Fair Oaks was a perfect multi-generational family Carmel getaway. Thumbs up on all counts! The house is spacious and wonderfully cozy, with delightful quirky details everywhere that make you feel instantly at home -- not like you're camping in someone else's home or, at the opposite end of the spectrum, like you're staying in a hotel, the way some rental houses feel. The house opens beautifully into the charming oak-filled garden (which is entirely hidden from the street), encouraging you to eat your meals outside and laze around reading on sunny days, and sit inside by the fire and watch the rain dripping off the oaks on rainy days. And the detached studio was a perfect bedroom for our teenage son, giving him a little space from the rest of the family. Cooking was also a pleasure at Fair Oaks: the kitchen is extraordinarily well-equipped (even plenty of cookie sheets and pie plates), and we never once found ourselves lacking for anything we needed, or trying to plan our meals around what equipment we had available. It's not a huge kitchen, but it's sizable enough to make cooking Thanksgiving dinner the usual fun for multiple cooks. In fact, the house was notably well-equipped in most ways: plenty of throw blankets for curling up on the couch, plenty of beach towels, plenty of flashlights, plenty of hangers in the closets, etc.
It's also a great house if you want to leave the car at home on your vacation. In a very quiet location, but just 7 short, easy blocks walk to both of Carmel's markets (Nielsen's & Bruno's) and to lots of Carmel's terrific restaurants. The quieter (southern) end of wonderful Carmel Beach is also a short, pleasant walk downhill from the house.
We definitely hope we'll be back at Fair Oaks the next time we spend time in Carmel!