Winery Seeks To Use Vallejo-Castenada Adobe as Tasting Venue

One of Sonoma's oldest buildings—the Vallejo-Castenada adobe west of the Plaza—could become a winery office and tasting room if a proposal before the City of Sonoma Planning Commission gets approved.

Three Sticks Winery wants to purchase the home that was built circa 1842 and is one of the few remaining from California's Mexican Period. The structure is on property deeded by Commandante Generale Mariano Vallejo in 1836 to his brother Captain Salvador Vallejo. The home's first resident was Mexican captain Don Juan Castenada, according to the Historic Resources Inventory of the state Parks and Recreation Department.

Over the years, the home has been known as La Casita, Casa Castenada or simply La Casa. Once a blacksmith shop, it is currently the home of Robert and Leslie Demler, who have put it up for sale.

"Due to its age, its associations with the Vallejo family and its adobe construction, this building possesses tremendous historical significance," Planning Director David Goodison told the commission Thursday night.

The home is at 143 West Spain St., in an area zoned Medium Density Residential, within the Historic Overlay Zone. It has been identified as a contributing building to the Plaza National Landmark District, is on the League for Historic Preservation's inventory of historic structures and is eligible for listing on the California Register of Historic Resources, Goodison noted in his report.

Homeowner Robert Demler is vice president of the League and treasurer of the Blue Wing Adobe Trust. Both of the Demlers are on the Board of the California Heritage Council. They have placed the home on the market because the role of "caretaker" for the home has become too physically and fiscally challenging for them, according to Robert's statement to the commission read by Leslie's son, Ian Trueblood. The Demlers have owned the home for 15 years.

Three Stick Winery's proposal would allow the historic residence to be used for an office where the winery's mailing list customers could visit and sample products. The boutique winery is a family-owned operation. It currently has 4,000 mailing list customers, owner Bill Price told the commission Thursday night.

Price is proposing the tasting room be used by appointment only, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Mondays through Fridays and occasionally on Saturdays. No public retail or tasting is proposed, though public tours are part of the proposal. Price is hoping to do the conversion under provisions of the Development Code's Adaptive Re-Use of Historic Structures, which has certain key conditions. 

The Demler and Price families received glowing praise from each other and neighbors who spoke before the commission, in terms of their respect for Sonoma's historic value and for this home's value in particular. Several people honored the Demlers for the amount of effort they've contributed to the home. Some residents, however, expressed concerns over traffic and parking issues that could arise if the home were to go into commercial use.

Some commissioners expressed concern that the project may not meet the requirements of Adaptive Re-Use and that those provisions shouldn't be used for conversion from residential to commercial use.

"We can't have a business coming in the back door to a residential zone," said Commissioner Michael George. "This is going to be carried on into perpetuity."

The commission voted to continue discussion of the proposal without prejudice so that they can look more carefully at a parking lot Price also proposes to develop on an adjacent parcel at 138 Church St.. At least one commissioner noted that parking lots can be considered to degrade historic value.