Stairs on the left side of the kitchen ascend to two more bedrooms on the second floor. The upper hallway has a large linen closet.
The smaller bedroom in back has its own walk-in closet and full bathroom.
Next to it is the laundry room, where a sink is optional but desirable.
The master bathroom accessories has a small balcony. A short hall leads to a huge walk-in closet with an air- and light-giving window. Next in line is the master bath with its shower stall, toilet closet and soaking tub with a vanity on either side.
Because Gale Ranch is a master-planned community, it's not just a mix of housing types. It also includes the challenging 18-hole Bridges golf course and a new shopping and office center anchored by a 59,000-square-foot Safeway at Bollinger Canyon and Dougherty roads.
When Shapell offered 21 Gale Ranch homes on a lottery basis in July 1998, hundreds of people lined up early in the morning for the chance to deposit $6,000 and choose a single-family house in five minutes, The Chronicle reported.
The Bridges at Gale Ranch houses, 1,679 to 2,800 square feet, were priced between $350,000 and $500,000.
The night before Mosaic at Gale Ranch opened nine years later, "five families camped out in front of the sales center to be the first in line when it opened the following morning (Oct. 13)," Shapell's Marsh said in a press release. Thirteen houses were sold over the first weekend despite the mortgage meltdown.
Gale Ranch is convenient to Bishop Ranch, the sprawling business park that's home to several hundred small and large businesses, including Chevron Corp.'s world headquarters.
So maybe some of those eager buyers already work in the area and want to avoid the killer commute along I-680 as well as nearby I-580.