Welcome to the seventh installment of Home & Garden's monthly peek inside the houses of well-known people in the region.

When your heart's desire is to live the high life, all you need to do is hit the elevator button and zoom up – to the three floors that constitute the Penthouses at Capitol Park.

Perched atop the Marriott Hotel at 15th and L streets, the penthouses – all 30 of them – have magnificent rooms with, literally, million-dollar views.

This address is all about location, location, location.

And resident Clint Trocchio is nothing like Eva Gabor's character on the 1960s sitcom "Green Acres," who abandoned her penthouse view for a ramshackle farmhouse in make-believe Hooterville.

"On a clear day, you can see the Sutter Buttes," Trocchio, 33, says from his one- bedroom, two-bath penthouse. "And everything is within walking or biking distance, including Second Saturday, the farmers market.

"You can go in any direction and eat!"

Trocchio, who is a C-130 pilot and an international affairs officer with the U.S. Coast Guard, doesn't drive to his home; he flies over it when returning from Alameda's Coast Guard Island to McClellan Business Park.

He moved to Sacramento from Hawaii in 2005, leaving behind his surfer digs for an urban lifestyle.

"I really wanted something new, in the city that had a loft style to it," he says.

But as housing projects started to rise (and fall), he kept his eye on the peaking Penthouses at Capitol Park, which is a division of Lyon Real Estate.

"This particular project looked like it would hang in there," he says. "I did some snooping and asked questions and decided this was the right niche lifestyle for me, especially because I travel a lot."

Trocchio was one of the first homeowners, moving in last November.

In addition to the great views, the penthouses come equipped with GE Profile stainless steel appliances (refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, microwave, washer and dryer). Residents can opt to take a credit and purchase their own appliances.

According to Dianna Sanchez, community sales manager for the project, the penthouses feature 10 floor plans from 683 square feet (a studio) to 1,451 square feet (two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a den).

Prices for the 16 remaining units range from $430,000 to $735,000. The corner units, which have been sold, reached more than $1 million each.

"It's the only brand-new high-rise community for sale on Capitol Park," Sanchez says. "This makes for a really unique living environment,"

She adds that residents can make any changes that don't affect the structure of the building. So they can customize flooring, lighting and paint.

Trocchio received some decorating tips from his girlfriend, Kris Butterfield, who is the clubhouse manager at the Beach & Tennis Club in Pebble Beach. She visits often and appreciates the penthouse accessibility to downtown and midtown.

"We disagreed on some of the décor, but Clint decorated most of it himself," she says.

And he definitely took advantage of the "Ask Sherwin Williams" paint guide, opting for neutrals like chocolate, almond and khaki with blue accents.

California Closets helped with his walk-in clothing closet.

Storage space is precious and, right now, "my bathtub is my garage," Trocchio says. That's where one of his three bikes is parked.

Pictures of the happy couple dot the living area, and there are several large framed images of Trocchio's C-130, including one where the tail end of the aircraft is seen jutting out from a jungle onto a beach.

"That's actually the end of the runway on an atoll about 1,000 miles south of Hawaii," Trocchio says. "I backed the plane up so I'd be ready for takeoff. When my father saw the picture he asked, 'Is that a crash?' "

A hula girl lamp (with grass skirt), delicate wooden carvings of dolphins and sharks and bowls of seashells dot the tables and shelves, reminders of Trocchio's days in Hawaii.

In the kitchen, with its cherrywood cabinets, Trocchio has several favorite gadgets, including a panini grill, which replaces a traditional barbecue grill.

And there's his nice selection of pots and pans. He loves to cook, especially fish, pasta and fruits and veggies.

"However, I have tested the limits of the building's fire-extinguishing equipment!" Trocchio says, laughing.

And, because he's not married, doesn't have kids or pets or a garden, the interspersing of residential with commercial is especially appealing.

"I don't like to drive, so we frequent the local restaurants, and I'm a familiar face at Old Soul (bakery and coffee house), which is nearby," Trocchio says.

But he does enjoy flying, especially humanitarian missions for the Coast Guard. Trocchio says he's about halfway through his guard stint and is considering going back to school.

For now, flying over the State Capitol and watching the spectacular sunrises over the Sierra keep him happy up in the penthouse clouds.

And, speaking of the whole "Green Acres" leave-the-city-for-the-country thing, Trocchio says that one day he might return to the farm life he grew up on in Ohio.

"I'll have the dogs, cats – maybe not a rope swing or barn – at some point," he says. "But for now I love the trees and the neighborhood feel of Sacramento."

Call The Bee's Leigh Grogan, (916) 321-1129.