A little bit of the East Coast on the West Coast

It sits just a short hop from the Pacific Ocean but it was a coastline some 3,000 miles away that inspired this airy beach-style house in Pacific Palisades.

Trimmed in white and clad in bluish-gray shingles, the gabled two-story home is a contemporary take on traditional Nantucket design, with an open floor plan, generous use of glass to maximize natural light, numerous windows to catch ocean breezes and all the latest in electronic gadgetry. The home was built on spec and completed this year.

A pathway of New England blue stone passes under an arched white arbor at the front of the property and runs along a small lawn to a second arbor sheltering a stone porch beside the front door. Hanging cast-iron light fixtures and sconces adorn the outside of the structure. The entry opens to a wide hallway with dark-stained, wide-plank walnut floors and plaster walls.

To one side, a wooden stairway has a curved white picketed rail and a walnut banister that bend with a rounded section of wall to the upper floor. Opposite, the hallway opens directly to the attached living and dining rooms, both with wood floors and carved moldings. The living room, with double glass doors that open to the front porch, has a fireplace with a marble base and a sculpted plaster mantel. The dining room features built-in oak cabinetry, glass cupboards and a crystal chandelier.

A spacious, rectangular kitchen also has dark walnut flooring as well as a white wood plank ceiling. There are sea foam granite counters and an eat-in oak island with a marble counter. An attached breakfast room has glass-paned cupboards to match the dining room and a long granite counter. A trio of tall glass doors open the breakfast room to a grassy backyard edged with rose bushes and dotted with red-leafed forest pansy trees.

The kitchen flows into a large family room with a wall of glass panels, which slide open to a stone patio and outdoor living area. The family room has a built-in entertainment center, desk and shelving that extends along an entire wall and a marble-faced fireplace with a carved plaster mantel that rises to the ceiling.

Upstairs, a wide landing is brightened by a frosted skylight above the stairs. Pocket doors slide back to reveal a den with built-in oak cabinetry off the hallway. Three en suite bedrooms are grouped at the end of the hallway at the front side of the house. Two of the bedrooms have coffered ceilings while the other is vaulted.

The master suite is at the opposite end of the upper floor, accessed through a pair of wood doors. The bedroom has a high coffered ceiling, linen wallpaper, a marble-faced wall-mounted fireplace and a sun deck with a white picket rail overlooking the backyard. There also are a pair of large walk-in closets and a granite-topped vanity.

To submit a candidate for Home of the Week, send high-resolution color photos on a CD, written permission from the photographer to publish the images and a description of the house to Lauren Beale, Business, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. Send questions to [email protected].