Home of the Week: This $35 Million Napa Valley Estate Has Its Own 22-Acre Vineyard
Even the most ambitious and imaginative estate buyers are likely to be dazzled (if not daunted) by an estate like Meteor Vineyards. Spread over 34.24 acres in California’s fabled Napa Valley, the property—which features a four-bedroom main house, a three-bedroom guesthouse and a studio—includes Meteor Vineyards, a 22.58-acre working vineyard that produces some of the finest vintages in the region. The estate is also located on historic ground and comes with a price tag to match all its grandeur, with the listing set at a cool $35 million. If the home fetches that figure, it will be the highest-priced sale in Napa history.
“The estate sits approximately 500 feet above the valley floor in the shadow of Mount George, an extinct volcano in Napa Valley’s historic Coombsville wine growing region,” says listing agent Cyd Greer, of St. Helena’s Coldwell Banker Brokers of the Valley office. “Coombsville is one of the earliest areas to be settled in the Napa Valley.”
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The property’s main home is thoroughly contemporary in design, an 11,000-square-foot amalgam of airy, geometric pavilions capped by winged roofs and designed by notable Pacific Northwest talents Cutler Anderson Architects. Inspired, says Greer, by the “harmony of the old oak groves” on the estate, the home is crafted primarily from rammed earth, an ancient material and construction process. Additional design elements include local Douglas Fir and endless wooden beams and paneling, cedar shingles plus wood-framed doors and windows that provide panoramic views of the mountains and vineyards. There are also skylights and ceilings towering upwards of 40 feet into the air—along with a soothing koi pond fed by rainwater channeled from metal roofs. The main home is connected to the guest quarters and studio by a bluestone walkway and a sleek boardwalk-style bridge that allows you to further enjoy the outdoors.
“Every aspect of this home was designed to create warm and inviting spaces that thoughtfully feature the natural elements in which they are located,” Greer says. “Jim Cutler was chosen because of his environmentally friendly design language and respect for locally sourced materials.”
Although very much a family home, the listing agent says the estate’s owners were major entertainers—with their most celebrated fetes centered around the kitchen, which she calls “the heart and soul” of the home. World-renowned chefs ranging from Jacques Pepin to Thomas Keller spent time in the kitchen, which is bathed in sun thanks to an overhead skylight and features pro-level GeoCrete countertops, edge-grain carbonized bamboo cabinets and paneling, a butler’s pantry, dumbwaiter and premium appliances from the likes of Sub-Zero, Gaggenau and Miele. So crucial was the kitchen, in fact, “a second architect, Fu Tung Cheng, was commissioned because of his groundbreaking work in art concrete and modern stylings in stone and bamboo,” Greer says.
Within the main home, there are a host of leisure amenities, from a swimming pool and a movie theater to a gym and a yoga studio to a wine-tasting room and a 1,250-bottle wine cellar. Just beyond, a 130-foot cedar “boardwalk” links the main home to a three-bedroom guest residence, which has its own heated plunge pool. On the top level is the primary bedroom suite with its own fireplace, an office, a safe room and a pair of balconies; down below are two guest bedrooms suites, also with private balconies and a playroom.
As for the vineyard estate, Meteor Vineyard Estate is widely considered one of Napa Valley’s most desirable “cult” vineyards, and the nearly 23 acres of vines produce very lucrative Cabernet and Petit Verdot grapes. “Meteor has been called the “crown jewel” or “Grand Cru” of the Coombsville AVA for good reason,” Greer says, referring to the estate’s specific location within Napa. “The vineyard generates attractive cash flow and produces some of the most highly sought after Cabernet Sauvignon grapes in the region.” The property also features a grove of exceptionally mature oak trees, including one beauty that is over 500 years old.
According to reports, the compound would mark a significant record for Napa Valley, as it could fetch almost twice the region’s last record sale, another vineyard estate that went for $22 million in 2021.
See below for more photos of Meteor Vineyard Estate:
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