Forestville Pinot Noir Retreat Estate Sold by Doug Swanson

This Forestville Pinot Noir Retreat Estate Sold by Doug Swanson sits high up on a hilltop overlooking the Russian River Valley. This property seamlessly blends indoor and outdoor living with stunning vineyard vistas. The double gated contemporary estate is approximately 7,000 square feet with 4 large bedrooms each with their own baths, a library, office, theater and temperature controlled wine cellar. More than 5 acres are planted with organic certified Pinot Noir vines and a possible 2 additional plantable acres. This is perfectly located for easy access to wineries, Healdsburg’s Town Square and all that Santa Rosa has to offer.

7,002 square feet of gross living area
1,128 square feet lower level includes wine cellar and mechanical room
1,562 square feet 4 car garage

Vineyards:

• There are 5.24 acres of Pinot Noir planted. Benziger told the current owners that there is approximately 2-2.5 additional acres that could be planted if trees are cleared. Previous owners reported that the vines were planted in 2001.
• The Pinot Noir clones used are:
– .79 acres of Clone 115
– 3.73 acres of Clone 667
– .72 acres of Clone 777
• The vineyard is organically certified by CCOF.
• Benziger purchased the grapes since the vineyard began producing. VML purchased the 2013 harvest for $4,800/ton up to 12 tons and any additional tons @$3,000/ton as of last year.
• Harvest yields:
– 2013: 16.52 tons
– 2012: 15.58 tons
– 2011: 9.78 tons (different winemaker had lowered production across the board
and left a lot of tonnage on the vines)
– 2010: 11.51 tons
– 2009: 12.12 tons
• The vineyards are on drip irrigation. The water must be trucked in for most vineyard irrigation. The irrigation tanks on property can be used early on for watering until the need gets too great for the flow rate of the community well, as the tanks are currently filled by the community well. The cost varies based on the amount of water the farmer and wine maker decide to use. The neighbor who houses the community well has verbally offered to let them drill a well for their vineyard irrigation. There is no formal agreement on this just informal gesture which could potentially be followed up on. Additionally, neighbors have stated that separate piping already exists to bring water up to the property from the well for this

Septic System:

Septic system is a pressure distribution system with seven pressure stations. It was last pumped by the current owners in 2013. The home had been sparsely occupied over the preceding year or two previous to that, and the current owners lived there 2 or 3 months in 2009 then did not move in permanently until after the remodel in October 2010. The current owners do semiannual self monitoring which involves measuring water levels in the 7 different areas. This is done in March and October and results are submitted and reviewed by the Sonoma county PRMD. The current owners qualified for a reduced annual permit fee by participating in this self monitoring program.

Water/Well:

All four houses on Ritchurst Place share a well and have plenty of excellent water. The well is on a neighbors property and the community storage tank is on the subject property.

Here are the details of the system for the subject property:
• Two 5,000 gallon storage tanks that supply water to the irrigation system.
• One 5,000 gallon storage tank that supplies water for the house.
• There is a 2.5 cubic foot Micro Z filter, this filter reduces Iron from the water.
• There is a 2.5 cubic foot Carbon filter that reduces fines in the water and makes it taste better (also reduces petroleum products that may be in the water).
• There is a 2.0 cubic foot water softener to reduce the Calcium and Manganese.
• There is an Ultra Violet light system to kill bacteria that may be in the water.

AC/Heat/Propane:

• Most rooms have their own temperature zones for AC and heat.
• The whole house has radiant heat.
• Propane service comes from McPhails. There is a monitor that notifies McPhails when propane is running low and they come out to fill it up as needed. The pool is heated by propane and it also has a separate tank and monitor.

Pool:

• The pool is heated with a propane high efficiency heater.
• There are two pool pumps. Current owners rebuilt one of the pool systems motors last year and the other in April 2013.

Guest House Pad:

There is a construction site pad below the pool that was prepared for building a guest house and gym combination. The current owners were told when they purchased the property that there were plans to build out a space to include a racquetball court and home office/guest room. There is enough slate to construct a roof matching the main house and enough flagstone to cover the patio for this planned structure. The current owners were also told that the septic system, water and electrical are all tied to the site.

Improvements:

The contractor used for all the major remodels was Keegan & Ten Eyek from San Rafael.

• The house was completely stuccoed and the EIFS (Exterior Insulation & Finish System) was removed.
• Guest bedroom layouts were improved to include a single closet to create a larger live-in space.
• Den/playroom was converted from an existing laundry room. This added an extra area in which a guest could stay or a child could play or study. Wall to wall carpeting was added as well as custom designed and constructed cabinets, drawers, and shelves of rift-sawn white oak with built in TV cabinet.
• Added a new, extra large coat closet in the guest area hallway in what used to be an unused elevator shaft.
• Existing coat closet was converted to a guest wing laundry room with custom designed and constructed cabinets of rift-sawn white oak.
• Library was remodeled with new wood paneling and custom designed and constructed cabinets of rift-sawn white oak. Added a new fireplace and moved the single door entrance from the area by the media room to double doors with custom glass in an area of the living room.
• Remodeled main laundry room with new custom cabinets, sink, new tile and enhanced lighting.
• In May 2013 the wine room was completely remodeled. The concrete floor and walls were refinished. The room has its own dedicated air conditioning system with remote control, though being underground keeps the temperature naturally regulated. The dumb waiter is accessible from two sides: from the garage hallway and from the wine cellar, making it very convenient to bring wine up to the butler’s pantry or food down to the wine cellar.
• Copper Iron Designs in Napa was contracted to complete various custom steel artistic metalwork features around the property including stair railings, fireplace mantles and shelving, TV cabinet cover in the master bedroom and master fireplace lower shelf and facing.
• Media/Movie room was completely remodeled. New wall to wall carpeting, custom cabinets with storage shelves and pullout slides, a bar sink with insta-hot water and a Sub Zero wine refrigerator were added. Ceiling lighting and ceiling fans are also a newer addition as is the drop down Stewart movie screen built into the ceiling. The projector and surround sound make this room a true in-home theater.
• New Trex maintenance-free decking was added to the back patio by the guest room hall door and the area by the hot tub.

Bathrooms:

• All 5 bathrooms were remodeled with new custom designed and constructed cabinets of rift-sawn white oak.
• All tile and stone is of superior quality from Walker Zanger.
• Two of the guest baths have full walk-in glass showers; the third has a tub and shower combo. All guest bathrooms have Duravit sinks.
• Fixtures are all high end: Sigma.
• All bathrooms have the Toto Pacifica toilets, newly installed.
• The tub in the guestroom is a Kohler Archer with shower and wand.
• The guest bathrooms all have Ginger Surface towel and toilet paper holders.
• Powder Room has Stone Forest new bronze Verona sink and a Sonoma Forge Water Bridge faucet all on a custom designed and constructed sink pedestal.

Master Bathroom:

• The master bath has a large Mr. Steam glass shower/steam room with aromatherapy. This unit actually has two steam units to fill a shower of that size.
• Steam shower has Kohler body jets, rain shower, wand, and two regular shower heads.
• Stone countertops are of Beaumaniere light slab honed limestone.
• Master tub is a Hydrosystem Picasso thermal air tub.
• Toilet is a Toto NeoRest Washlet
• Master sinks are Nameeks Art sinks.
• Mirrors and lights on the mirrors were custom designed and created for the space.
• Faucets are Sigma 1600 Series.
• The freestanding tub filler is a Hansgrohe Axor Citterio.
• Ginger Surface towel bars, hooks, toilet paper holder and chrome corner shelf.
• Speakers are built into the shower and rest of the bathroom.
• The master bathroom and bedroom are wired for Lutron automatic powered shades.
Sellers have not set that up, but the wiring is there.

Outdoor Improvements:

• New Trex maintenance-free decking was added to the back patio by the guest room hall door and the area by the hot tub.
• The hot tub filter and cover were replaced in April 2013, and the entire tub was cleaned, sanded, and re-stained/protected. It works but may have a slight leak and is sold AS-IS.

Maintenance providers for the property:

• Landscaping – Jorge Morales Salgado. He has been the groundskeeper since the previous owners in 2008. Current owners budget $1000-$1500 per month for landscaping. This amount varies depending on the time of year and depending on the projects that need to be completed around the property. Jorge does a variety of things for the current owners. Spring is busy because he clears the brush from the entire property, trims everything back, and removes all the debris. The current owners do not have him burn anything on the property. He re-mulches and replants what needs to be. He power washes the patios. He takes the garbage and recycling cans to the base of the hill on trash day and returns them to the house. He is very valuable and an excellent worker. He knows the property well and is available at all times. It is recommended that the next owners retain him to maintain the property.
• Pool – Rogers Pool. Weekly pool cleaning and chemical monitoring. $150/mo.
• Well – Jerry and Don’s Yager. Current owners have no dealings with the well itself. Jerry & Don’s Yager have done all of the water treatment installation and annual servicing for the subject property. Annual service costs are about $600 and include replacing the UV light and a myriad of other adjustments and tests. This was last done in April 2013.
• Propane- McPhails. Both the residential tank (500 gal) and the pool tank (250 gal) have remote monitoring sensors which notify McPhails automatically as to the propane levels and they come out to fill it as needed.

Internet:

There is an agreement with Vista Broadband. This company is allowed to have one of their signal towers on the property (Vista uses a tree on the hill by the pool to beam their signal from the airport area to the Fountain Hills area). In exchange, the owners get free Internet with a guaranteed 2 Mbps duplex speed (up and down), however in practice they get a lot more (approximately 20 Mbps) as they have a good relationship with Vista who endeavors to make more bandwidth available when possible. This is not warranted to always be the case, but is so today. The current owners just ran a test at Speedtest.net and they have 17.56Mbps download and over 20Mbps upload. This relationship with Vista Broadband can continue with the new owners should they choose to.

Features:

• The Smart/tech room has Control4 System which is wired to control the sound throughout the house and media room overall (video switching as well). Control4 is a flexible system which can be programmed to control heating, security, and more as well, though this has not been done to date. This software and hardware does not convey but is negotiable.
• The lighting is a Lutron System. It is programmable and can be controlled with an iPhone/iPad app in addition to the programmable keypads in every room
• There is a Butler’s pantry that connects the kitchen to the guest wing.
– Dumbwaiter in the pantry goes to the wine cellar and in the vestibule by the
Door to the garage. This is an excellent appliance for bringing in groceries or
wine up to the kitchen and food down to the wine cellar.
• Very large basement room.
• Bocce ball court with evening lighting.
• Rose garden with views over the vineyard.
• Local architect: J.Lamont Langworthy.
• There is a large hot water tank, hot water recirculation pump for nearly instant hot water throughout the house, insta-hot stations at the sinks in the kitchen, media room, and master bedroom.
• Steam shower in the master bath.
• Views from nearly every window in the house.
• Potential to install an elevator. Current coat closet used to be an elevator shaft connecting guest hallway to downstairs garage.
Lighting:
• A Lutron lighting system controls all the lighting features around the house through custom programmable keypads in every room, and/or iPhone or iPad app.
• Ceiling lighting was added throughout the house in every room except the kitchen which was already well equipped. There was very little over-head lighting prior to the remodel.
• A custom made chandelier was added in the dining room and entryway.
• Matching custom sconces were added in the bathrooms, transition hallways, hallways, outside the garage and around the exterior of the home.
• All residents share the maintenance costs for the road and gate. There is a CC&R in place for the four properties.

*While the information contained in this memorandum has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable it is not guaranteed to be accurate or complete. Prospective purchasers are advised to independently verify the accuracy and completeness of all information.