The Guide: Napa Valley
September 1, 2007
Though Napa Valley has a huge
reputation, it’s actually pretty small. The Northern California valley stretches
about 30 miles from north to south, and is only between one and five miles wide.
In many ways it seems like a small town or, rather, a series of small towns.
Among the valley enclaves, quaint St. Helena is known for its style and
prestige. Even smaller, Yountville is best known for its famous restaurants and
still-modest properties. While Yountville has few amenities, it is close to
Napa—the largest city in Napa Valley, which has a population of only 75,000.
Calistoga, at the north end, remains a working-class town, and has an
unpretentious, Wild West sense that appeals to many visitors. That could change
somewhat with a newly opened resort, Solage Calistoga from Auberge du Soleil,
likely to draw more upscale visitors and residents.
The other famous names—Rutherford and Oakville—are simply
hamlets defined by post-office boxes and a few homes and wineries surrounded by
vineyards. The ever-popular country and vineyard properties lie mostly outside
the towns. County regulations designed to protect agriculture—namely
grapevines—limit new parcels in the outlying hills to 160 acres and in the
valley to 40 acres, with land costing more than $300,000 per acre for prime
estate property. A minimum lot size of 10 acres is needed to establish a winery
building, but many owners simply grow grapes and have their wine made at one of
the valley’s custom crush facilities.
REALTORS
Good property is tight, and many homes sell before they are
even listed. That requires top Realtors to be local and well-connected.
Barry Berkowitz and Gail Morgan Lane (Saint Helena
Real Estate, 707.967.9570, www.winestates.com). Both brokers have the reputation
of knowing about properties before they hit the market, and buyers actively
court them for their attention. "People plead, ‘Sell my property, but don’t tell
anyone it’s for sale," says Berkowitz. He has a couple of high-end properties
on the market: one at $15 million and one at $18 million. Both have vineyards;
one has a winery, the other a high-end label made elsewhere. "People demand
quality," Berkowitz adds.
Chuck Sawday and Jane Garassino (Pacific Union, St.
Helena, 707.967.1348, www.nvestates.com). He specializes in vineyards and land;
she in luxury estates. Sawday notes that Napa Valley’s luxury homes are
primarily a second home market. He explains, "Not much land is left for
development in the Napa Valley, so you have to buy existing vineyards in most
cases and not start from scratch, as was once popular." Sawday also says few
wineries are for sale, with a handful sold in the last year.
Steve Gregory (Morgan Lane Real Estate, Napa, 707.252.5528,
www.stevegregorynapa.com) has many top vineyard estates on his roster of
properties, most as exclusives. "The majority of my inventory is luxury
property, including homes at Silverado Country Club and country estates," he
says, adding that most properties with more than two or three acres have
vineyards. "They range from ‘gentlemen’s vineyards,’ which are almost considered
landscaping, to commercial vineyards." Gregory sees much demand for wineries,
since it takes so long and is so expensive to develop a vineyard and build a
winery. "The most valuable have both real estate and an existing brand and
inventory, so you get immediate cash flow,"
he advises.
Charles Bogue (Coldwell Banker Brokers of the Valley, Napa,
707.258.5221, www.cbnapavalley.com) is a luxury specialist for the largest real
estate firm in the valley.
ARCHITECTS
"A lot of people want Tuscan villas in Napa," reports partner
Thomas
Fahery of Valley Architects. "Great rooms and gourmet kitchens are also
in demand." This is not surprising, seeing the similarity of the
geography and
culture to the Tuscan countryside, but a few architects
privately groan when
another prospective client asks for that style.
Those homes are often suited to
sit in the middle of a vineyard,
perhaps on a low rise, but not necessarily in
the rugged mountains,
where many top estates are now going up. Some clients
choose
traditional Victorian farmhouses, or estates of native redwood or
local
stone, and a few of the more adventuresome have commissioned
contemporary styles that complement their rugged sites.
Whatever they want, it is not necessarily easy to get it
designed. Architect Jon Lail says all the local architects are booked up for
years; he had to turn down $16 million in commissions last year alone.
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