The 2013 Kitchens in the Vineyards tour coming up April 27 will open five distinctive Napa Valley homes to visitors hoping to gather home décor, landscaping and architectural ideas.
“This is a beautiful time of year to see a wide variety of home styles from sleek contemporary to enchanting New Orleans Garden District,” said Julia Jervis, chair of the Kitchens in the Vineyards tour. “One house will be awash in white wisteria.”
The home and garden tour of kitchens, dining rooms and entertainment areas as well as gardens benefits the annual local chamber music festival, Music in the Vineyards. The self-guided tour takes place from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, April 27.
“We all like to see how other people live,” said Jervis, noting that throughout the tour’s 16 years, there have been no repetitions because of the generosity of the owners willing to open their homes.
This year the tour includes:
• A luxurious Howard Backen-designed estate in the hills high above Crystal Springs Road with bird’s-eye views of the valley, an extensive open layout, multiple alfresco dining areas and an entertainment pavilion with an infinity pool.
• A valley floor home, with New Orleans-inspired décor and a landscape that includes a cabernet vineyard, rose gardens, citrus plantings, pillared terraces and a lap pool.
• A “Villa Toscana” with a salon featuring European paneling and floors acquired from the de Young Museum, vast vineyard views, a pool and a Winged Victory-inspired sculpture.
• A remodeled classic California ranch-style home set on five landscaped acres.
• An extensively remodeled contemporary home with an entertainment area that includes pool, swim-up bar, waterfall and meditation room.
Jervis said a team of designers, florists, chefs, cookbook authors and 200 volunteers all donate their time and talent to make the event a success each year.
Each home is styled by designers and florists who create springtime table settings. At the homes, visitors will also find tastings of dishes prepared this year by a variety of local restaurants.
“I think anybody who goes on this tour will come away with lots of new ideas and recipes from all the foods they’ve tasted,” Jervis said. “The recipes will be printed in their program.”
Also on hand will be local authors signing copies of their books. This year featured books are “Michael Chiarello’s Live Fire: 140 Recipes for Cooking Outdoors from California’s Wine Country” by Claudia Sansone; “Plum Gorgeous” by Romney Steele; “Mac Cheese, Please!: 50 Super Cheesy Recipes” by Laura Werlin; “The NapaLife Insiders Guide to Napa Valley” by Paul Franson; “The Gathering Table” by Ronda Giangreco; “American Wine: The Ultimate Companion to the Wines and Wineries of the United States” by Linda Murphy; and “Cooking for One” by the Culinary Institute of America.
In addition, a raffle of prizes includes gift certificates to interior design shops, a one-night stay at the Westin Verasa in Napa, and a cooking class at The Apple Farm with Chef Karen Bates in Anderson Valley. Raffle
tickets are $10 each or 12 for $100 and can be purchased in advance or on Saturday’s tour.
The annual tour is limited to 750 people. Tickets for the self-guided tour cost $65 and are on sale now by calling 258-5559 or going online to MusicintheVineyards.org.
Inspired by New Orleans
One of the homes on the tour is the Jim and Lee Meehan residence, which reflects the life they once lived in the New Orleans Garden District as well as their current life in Napa Valley.
The couple describes their five -acre property, which includes 50 redwoods, 500 roses and 5,000 cabernet vines, as a “lagniappe” estate and vineyard. Lagniappe is a French Cajun word meaning “something a little extra,” they explained.
They bought the property in 1998 while still living in New Orleans and moved here in 2001.
Their former home wasn’t destroyed by Hurricane Katrina because of the elevation of the Garden District; the only damage was to the roof. The storm did cause many of their friends and neighbors to move away, which makes it harder to keep in touch, they said.
“We like a New Orleans lifestyle. You can’t get that city out of your system. We try to go back once or twice a year,” Lee Meehan said, adding that they’ve made a happy transition to this area and have found wonderful, friendly people here.
They enjoy their farmhouse with multiple French doors to terraces overlooking vineyards, the western hills and Mt. St. Helena. A guest house of native stone, features a cabana and wine-tasting room and blends with their home.
Their three-acre vineyard, planted in cabernet sauvignon grapes, has been farmed organically since 2003 and was certified organic in 2006.
“The kind of life we live here is certainly different from the Garden District,” added Meehan, who is on the “last stages” of writing a novel about an incident that happened in New Orleans.
“The property needed extensive work so we’ve spent the last 13 years doing projects,” she said. “We were asked a few years ago to do this tour and didn’t feel that our property was ready. When the committee came by they said ‘This is the kitchen of the vineyards.’”
What the Meehans love most is the kitchen, the heart of their home. “When you look out from the kitchen you are looking at vineyards,” Lee Meehan said.
Six French doors lead outside and a bank of windows allows light in and frames their view of the vineyards. The Meehans said they like to bring guests into the kitchen as they prepare food. Their guests always ask them where they’ve hidden their refrigerator and dishwashers, which can’t be seen.
They have high praise for their architect, Don Gross, who designed what they consider their dream kitchen.
“Don Gross did the property design as well as the kitchen,” Jim Meehan said. “He does an excellent job. It is an easy kitchen to have friends over. He made it sleek.
“After he finished the kitchen project, Don came over and cooked us a meal — not hot dogs on the deck. He uses the Thomas Keller cookbook. The meal was equivalent to eating at the French Laundry. Then he played jazz on our baby grand piano. He’s a unique individual.”
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