SODA CANYON OLIVISTA 

Soda Canyon Olivista is a place for living, for enjoying family and friends, for entertaining on those summer evenings beside the pool with the gently rolling hills blushing with the evening sunset and the gentle  cooling breeze.  It is an Estate like no other with majestic olive trees, tremendous mature oaks, rolling lawns, interesting history, privacy and true country peacefulness.  The crickets sing the same songs that Felix Borreo heard in 1890 as he planted olives, blackberries and grapes; the panorama virtually unchanged since he built the two story farmhouse from locally quarried stone; the unobstructed view of the northern-most portion of the San Francisco Bay down the valley, the same vista Mr. Borreo saw as he trucked his olive oil, wine and fruits to his stores and warehouses in Napa.  These days you’ll see the vineyard on the hill across the way and colorful hot air balloons dotting the morning sky, the things that make living on Soda Canyon unique.

The meticulous reconstruction and remodeling of the original stone home coupled with a graceful, modern addition has achieved a balance that walks the fine line of luxury without ostentation, of vision without pretension. From the gorgeous slate roof to the wide-plank hand-hewn mahogany flooring to the successful renovation of the original 18” thick stone walls, the current main home at Soda Canyon-Olivista successfully blends a new contemporary lifestyle with the beauty of old world elegance. In the original portion of the home, there are five bedrooms, including a semi-private ´en suite bedroom which overlooks a charming and elegant secret parterre garden, and four full bathrooms with heated floors, granite and old style claw foot tubs.  This section of the home also boasts a large music room and a private office with built-in select stained cabinetry.  All the rooms of this home take advantage of the divine vistas with custom made swing out mahogany windows with hidden screens and French doors.  The home is now 4,600±  square feet of incredible living space with a three bay garage with custom mahogany doors, finished walls and skylights in the 11ft high ceiling.  A 1,400± square foot basement includes a generous 110 case wine cellar kept naturally cool and stable because of the house’s stone walls, a bathroom and work areas.

The newer section of the home has a great room with vaulted ceilings, a classic rumsford style stone fireplace, ample natural light in the living and dining areas, and a media center opening onto the heated, covered patio with an enticing pool and spa.  The open kitchen with transom windows and convenient pass through windows to the exterior patio area, a Thermador Professional six burner range and double oven, a Viking side by side refrigerator, two sinks, a generous work space, huge dining island, bar area and a close at hand walk-in pantry with a second full size refrigerator reflects the serious-cook nature of the kitchen. Outside the house, there are numerous areas for entertaining.  A front garden reception area surrounded by roses, a balcony area that can host a formal sit down dinner for 80, and around the pool and lawn, more areas for lounging in the summer sun or having dancing by moonlight.

Some of the many amenities include extensive exterior lighting, movement sensing light triggers for the driveway, central music for interior and exterior rooms and spaces, a power generator backup that supports all critical functions, a large propane tank, amazing amounts of storage space, on-demand hot water, full irrigation control for the landscaping, and so that all the roses and flowers and vegetables get to bloom and be enjoyed, a discreet 10’ high deer fence surrounds approximately 7 acres around the house and gardens.  You’ll enjoy all the extra parking, too – no need to shuttle guests to your events!

East of the main house is a 770 ± square foot, guest cottage with 2 bathrooms, a bedroom, living room and kitchen.  The guest cottage is located above the amazing 4,000 ± two tier grassy stadium lined with fruitless mulberry trees and cascading olive trees.  The stadium has its own electrical outlets and is designed to be a venue for all of those events certain to become the stuff of family lore, weddings, birthday parties, croquet tournaments, marvelous tented suppers.  To help out with all this entertaining, the workshop has two convection commercial ovens! 

A 1,000± square foot light filled, one bedroom loft apartment is located above a 3 car garage, complete with kitchen, bath, bedroom, and a living space with a fireplace, great skylights and those ever present stunning views. The barn (or ranch workshop) is a 1000 ± square foot two story high, light filled space with large bay doors on both sides for functionality and drive through capability. This is the perfect location for wine barrels or olive oil production.  Inside the workshop there is an extra surprise that awaits the lucky Buyer.

30± acres of gentle rolling hills, much of it in its natural-state includes 15 acres of 120  years old Picholine variety olive groves that produce award winning oil.  In the gardens, artistically arranged and lovingly tended, you will find citrus trees of oranges, tangerines and lemon, 4 different fig trees, a fruit tree and nut grove that is young but productive and thousands of spring and summer blooming bulbs. The large vegetable and herb gardens are sure to provide a bounty guaranteed to add zest to a summer evening’s meal. There’s even a garden shed and chicken coup carefully located to help round out the harvest.  Old stone walls combined with the careful placement of new walls only add to the continuity of this Estate.  Outside the deer fence, there are many lovely places to view even more of the Napa Valley’s beauty – perhaps a summer bunk house near the gorgeous oak tree in the upper meadow will be just the thing!

Soda Canyon Olivista provides a unique combination of a sense of place and an elegant functional design that is the hallmark of this property, built with vision and sensitivity to its history and to compliment the natural landscape and beautiful views of the Napa Valley.

4,570 approximate square feet.

Building style: European Farmhouse

30 +/- acre lot.