25th Anniversary!

It all began with a shared glass of wine.

When Steve met Kelly in New York, they could never have imagined how a spontaneous trip to Napa Valley would shape the rest of their lives. On her very first visit to San Francisco to see Steve, they headed north for a wine tasting adventure — one that sparked not only a continued love of wine, but a lifelong connection to the Napa Valley.

From that first visit through their marriage in 1988 and beyond, Napa became more than a destination. It became a passion, a ritual, a second home. Weekends were filled with wine tastings, rounds of golf, and quiet moments soaking in the valley’s natural beauty. Their dream of having a place to call their own here grew stronger with every visit. They became acquainted with the Valley by attending the Napa Kitchen Tour. The beauty of the Kitchen Tour is that it created an excuse to visit many of the hidden gems in Napa Valley, one being what is now called the Coombsville appellation.

By the late 1990s, the search was serious. Steve and Kelly had their eyes on a condo close to the Napa Valley Country Club where they were members. In those pre-internet days, real estate discovery meant flipping through free booklets picked up from roadside stands. What Kelly didn’t know: Steve had quietly been carrying around one of those booklets in his briefcase, holding a picture of the home he had always dreamed of owning.

But life had other plans. With the joyful news of twins on the way, condo living was no longer in the cards.

Fast forward one year. With two six-month-old boys in tow, the young family drove to Napa’s Coombsville region to explore a fixer-upper. Kelly took one look and knew: Raising two babies in the middle of a renovation wasn’t happening. Sensing the tension, their real estate agent gently suggested: “Why don’t we see the house Steve’s been asking me about for months?”