Jim and Vivian McDonald have good reason to call their home Bella Vista. The entire estate boasts beautiful views, inside and out, wherever you look. It is a home to treasure, solid, timele, furnished with restrained elegance.

Walking through the front door into the grandeur of soaring arches your first thought is to head for the elegantly furnished great room, sit in one of the many luxurious chairs and stay, perhaps forever. But after admiring the enormous antique chandelier fit for a castle sumptuous fabrics, the intricate jewel-like stitchery of needlepoint pillows (handmade by Vivian), the massive stone fireplace, and the spectacular furnishings, you won’t be able to help yourself...you will want to see more.

Across the hall is an impressive dining room graced by a huge crystal chandelier. A large gourmet kitchen filled with the gleam of polished copper, warm woods and richly colored granite is around the corner from the great room, and once you see the guest suites you will soon be plotting a way to wrangle an invitation for an overnight stay.

The east wing is a private getaway for the owners, with the exception of the guest powder room which is whimsically adorned with playful monkeys in many forms. The TV room adjacent to the master bedroom is warmly furnished, filled with light and enhanced with unique accessories from the orient. The master suite is every couple’s dream...elegant, spacious, stylish, sophisticated, yet comfortable, with a welcoming fireplace tucked in one corner.

While touring this home, you will be so busy looking up and around that you may forget to look down. Don’t. The muted tones of understated oriental rugs in every room, and stone floors with intricate patterns in the hallway are not to be missed. Then you walk outside through any one of a myriad set of French doors and it takes your breath away! To call this glorious view of the Blanco River Valley expansive is an understatement. And the view can be enjoyed from an upper terrace adjacent to numerous living areas, or from the lower terrace where a very large salt water pool entices both the young and young at heart. On the lower terrace you also have the choice of lounging by the pool in a comfortable chaise, soaking in the hot tub, or sitting in front of the large outdoor fireplace. And beyond there is the guest house and lushly landscaped grounds, beautiful views wherever you look.