Water views and plenty of spare beds

FAMILY traditions are woven into the Kearneys’ vacation life at their Lake Arrowhead home: They gather around the outdoor granite fireplace to share stories, play guitars in front of the living-room fireplace or head to the dock to water-ski and boat.

When the Kearneys, San Diego residents, bought the Old North Shore home five years ago, Dawn Kearney, a designer, knew exactly how she wanted to remodel it. She strove for an East Coast sensibility with lots of dormers, high ceilings, exposed rafters and beams; a game room for the kids; and views from nearly every room in the spacious house.

“I wanted to be able to see the other side of the lake and the village and watch water-skiers,” Kearney said. “We can see boaters go from one end of the bay to the other.”

About this house: Originally built in 1928 on a much smaller scale, the estate today, which can sleep 20 comfortably (with no one sacked out on sofas, Kearney said), is a monument to luxurious vacation living.

With two “bunk rooms,” including one with six beds for children, and four guest suites for adults, “we can pile them in,” Kearney said. The third-floor bunk room also is known as the “treehouse,” she said, because it “feels like a lookout.”

The main floor has a 1,000-square-foot, quartzite-covered deck facing the lake. The kitchen features a “snack island,” with refrigerator drawers stocked with foods the kids can grab on their own.

The property, which is steps from the lake and landscaped with mature pine trees, comes with custom furnishings designed to create a “lake house feel, without a heavy mountain look,” Kearney said.

Asking price: $8 million, furnished.

Size: The 4,558-square-foot house, with seven bedrooms and 6 1/2 bathrooms, is on slightly more than a quarter-acre of wooded grounds.

Additional features: The property includes a double dock to accommodate two boats; a master bedroom suite -- the room closest to the lake -- with a fireplace, reading and media room and a large deck; commercial-grade kitchen appliances; a guest room the Kearneys call the “Oval Office,” with a handmade quilt featuring all of the U.S. presidents through Bill Clinton; knotty-alder hardwood floors; air conditioning; and a 20-person Jacuzzi that has swim jets and a waterfall.

Where: Lake Arrowhead

Listing agent: Kathy and Bob Winn, (909) 336-7960, Coldwell Banker Sky Ridge Realty, Lake Arrowhead.

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diane.wedner@latimes.com

To submit a candidate for Home of the Week, send color high-resolution photos with caption information on a CD and a detailed description of the house to Ruth Ryon, Real Estate Section, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A., CA 90012. Questions may be sent to homeoftheweek@latimes.com.