Tech couple designed eco-friendly Sacramento-area dream home now for sale. Look

For years, tech company founders Cheryl and Farid Dibachi searched for a home on the market that offered everything they wanted — energy efficiency, European flair, a family friendly floor plan, top-notch construction and great amenities.

When they didn’t find it, the couple shifted to searching all across Northern California for a lot where they could build their dream home exactly as they envisioned.

They found a one-acre parcel at the end of a cul-de-sac in a then-new community 25 miles northeast of Sacramento. They quit their jobs to focus entirely on personally managing the project. After six months of designing the house, they picked up hammers and shovels, hired a construction crew through Craigslist and got down to business, working six days a week alongside the other laborers. They subcontracted only a few specialized tasks.

In 2007, the Dibachis finished the crown jewel of Lincoln — a jaw-dropping estate in the gated Catta Verdera community. The residence is on the market for the first time for nearly $5.9 million — the highest-priced residential listing in the city.

“Our goal was to build a home that could be timeless in style, but could be built with energy efficiency in mind,” Cheryl Dibachi said. “We had a high focus on the quality of the build materials.”

51-foot infinity pool

The six-bedroom, seven-bathroom residence spanning 8,400 square feet was meticulously designed — from the eye-popping chef’s kitchen to the 51-foot infinity edge pool next to a retractable outdoor movie screen; from the wide-plank, reclaimed white oak flooring to the custom wood-framed windows; from the solid copper gutters to the clay tile roof manufactured by Lincoln-based ceramics company Gladding McBean.

Cheryl Dibachi serves as president and co-founder of Simpl Global, while Farid Dibachi is the clean energy company’s founder and CEO. Cheryl is also the Compass listing agent for the home. They raised two children at the Catta Verdera residence.

The house, she said in an interview with The Sacramento Bee, is not just a showpiece, but a family home created with purpose and care.

The property overlooks the clubhouse and first hole of Catta Verdera Country Club. A greenbelt full of heritage oak trees offers the residence a lot of privacy.

Understanding how unique the home is begins with the construction method the Dibachis employed.

The builder-owners used Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF), which are large, hollow blocks that are stacked, reinforced with rebar, and then filled with concrete to create solid 12-inch-thick, energy-efficient walls. ICF was rarely used in the area when the home was built, Dibachi said.

“The look is Old World, but the real benefit is an energy-efficient home that is very resistant to fire and earthquakes,” she said. It also repels rodents.

Distinctive features

The mansion embodies timeless quality, architectural beauty and fine craftsmanship. Some of its distinctive elements include:

▪ Kitchen

Because of Dibachi’s love for the culinary arts, the large, functional space was designed for family cooking and entertaining. The upscale meal hub features a unique blue La Cornue range, oversized copper sinks, top-of-the-line appliances and a walnut-topped island so expansive that it opens into an interior workspace.

“We wanted it to be that multiple people could be cooking in the kitchen ... like Thanksgiving or family events, where it’s almost like there’s a station over here, there’s a station over there ... We wanted a big island, and we used it as our dining table (for) informal dining. So, we had the bar stools up there, and the idea was that people come over and they can sit there and relax, and they can watch the cooking going on.”

▪ Staircase:

An exquisite custom iron railing and sweeping curved staircase creates a striking first impression upon entering the home.

“That was the logical place for stairs, but we wanted it to be really aesthetically nice, because it’s the first thing you see when you come in.”

▪ Fireplaces:

The solid, detailed stone fireplaces were carefully sourced and selected — some even purchased through the online marketplace eBay.

“All our fireplaces are solid stone... There were times when we’re like, why are we making this so hard on ourselves? I mean, this fireplace has 10 pieces of heavy, heavy-duty stone.”

▪ Movie theater:

The basement level of the house reveals a one-of-a-kind subterranean home theater with a 120-foot screen. Comfortable seating allows for family snuggling. With radiant floor heat and naturally cool temperatures down there, the glam underground space has a marble fireplace, wine cellar and bar.

“We didn’t want the standard, movie-theater chairs ... because I want to snuggle up with my family and watch a movie. I don’t want to be in all individual chairs.”

▪ Primary bathroom tub:

An unparalleled, massive, solid stone bathtub was another find on eBay (in addition to the kitchen sinks and fireplaces), but required special logistics to move and install because of its immense weight and size.

“It was a behemoth, and so when it showed up, they dropped it off right at the street, and that thing was so heavy we had to get a crane. I don’t remember how we even were able to move it into that room, but we had to get special plumbing, because it’s solid stone, and the base of it is probably about eight inches (thick).”

‘Old World Californian’

Other rooms include a sizable dining room with a full bar, an office, gym, dry sauna and guest quarters. Around the property, the numerous tiled patios, two garages, driveway and walkways total 10,000 square feet. A porte-cochère leads to the motor court and garages in the back of the house, allowing for ample parking on the property.

“Over the years we looked at many homes and were drawn to many European architectural styles,” Dibachi said. “We decided to take our favorite style features of French, Spanish and Italian architecture and combine it into a style we refer to as Old World Californian.”

Outdoors, a fire pit is adjacent to the zero-edge pool and an outdoor kitchen

“Built with a budget-free focus on fine craftsmanship, this home is nothing short of spectacular,” according to the property description on realtor.com.

The home can accommodate large-scale entertaining without losing its cozy charm.

“As I think back to our life in this home, I’ve loved that entertaining can be as informal or as formal as you’d like … the house just molds to what you want,” Dibachi said in an email to The Bee. “We never get tired of the little touches that we put everywhere to make every room special.

“We are both Type A in mannerism and love that, at the end of a busy day, spending time in this house truly calms you down. We are so fortunate to have picked a spot that has wildlife visiting you all the time…deer, quail, turkeys, owls … all in a well-developed, upscale country club community.”

Besides the ICF construction, the home achieves further energy efficiency through the clay roof tile and nine individual HVAC systems allowing only rooms being occupied to be heated or air-conditioned.

“We built the home because we saw it as a personal challenge to see if we could create a home that we hadn’t been able to find … luxurious and stately, yet warm and informal, large but energy efficient, and simply, little touches everywhere that we still love to this day 20 years later,” Dibachi said.

The owners have decided to sell while they plan to relocate closer to their adult children.

David Caraccio

The Sacramento Bee

916-321-1125

David Caraccio is a video producer for The Sacramento Bee who was born and raised in Sacramento. He is a graduate of San Diego State University and a longtime journalist who has worked for newspapers as a reporter, editor, page designer and digital content producer.