Needless to say, we were immediately smitten. Trevor Traina - Wikipedia Right now some 150 charities--including Meals on Wheels and Stand Up to Cancer--are benefiting from IfOnly. In the blink of an eye, Napa was no longerjusta destination for wine lovers but a haven for conviviality, hospitality, peacockery, tastemaking and soul-seeking. THROUGH WINE." -ALEXIS SWANSON TRAINA, SWANSON VINEYARDS CREATIVE DIRECTOR SWANSON SIP SHOPPE is delightfully whimsical Shoppe, a candy store for adults, showcases sips of Swanson Vineyards' nest library vintages . Being curious and eccentric was normal. Located inOakville, in the Napa Valley, the home was built in the 1860s by H.W. (Trevor found a Proustian double-peacock bench at Steinitz in Paris to set against it.) ", After Seagram's, Traina returned to the Bay Area to attend Berkeley's Haas School of Business. I wondered if wed live near Lorenzo Lamas. So much of HiNote is about self expression in technicolor, and its the idea of being able to tell your story digitally.. My sisters and I each found our creative passions early in life. Sam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. I thought that at the time I would never have the kind of wallet to have a great collection, so I turned to photographs." Heres how. I tried my hand in the vineyards and the cellar but found my niche in marketing. Downstairs in the green-and-white conservatory filled with lush trees, a Richard Serra circle painting and a giant skylight. From Hollywood talents to art-world tastemakers to tech titans, each month we interview the leading lights who make this state the creative and entrepreneurial center of the country. Hamish Bowles is entranced. [14] [15] Traina made a major loan of photographs to the Albertina museum in Vienna for the Fall 2021 exhibition American Photography. Feb 3, 2011, 07:05 PM EST | Updated Dec 6, 2017. Crabb, a Napa Valley pioneer who founded the To Kalon winery. "Who wouldn't want to be surrounded by the brightest and best minds that they know?". The sale marked the end of a chapter in the journey that has defined my adulthood, one that tested my fathers patience daily as I discovered a love of product design and creating new tasting experiences. [16] By the time the company was sold, a few years ago, I was its longest-serving employee. Now comes our first glimpse into their glamorous new lives in Europe. Both Trevor and Alexis grew up absorbing exuberant taste as a baba soaks up rum. [13] His hobby is collecting photographs, an exhibition of his collection in summer 2012 at the Fine Arts Museum was discussed in the media. The Trainas friends were treated to several parties, including a sit-down dinner with live accordion players, and tours of Viennas top attractions like the Palais Liechtenstein as well as a glimpse of the famed Lipizzaner stallions. She claims the long, unpaved, tree-lined driveway as being her favorite spot on the property. "I knew that this big thing was happening across the Bay [in Silicon Valley] and that I was going to leave business school with a startup Internet company," he recalls. Subscribe to our weekly emails for the hottest openings, latest parties and in-depth interviews with the people putting California Style on the map. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. Picking up where Robert Mondavi left off, the Harlan family has completely rewritten the playbook of American wine. At Dedes, theres a full-scale hedge maze and an old-fashioned train that the kids ride all over the property. I knew the house prior to the fire, and I was so crazy for it, says Alexis, who moved from Florida with her family to the region in the mid-1980s. The home today is spacious enough that Trevor and Todd and their families are able to share it as a weekend retreat from their primary residences in Pacific Heights. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. Pictured from left to right: Alexis Swanson Traina, Claiborne Swanson Frank, Veronica Swanson Beard; photo by Trevor Traina. Feature photography by Clairborne Swanson Frank, Katie von Strasser is a former ballerina with a background in fashion and art. Back in 2020, Traina an author ( From Napa with Love ), former vintner and influential creative found herself glued to her phone, checking on friends and family via texts: "I'm embarrassed to admit the hours I spent reading and sending those blue and gray bubbles." Home Design Inside the Home of San Franciscos Most High-Profile Couple, For tech entrepreneur Trevor Traina and his wife Alexis Swanson Traina, a historic Napa Valley home is an ideal respite from city life. This story appears in the April 13, 2014 issue of ForbesLife. A donor to Republican causes, Traina had sought the posting in Austria because his maternal grandfather, Wiley T. Buchanan, had served in the same post under President Gerald Ford. "That was a pretty serious acquisition, but it would probably go for a lot more than that now," he notes. As the daughter of Elizabeth and W. Clarke Swanson, former owners of Swanson Vineyards, Traina spent most of her adult life in the family wine business, ultimately assuming the role of Creative Director. Alexis, meanwhile, grew up in a series of homes that were the bravura handiwork of her godfather, the decorator Thomas Britt, working with her mother, Elizabeth Swanson, whom he describes as "high-octane creative. Advertisement . I've spent my entire life as a connector of people," Trevor Traina says in his cozy San Francisco den. It was the treat and experience of a lifetime.". Tooling around in old cars is something of a family tradition and acutely reflective of the kind of idyllic, nostalgic existence Alexis and her husband, Trevor, the founder and CEO of the charity site IfOnly, and their two children, Johnny and Delphina, lead in the valley. When the winery sold, she decided to put some of her best ideas down on paper: From Napa with Love (Abrams, $25) released in September, takes readers on a whimsical armchair tour of the valley through the eyes of some of its most notable denizens (filmmaker Roman Coppola, wine proprietress Ann Colgin, artist Ira Yeager and the like) with scrapbook-style itineraries, entertaining tips and a glimpse inside Alexis magical life at the end of a private road off Highway 29. "San Francisco right now is like the Florence of the Medicis. As my temporary unemployment began, I knew I wanted to use my free time to tell the story of the valley, and to do it in a way that would illuminate the fact that life here is no longer centered exclusively on wine. Fantasy environments are certainly a leitmotif in the couple's life together; Trevor proposed in the handbag rotunda of Bergdorf Goodman. Wine: Alexis Swanson Traina and Target launch Modern House Veronica Swanson Beard and Veronica Miele Beard. They ran the winery for more than 30 years before selling it in 2016, and its where Alexis honed her instincts for celebrating the ceremonies and rituals of winefirst, with the introduction of a salon-style tasting room, then a modern sip shoppe. He commissioned Venice-based textile maven Sabina Fay Braxton to create a stamped crimson velvet and, in the tradition of grand eighteenth- and nineteenth-century establishments, "bathed the whole thing in itwalls, curtains, sofas, the works." I opened the French Laundry to celebrate the work of the farmers, fishermen, winemakers, foragers, and other purveyors who work directly with the land of this beautiful place. One of HiNote's recent projects is a special collaboration with JJ Martin, founder of Milanese brand La Double J, offering 16 vibrant templates from cocktail hour invitations to sweet messages of encouragement. He arrived in Napa Valley at age 12 when his parents, Eleanor and Francis, bought a house and moved the family up from San Francisco. This fall, Claiborne and I shared an amazing story,inspired by my book for Town & CountrysNovemberissue, where she shot all the portraits and that was super special for us both. I wasnt quite sure what that meant, just that I wanted to work with them.. Thirty-two years ago my serial entrepreneur father, Clarke Swanson, got an itch, a romantic notion of the American dream, and in the blink of an eye purchased a hundred acres in Napa Valley, on Oakville Cross Road. And what better place for a Renaissance man to play than amidst the dizzying variety of activities offered by IfOnly? I was at boarding school when my parents (pictured here) called to say, We just bought a vineyard in Napa Valley! Gina Gallo and Jean-Charles Boisset were the only ones audacious (and legit) enough to purchase the Wappo Hill home that belonged to Bob and Margrit Mondavi. Alexis and Trevor Traina tapped into San Francisco's design historyand the talents of iconic family friendsto create a dramatic setting for their young family. Working out of a bright penthouse watched over by a giant stuffed bison head in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood, Traina has gathered a team of 35 engineers, account managers, marketers, copywriters and, most important, "talent wranglers" like himself. . "We worked with a brilliant, motley crew of talent," says Alexis. In the book we talk a lot about the idea of collecting, whether its stocking a bar or a prop closet, says Alexis. There's also a philanthropic component to the business. Below, shop a few of the items that the talented multi-hyphenate will be bringing along with her on her summer adventures. Hamish Bowles is entranced. Alexis parents, Elizabeth and W. Clarke Swanson, uprooted their family (Alexis sisters, Veronica, a clothing designer, and Claiborne, a photographer, are based in New York) from Naples, Fla., in 1985, when they purchased 100 acres on Oakville Cross Road and started Swanson Vineyards. Getty's three full-time seamstresses were set to work on the Trainas' maharaja library, sewing a dense tapestry of the eyes of peacocks' tail feathers to its gently curving wall. "Trevor has vision that I don't," says Alexis. I already know the best trees for climbing, the ultimate hide-and-seek spots and where to build a fort, he says. "It really hit home that San Francisco has become the center of the idea economy." He lives in San Francisco and walks three miles a day on the steep city streets. "On her watch we were really able to discover our styles and blend them," says Alexis. Raise a glass to the artists, rebels, and dreamers who call this storied California paradise home. This is a family home; its very comfortable and familiar., The decor is an assemblage of styles, though most are heirlooms and antiques set in place by Trevors mother. We were lucky; the point of entry was much different then than it is now, Alexis says. In a Thursday morning ceremony at the historic Hofburg imperial palace in Vienna, San Francisco tech entrepreneur and socialite Trevor D. Traina was officially installed as the U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Austria. It is a perfect gift for this holiday season. And for the past few years, Traina has been holding that center--linking the Bay Area's tech titans with the city's Old Guard. (The grotto furniture has sentimental meaning for the Trainas--it was used as part of his surprise marriage proposal in Bergdorf Goodman's handbag rotunda.). At a charity auction, he bought an hour of tennis with John McEnroe. Whats Your Fancy? By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. Weve just bought a vineyard in the Napa Valley. As we hung up the phone, I wondered just how far Falcon Crest was from this new vineyard. There is madcap Dodie Rosenkranz, whose villa was decorated by Michael Taylor in a style that Britt characterizes as "palace in Calcutta." One of our favorite family traditions is bringing out our collection of Bavariannutcrackers, candelabras, smokersand pyramids. She is a devoted advocate for people with disabilities. At his behest this was transformed after-hours by Linda Fargo into a softly lit bower, echoing to birdsong and filled with ornamental lovebirds and white peacocks, orchids, chandeliers, and silvered Venetian grotto furniture (some of which has made its way into their airy dining room). A signed pair of golf pants worn by Gary Player in the 1960 British Open ($10,000) will come wrapped with white golf tees. Alexis Traina's favorite Bay Area places - sfgate.com Trevor wanted his entrance gallery, for instance, to suggest "the idea of a grand entrance in a Venetian palazzo leading up to the piano nobile." We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. Alexis Traina considers the vintage cars at her familys weekend home in Napa Valley to be perfectly acceptable home offices.
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