Home theaters, wine caves, pool houses, a heliport, guest homes
and private stables. This is how the “1 percent” of Napa Valley
live.
Napa Valley real estate has always carried a premium price compared
to surrounding counties, but for a select group of local properties
that premium means multi-millions.
While the recession might have slowed some sales, the demand for
ultra-premium Napa Valley real estate remains strong, local
Realtors say.
“They want the Napa Valley experience,” Cyndi Gates of Gates
Estates in Yountville said.
“Everybody knows it is the place where you can eat very well, drink
very well and have fun,” Jocelyne Monello of Heritage Sotheby’s
International Realty said.
“Every buyer has their own recipe for ‘wonderful,’” Gates
said.
In most cases, “wonderful” means privacy, views, high-quality
construction and plenty of square footage, Gates said. It could
also include antique stone imported from Italy, bocce courts,
infinity pools and carved marble fireplaces, she said.
The number of Napa Valley homes listed for more than
$10 million is small but the homes are dazzling.
It includes a Meadowood estate outside St. Helena listed for $29.5
million. Owned by an investment banker and his wife, the
six-bedroom home is a “true authentic Italian villa” that took four
years to build, according to listing agent Jane Garassino with
Pacific Union International.
Located on 47 acres, the luxury property includes an
11,731-square-foot main house, a guest house and a separate
caretaker’s house. There’s also a 60-foot lap pool, a pool kitchen,
a home theater with plush stuffed chairs and surround sound and a
wine cellar, she said.
Within the eight bathrooms a buyer will find a bidet along with
plenty of marble. The kitchen includes faux distressed cabinetry,
exposed wood ceiling beams, more marble, a TV monitor, a chandelier
and stainless steel appliances.
Why sell and why now?
“It’s for personal reasons,” Garassino said. “They are going in a
new direction. They are staying in the valley and probably (will)
downsize a little bit.”
Garassino said she’s had interest in the home from buyers in China,
El Salvador, New York and Brazil. At that price range, there is not
an abundance of buyers, Garassino acknowledged. “This is a very
unique niche.” It could take days or years to sell, she said. But,
“You just need one buyer.”
A 12-page printed brochure has been created and mailed all over the
world to help market the property, she said. “You go all out for
something like this. You never know where the buyer is from.”
Regardless of where they come from, they usually have one thing in
common. “These are billionaires,” Garassino said.
And those billionaires can afford to cut corners most other
homeowners face, such as furnishing a new home, Realtors
said.
Premium homebuyers don’t want to deal with remodeling, Gates said.
“They want something ‘turn-key.’” Many of the premium homes she
sells are sold furnished. “They say, ‘I like it like as it
is.’”
One “majestic residence” on Spring Mountain Road in St. Helena was
first listed for $24 million, but the price has been cut to $19.7
million, according to the multiple listing serviceBay Area Real
Estate Information Services. This home includes six bedrooms, six
bathrooms, gym, large wine cellar, seven acres of vineyards on 40
acres total, a 9,600-square-foot guest house, an 80-foot pool and a
heliport.
Another 12,354 square-foot “Napa Valley compound” on Silverado
Trail is listed for $11.5 million. The design was inspired by
“colonial Spanish haciendas,” the multiple listing service report
noted, and includes seven bedrooms, eight bathrooms, carved marble
fireplaces, a club room/bar, a pool house with gym, a two-bedroom
guest “casita,” a pizza oven, a two-person spa-style shower in one
bathroom and a bocce court. The tiered home theater features
soundproofed walls, plush-looking dark leather chairs with built-in
cupholders and a large TV monitor.
Then there’s Villa Montana. The home of retired San Francisco 49ers
quarterback Joe Montana, this 500-acre estate has a Calistoga
mailing address but is technically located in Knights Valley in
Sonoma County. The property was first listed for sale in 2009 for
$49 million, but was recently dropped to $35 million. As such, it
is currently the highest-priced home in either Sonoma or Napa
county on the multiple listing service.
It includes a professional-grade equestrian stable with 17 stalls,
a 9,700-square-foot mansion with drawbridge and moat, a skeet
shooting range, olive tree farm and the obligatory bocce ball
court.
Photos from inside the main house show a richly styled home with
three bedrooms, green Italian marble kitchen countertops, lush
window draperies, ornately carved fireplaces and soaring
wooden-beamed ceilings.
“Its an extraordinary property,” listing agent Avram Goldman of
Pacific Union International said.
So why sell now? “In every family, things change,” Goldman said.
“Joe and Jennifer Montana’s children now live in different parts of
the country,” he said. “As their family changed so did their needs
in terms of the residence.”
Who could buy a property at that price? “It could be a celebrity,”
Goldman said. “It could be a very successful businessperson that
wants a totally private but extraordinary piece of art.”
Other likely buyers could include someone who enjoys horses,
successful entrepreneurs or heads of large corporations — “the
super wealthy,” he said.
“Obviously, there aren’t an exceptional amount of buyers looking
for something like that,” Goldman said. “It’s a very small
audience, but they are out there and when they find the property
that really moves them, they move forward.”
Monello represented buyers Jean-Charles Boisset and Gina Gallo when
they purchased the former Robert Mondavi estate home this past
December. The minimum asking price for that home was $13.9 million.
The final sales price was not disclosed.
In 2007, seven sales above $5 million were recorded in Napa County.
There were two in 2008, one in 2009, six in 2010 and nine in 2011.
So far this year, one property is in escrow for between $5 and $10
million, Monello said.
“This is a very good sign for the Napa Valley luxury market,”
Monello said. “With the nouveaux riches that the Silicon valley
IPOs will create this year, the Napa Valley should be on the list
of areas to benefit.”
Garassino said 2011 was the turning point for million-dollar homes.
“Things have picked up. There is more activity. There is money out
there.”
During the recession, prices declined if the property was too far
of the beaten path or not good quality, Gates said. “The bottom
line is that they are so exclusive they are still going to sell for
big money.”
A name like Mondavi or Montana can add to intrigue and value, she
said. “But the price is what the buyer is willing to pay.” When
they do pay, many use all cash, Garassino said. For those who
don’t, a mortgage payment on such a home can vary widely.
“This kind of financing is very specialized,” Cheris Hallman of
Prospect Mortgage said. “Buyers are typically putting a minimum of
50 percent down and all aspects of the loan are unique for every
buyer.”
In the case of the home selling for $29.5 million, a buyer who made
a down payment of 50 percent and borrowed at 5 percent interest,
the monthly mortgage payment for a 30-year term loan would be
$79,181 per month, experts said.
That same $29.5 million purchase price would result in property
taxes of approximately $321,500 per year, said county Assessor John
Tuteur.