Anyone who craves fields of color might appreciate this scene: A Salem mansion abuts one of the nation's biggest blueberry fields. The asking price for the almost 17-acre property: $3,195,000.

Villa Bacca Collina, which roughly translates to "berry hill," took almost five years to build at 4095 Illahe Hill Road South in Salem.

The Old World-style house was completed in 1997 and has 16,700 square feet of living space, enough room to fit "every amenity a discriminating buyer would expect," says listing agent Justin Harnish of Harnish Properties, who placed the estate on the market on Tuesday, Jan. 9.

The highlights include a wine cellar. sauna, home theater and billiards room.

A 7-foot-long chandelier dangles from the 32-foot-high foyer ceiling. The dining room walls are covered in French silk. Floors have mosaic tiles and white oak, arranged in intricate patterns. One dome ceiling is painted with the night sky galaxy.

Rare Brazilian blue marble is installed in one bathroom, and 17th-century French Baroque limestone columns in another.

There is an elevator on both ends of the mansion.

The house and setting, by the Illahe Hills Country Club, may be one of the finest residential properties in the Willamette Valley, Harnish claims.

A scan of Harnish's other multimillion-dollar listings shows that price is not what makes this place stand out. What does: Its luxury, privacy and tranquility, he says.

He describes the hilltop villa as elegant, understated and grand, "yet welcoming."

Large windows in the four-level custom house and tiers of limestone terraces capture panoramic views of the valley. Inside, there are classic architectural features, Italian plaster and French antiques.

A Juliet-like balcony overlooks the 754-square-foot, sunken living room. The cast-stone fireplace mantel was modeled in the Louis XV-style.

The 578-square-foot master suite on the garden level has a fireplace topped by a Saracolin marble fireplace mantel. There are four other bedrooms, five more full baths plus two half baths. The entry powder room has wall sconces finished in 22-karat gold.

For fun, there's a home theater and for exercise, there's a gym with a mosaic-tiled exercise lap pool illuminated by a skylight.

If you prefer water features under the sky, there's a 38-foot-long pool with jet fountains, a man-made waterfall and a lake filled with 90,000 gallons of well water. In the center is a fountain that shoots water 25 feet into the air.

From the master suite you can see the reflecting pool with Koi fish. And there's an Italian style bubbling fountain outside the exercise room.

The property last changed hands in 1991, before the mansion was built and the landscaping installed, according to public records. Today, annual taxes are $56,198.

-- Janet Eastman



jeastman@oregonian.com

503-799-8739

@janeteastman



