A Historic Estate Hidden
in Northern Sonoma Valley
Photos by Rebecca Gosselin
The ruins of one of California’s oldest wineries lie out of public view on a sprawling estate founded in the 1880s by German immigrant Henry Bolle. Only the foundation of Bolle’s dream winery remains; no one knows exactly how the original building was destroyed. Today, the old 10-foot stone walls enclose an open-air space that is now the site of occasional weddings and ongoing historical speculation.
Was the winery’s demise caused by the 1906 earthquake? Or was it somehow related to the brandy distillation known to have taken place there? Everyone called the winery Annadel, perhaps because of its proximity to Annadel Park, whose name is a combination of Annie Hutchinson (the granddaughter of early land owners) and “dell”, meaning a small, wooded valley.
Near his winery, Bolle also built a single-story home where he liked lived with his family at the end of the 19th century. Eventually, a second story was added in the rear of the original residence, resulting in a frame structure with a hipped roof and boxed eaves highlighted by a wide frieze band. At some point, the house was imbued with a Craftsman-style front entry porch that wraps around the southeast side of the house.
These additions, while extensive and widely spaced, did not cause any structural dissonance. The pale yellow farmhouse has a uniform grace that is enhanced by the old oaks and magnolias that embrace it. Partly shaded by the soaring trees, extensively planted gardens thrive with a profusion of roses, hydrangeas and other perennials.
Now the 13-room home is up for sale, along with three other residences and a six-stall horse barn on 33 acres just inside the Santa Rosa city limits. Among its charms are 12-foot ceilings, a living-room fireplace, a large walk-in pantry, five-and-a-half baths and eight bedrooms, including an upstairs sleeping porch with vineyard views.
In fact, it is the vistas from almost every window that elevate the house far above the ordinary. Some windows overlook four acres of roses and a lawn so green and flat it could be used for croquet games. Others take in the nine acres of vineyards that produce five varieties of grapes in one of California’s best growing regions. One side of the house faces the horse barn, which probably dates to the early 20th century. The handsome, rectangular structure has a centrally placed, arched entry with double casement doors and a front gabled roof featuring a cupola vent along the ridge.
Directly behind the home is the carriage house, which was also constructed in two stages: first, a long, side-gabled one-story building and then a two-story, hipped-roof wing. Back in the days when this was farming country, this was undoubtedly used as servants’ quarters and/or a bunkhouse.
Pathways partially paved with bricks meander through the gated compound and link two other functioning outbuildings. Spaced apart at slightly different elevations are the old tank house, which has been remodeled and given a deck, and the Bridal Cottage, a cute, upscale cabin that is popular when weddings are held in the landscaped interior of the old winery, which has been landscaped.
Ivy and trumpet vines now cling to the old walls, fines from indigenous stones cover the ground, and a soaring buckeye tree bears witness to as many as 10 ceremonies every year. Receptions can be held here or on the nearby lawn, where chairs and tables can be set up.
A setting as enchanted as Annadel must be a good omen for newlyweds, but it also provokes a natural curiosity about the lives already lived there over the last 12 decades.
Offered by Cynthia Wood, (707) 935-2275
Sotheby’s International Realty - Wine Country Brokerage