October 17, 2006 – Alamo, Calif. – Peggy Cortez from Alain Pinel Realtors’ Danville office was awarded the coveted for-sale listing of the Sunset magazine Idea House in Alamo, announced Vice President and Manager Lisa Crosby-Torres. In a variation of Sunset’s Idea House projects, the Alamo home is the first “House of Innovation” for the sponsoring magazines and the builder, a collaborative effort between Sunset and Popular Science magazines and owner/builder Mark De Mattei of De Mattei Construction Inc. The home was built by De Mattei Construction and a host of well-known and talented architects, designers, consultants and sub-contractors. Ms. Cortez won the listing in a highly competitive situation. The 6,500 square-foot, high-technology home on a little more than an acre of land is being offered at $5.298 million. It has a four-car garage, swimming pool, separate “home office” built above the garage, five bedrooms, five full baths and a powder room. A complete outdoor kitchen is in the patio between the main kitchen, garage and pool area. The slate roof is complemented by stucco siding and generous applications of stonework to the building façade. The house has been open to the public since Sept. 8 and will remain so until Nov. 12 at which time will be available to purchase. The House of Innovation is located in the Alamo Springs subdivision on the east side of Highway 680 and sited on a hilltop, so visitors enjoy commanding views of Mt. Diablo, the valley and western ridge that separates the valley from the San Francisco Bay. The address is 131 Alamo Springs Drive, Alamo. As attractive as the site and exterior of the house may be, what’s inside the House of Innovation sets this property apart from other multi-million dollar homes that are for sale in the East Bay. Partial list of features: -Ten-foot doors that slide into the walls, opening the great room to the back deck - Windows that turn from clear glass to opaque (for privacy) with the click of a button -A touch-screen panel that pipes music through speakers throughout the house -Robotics that mop the floor, vacuum the carpets and mow the lawn -The kitchen has numerous gadgets that would be the envy of any cook, such as a Kohler HiRise pot filler that stretches over the range, a huge prep island that has two fridge drawers, plenty of storage under the sink and a 43-inch trough sink that is multifunctional -The outdoor kitchen features a 53-inch Ultra-Premium Grill by Viking with Tru-Sear Infrared Burner for extra-heat and results when barbecuing -Bathrooms feature tankless toilets, a remote-controlled whirlpool bath tub and a digitized shower, in which preset preferences control a series of shower heads and body sprays -A GE Monogram walk-in wine vault holds up to 1,100 bottles of wine, with the ability to track inventory by using a bar-code scanner and 15-inch, touch-screen computer on the stainless steel exterior of the wine vault -A home theater room with 112-inch screen and surround-sound speakers and next generation universal remote controls (a hand-held device that looks like an oversized PDA) -A stain-proof concrete is used in the home's floor tiles and some countertops (NuCrete, made by Sonoma Cast Stone) -A spa bathroom located off of the home’s exercise area that features a steam room and warm towel racks Since 1998, Sunset Magazine has created at least one Idea House each year to showcase the latest trends in home building, interior decor and landscape designs. As a collaborative effort with Popular Science, the House of Innovation reveals just how far technology can take home living. De Mattei Construction of San Jose bought the Alamo property for the House of Innovation; it is the company’s fourth Sunset Idea House project. Peggy Cortez is one of the top Realtors in the East Bay and has built a reputation on serving a host of top Bay Area business executives and sports personalities and stars, including John Madden, Jeff George, Dana Stubblefield, Chris Webber and Gary Payton. In 2005, she closed $128 million in property sales. Her largest transactions last year were homes that sold for $25 million and $10 million, respectively. She joined Alain Pinel Realtors in 1997 and was previously with Prudential/Jon Douglas. She can be reach in the Danville office of Alain Pinel at 925-648-6500 X213, via cell 925-209-3451 or website: www.apr.com/pcortez. ABOUT ALAIN PINEL REALTORS Alain Pinel Realtors has 24 Northern California offices and is one of the largest real estate firms nationally with 2005 sales volume of $7.75 billion and an average sales price per transaction side of $1.14 million. The company is a founding member of Luxury Portfolio, an operating unit of The Leading Real Estate Companies of the World and is in a joint venture partnership in the mortgage lending institution, Private Mortgage Advisers (an affiliate of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.). To learn more about the company please see apr.com.