Napa wine property on sale for $35m as historic site sold

A new era for the historic Napa Soda Springs site

The 'rotunda' at Napa Soda Springs in 1920. Photo Credit: Pictures Now / Alamy Stock Photo.

In another significant piece of Napa wine property news, a site of than 340 hectares that once housed the popular Napa Soda Springs resort was recently acquired by RH, a luxury design group and home furnishings retailer that also has restaurant and hospitality venues.

RH chairman and CEO Gary Friedman said on a company earnings call: 'We closed on 856 acres (346ha) in the Napa Valley, probably the most beautiful piece of property in all of Napa.'

He added, 'It was the site of the historic Soda Springs Resort from the 1800s, still has the ruins, where we'll build a guesthouse and residences and a winery.'

Further details of the project have not been announced. It's been reported that the site, located east of Yountville and a short drive from Napa itself, was bought for $25m, but this wasn't confirmed.

A first hotel reportedly opened at Napa Soda Springs back in the mid-1850s. In 1872, according to the Napa County Historical Society, Colonel John Putnam Jackson bought the site and developed the resort, which operated until the mid-1930s.

For RH, the move follows the recent opening of RH Guesthouse New York, which it described as a 'first-of-its-kind hospitality experience for travellers seeking privacy and luxury'. The group's restaurant portfolio also includes RH Yountville in Napa Valley.

Luxury Calistoga estate with vineyards offered for $18.5m

Photo credit: Mike Kelley for Sotheby's International Realty.

This month, Sotheby's International Realty listed a 46.7-acre (18.9ha) estate near to Calistoga that includes 6.3 acres (2.5ha) of vineyards.

It said fruit from the Cabernet vines was used by one of Napa's most celebrated winemakers, without naming the producer.

With an $18.5m asking price, the site once hosted a school for boys but has since been 'transformed into an adult playground', said the listing by Arthur Goodrich, of Sotheby's International Realty's St-Helena brokerage, dedicated to wine country.

Photo credit: Mike Kelley for Sotheby's International Realty.

There are six bedrooms and eight bathrooms across 'multiple structures' on the property, which also features an outdoor pool and a 'natural spring-fed pond', according to the listing.

Wine properties entering the market can vary in scope from commercial operations to 'lifestyle' listings that may offer the opportunity to develop a for-profit wine project or be used more as a hobby vineyard.