This place is in a neighborhood of Portola Valley that has a mix of long-standing funky, hillside dwellings packed on a windy road and spectacular super-houses of high-amp Silicon Valley players on more-recently-constructed suburban boulevards. It's interesting, steep (!) walking through the various quarters. It's also not far to reach the beautiful trails of Portola Valley's Open Space District. The house itself is a small summer dwelling way down in a ravine, next to a creek (hence, all the stairs). As the other reviews indicate, it's chilly in the winter because of the proximity of the creek but Durga provides lots of blankets and a couple of space heaters. I found it worked well to stack lots of blankets on the bed and turn a space heater on with the bedroom door closed early in the evening. By bedtime it was sufficiently warm that the space heater could be turned off for the night. I definitely appreciated having a chance to stay in this distinctive locale.