February 7, 1999
Web posted at: 8:52 a.m. EST (1352 GMT)

From Style Correspondent Elsa Klensch

(CNN) -- For a client of New York architect John Stonehill, building the perfect home was a lifelong ambition.

Nestled in the hills of northern New Jersey, the Mediterranean-style home with prairie details was completed four years ago.

Stonehill's challenge was to design large, yet intimate, harmonious spaces that could accommodate both a close-knit family, as well as parties and charity events.

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Above all, the aim was to make sun-filled rooms that bring the outdoors in.

"Everything in this house, you'll be looking though things, sometimes multiple levels," Stonehill says. "That's really a frequently repeated theme throughout the house."

Working with the client was the most satisfying experience in creating the home, Stonehill says.

"The client is very, very articulate, very, very interested. The more I can understand what the client's needs are, the more interesting it is for me to solve them."