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Earthquakes and Wine Country Buildings, the Culinary Institute and Inglenook/Rubicon
A few weeks ago I heard a great story. When California, that paragon of helpful regulations required companies that invited the public in to retrofit their buildings and make them earthquake safe it of course cost a bunch of money. You only have visit the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena to see the efforts it required.
Having lunch in its great ‘Wine Spectator’ restaurant is a lesson in steel design related to architecture. I’ve been in factories that have less exposed structural steel. The outside of the building is a constellation of earthquake stars, those steel, threaded end pieces that together with thick threaded rods help hold spreading walls together.
I originally had heard that the reason that the Christian Brothers Winery had given up the site was the prohibitive cost of retrofitting the caves. I don’t know if that’s true so if anyone reading this knows the inside story please let us know. I’ve been to the Mont LaSalle property where the Christian Brothers now reside, but they don’t pour wine anymore for their visitors, unless you’re having a wedding or some other event there.
But the cool part of the story was this; when the old Inglenook Chateau (Today home to Rubicon) built by Captain Neibaum in the late 1800’s was reviewed for retrofitting, no work was required. Why? Because the Captain was a very wealthy man who was happy to spend what was necessary to get the very best construction possible. In contrast the CIA building had been a commercial winery so they were watching the pennies and made some decisions on the cheap, if that is possible building with stone.
In comparison the Captain built this beautiful estate as a hobby winery. He didn’t need the income but it was the best solution to a tricky problem. His intention when he retired was to outfit a sailing ship and together he and his wife would sail the world together. At which point his wife announced that she didn’t like boats or the ocean. So instead they moved to Napa and grew grapes and made wine.
As a craftsman and builder of buildings I enjoy the sense that Englenook/Rubicon was built with a sense of integrity. That’s probably one of the reasons I visit there so often with my clients, and why they like it so much as well.
Ralph & Lahni de Amicis are authors of the Amicis Winery Guides (Find them on Amazon), and owners of Amicis Tours. They are authors of over twenty books on health, design, business and travel. Their iPhone Apps, The Napa Valley Wine Tour, and The Sonoma Winery Tour are a tour guides approach to these beautiful area, complete with 1000’s of photos and insights. Their articles and products can be found on the sites http://www.amicistours.com and http://www.spaceandtime.com
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