Jay Jeffers wasn’t in the market to buy a hotel. It never even crossed his mind. But when a friend suggested he check out an inn for sale in Healdsburg’s Dry Creek Valley, he shrugged and thought, why not?
It was Memorial Day weekend in 2020, in the dismal first months of the pandemic. Everything was shut down, and there was nothing else to compete with a guided tour of a 139-year-old mansion listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
“It was,” he said, laughing, “a chance to get out of the house.”
But the Madrona Manor had him at the gate. Passing through the distinctive twin pillars at the entrance at Westside Road, he was thunderstruck by the whole package — a Gilded Age “cottage” fit for the more casual West, with lush grounds, vineyard views and a sense of stepping into another world.
“I had never seen it before. I didn’t even know it existed,” said Jeffers, a celebrated San Francisco interior designer and ElleDecor A-lister. “You come into the gates to these beautiful gardens, and suddenly the mansion presents itself to you. And then you turn your head and look over the Dry Creek Valley. It was just one of those things. I could see its future immediately.”
A fresh look
After a 2½-hour tour, Jeffers was sold. He recruited two partners, one of them his brother Kyle Jeffers, a commercial real estate investment manager specializing in hotel deals, and the other his friend Cory Schisler, who has spent his career in hotel and restaurant branding, marketing and public relations. Among the three of them, they have all the bases covered.
With capital from 20 investors, the partners bought the storied 8-acre estate for $8.6 million from Trudi and Bill Konrad, who bought it in 1999. They closed escrow in February 2021 and were “swinging hammers” by April. Enlisting Redwood Construction of Petaluma and Santa Rosa architect Daniel Strening, Jeffers enthusiastically dove into a major $6 million makeover to freshen the look for a new generation of visitors.
Gone are the yellow paint and green trim. The house is now a pale gray that appears gleaming white on a bright day. Down came the heavy Victorian drapes, letting the Sonoma sun pour into the old belle of Dry Creek.
While Jeffers, who specializes in high-end residential projects, had never thought about buying a hotel, he has had a lifelong love for them and had dreamed of designing the interior of one.
The newly renamed Madrona quietly reopened in April. Visitors now step into a refreshed environment that feels timeless. Jeffers mixed antiques that have been passed down through many generations and many owners with pieces he designed himself and singular elements commissioned expressly for The Madrona.
“We cataloged about 750 pieces of furniture, fixtures and artwork, and we did end up using about 250 of them,” Jeffers said.
Of those, 20 were purchased by wealthy San Francisco businessman and banker John Alexander Paxton, who built the three-story, gabled mansion at Madrona Knolls Rancho as a weekend getaway in 1881. Paxton loved the country life so much he moved his family in permanently. He died in 1888, but his widow remained there until 1902.
“I tried to use at least one piece from the property in every room,” Jeffers said. There are objects from a number of previous owners, giving it a “rich character that has been built over the years,” he added.
“I could see the strong character of the home and the architecture,” the designer said on a recent visit as The Madrona prepared to reembark on a summer season of visitors and weddings. He was dressed in Wine Country casual threads — loose pants and loafers — befitting the relaxed daytime atmosphere of what is now known simply as The Madrona. It’s in the soft light of evening that the hotel takes on a romantic vibe — “sexy,” as Jeffers put it.
Intellect, exoticism
For the reimagined Madrona, the designer was inspired by the 19th century British Aesthetic movement, which embraced mixing beauty and intellect with art and the exotic. It was a reaction against the stark functionality of the Industrial Age and stuffy Victorianism, where architecture and interiors were about making a statement and projecting social status.
“The Aesthetic movement was about beautiful things in your home. It was about art for art’s sake and beauty for beauty’s sake,” Jeffers said. “It was about joy and having fun. They say in some ways it was the birth of residential interior design, because it was about how your home made you feel instead of what your home meant to other people who saw it.”
It’s unlikely the influence of the movement reached the Paxtons. But Jeffers playfully has invented a story that the Paxtons went to hear the British writer Oscar Wilde, a fan of Aestheticism who visited San Francisco in 1883.
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Reimagined Madrona gets 'sexy' new look - The Santa Rosa Press Democrat"
Post a Comment