" heel is that it can be a difficult problem to solve without a complete new installation. Hope that helps explain.

The tower entry is a classic feature of houses like this.

@Flo - thank you for the detailed explanation on the roof. I will make sure that the inspection guy has that as part of his check list. And yes you are right, what concerns me is minor.

I think I will also try to get some estimates from a contractor on what it would cost to relocate the entry door and color the outside stucco and some other minor changes. This will help in making the decision whether to move forward or not.

thanks again :)

Beautiful home and lot.

Agree ... if you're getting a good buy on this home, have it thoroughly inspected, including the roof, by an expert that is working for you.

You might be able to add something to the pillars to make them something other than pillars; however, if they are structural support, you cannot remove them.

You could probably replace the dome with a square roof; however, if the roof is in good condition, save that renovation for last.

With the door facing toward the side as it is, the driveway seems to be approaching the side of the home. One expensive option: Rerouting the driveway to enter from the left side might make it appear your door is on the front and you're driving alongside the house to the back to reach the garage. The other option would be to enclose what is now the porch/portico as an entry and move the door to the new front exterior wall. You could then add a new front porch that extends all the way from the garage to the far left side of the front of the house -- one built with arches that are more your Modern Mediterranean taste. You would be sacrificing part of your courtyard and might need to move the fountain to another location.

Are those Jacaranda trees? If they are, I'd buy it just for those trees! They were my favorite when we lived in LA.

So gaudy, in an off-the-shelf sort of way.

@Flo - thanks for being so helpful. I have posted the pic for your reference below. I have even gotten a copy of the house plan but it's pretty torturous to see :/.

So...Past the initial gates, there are those pillars that might be holding up the balcony above. But I don't know what the need was for part of the balcony to come forward. I wish the entire balcony was just straight instead of a part being extended. Could those front pillars be taken out and balcony pushed back?

Also, You will see a set of windows past the pillar. That window looks into the foyer (the dome structure) as attached in the pic below. The wall/set of windows was what I thought can be removed to add the french doors. i would probably want to bring the doors out a bit more. so it's not so far in. And those doors would be the entry point into the house and the right side door would get filled in. Hmmm I think that could work?!

@suezbell - Thanks so much for your ideas. So just to clarify, there are 2 garages. One of either side (side entrances, one garage is for guest and the other side is a 3 car garage). Also I don't really mind losing any of the courtyard. In fact i was thinking we can even break down part of the wall and remove the gates to make it more open as opposed to being so enclosed. And add an extended pavement (i think that is what it's called) to create a better curb appeal.

Can you please explain how the pillar can be something else other than pillars? And also do you have any pics of how a square roof can look on a rounded structure? Because right now the dome roof is on a round structure.

Please see photo of where the entrance door leads to.

The entry door. To the right passage, you will see 3 windows. That whole can be broken down to put in french doors. I would want to bring the doors as forward as I can.

In this pic below, you can see the balcony brought forward with the pillars. Those can't be removed and balcony be pushed back to align and look like a straight balcony?