Listing of the Day
Location: Oakville, Calif. Price: $23 million
Alan and Janet Stanford dreamed of living in a French country manor. The couple paid visits to rural Normandy, where they drove along narrow roads, captivated by the region’s architecture. Decades passed, and the Stanfords decided to build a manor house of their own—in the heart of California’s Napa Valley wine country.
The couple, who met in college at U.C. Berkeley, had frequented the valley, which is about an hour from the university. In 1997, Mr. Stanford, a retired engineer, and Mrs. Stanford, a former real estate agent, purchased 54 sprawling acres in the town of Oakville.
The estate, referred to as Notre Jardin—French for “our garden”—took about five years to finish. It consists of five buildings set among manicured gardens, including a magnificent manor house topped with a steep, clay-tile roof.
“All of the materials used to build the home were brought over from France,” said the couple’s daughter, Laurie Turner of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, Pasadena, who is listing the property with Cyd Greer of Coldwell Banker Brokers of the Valley. The home has thick masonry walls, roof dormers and a tower capped with a cone-shaped roof.
“They have a love of architecture,” Turner said of her parents. “And they’ve put together quite a collection of furniture and artwork.” Inside, the walls are hung with Impressionist paintings. Distressed wood beams and trusses are exposed; the Versailles parquet floors are covered with Persian and Oriental rugs.
The Stats
The nearly 10,000-square-foot main residence, built in 2001, has three bedrooms, four full bathrooms and three partial baths. An elevator services the home’s three floors.
The 1,125-square-foot guest cottage, built in 1999, has a full kitchen and two bedroom suites. The one-bedroom caretaker’s house was built in 2002.
A detached two-car garage sits beside the main residence. There’s also a utility building.
Design Pedigree
The Stanfords hired landscape architect Jonathan Plant—who worked for the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, England—to design the property and to situate the buildings.
The estate boasts five acres of gardens, including a formal cutting garden, a terraced rose garden and lush, grassy lawns. Behind the main residence, water cascades down a hill and into a reflecting pool.
The buildings were designed by Brandenberger, Taylor and Lombardo Architects.
Amenities
The property features a heated swimming pool, a tennis court and a regulation-size bocce ball court. A walking trail stretches for about a third of a mile.
“My father’s dream was to make some wine,” Turner said. He planted a 1.5-acre vineyard with Cabernet grapes—which he jokingly bottles under the name Vieille Chaussettes—French for “old socks.”
A wine cellar on the manor’s lower level, complete with a tasting room, stores roughly 4,200 bottles.
Neighborhood Notes
The estate is minutes from Yountville and St. Helena, with easy access to countless wineries, shopping, and restaurants, including Thomas Keller’s famed French Laundry and Bistro Jeanty.
The couple is selling the home because they’re spending more time in Pasadena. “It’s been a lot of fun,” Turner said. “They’re certainly not leaving their love of wine and the wine country behind.”
Agents: Cyd Greer of Coldwell Banker Brokers of the Valley; Laurie Turner of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, Pasadena.
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