Here Comes the doggie train. An 80-year-old Texas man who has been taking in abandoned dogs has built a 'doggie train' to take them out to a creek once a week. Watch the video here.

Always looking for innovative ways to improve its guests' experience, Inglenook has announced the long-awaited opening of its new Visitor Center, situated at the entrance to the estate. The building, originally constructed in 1879, was used as a water storage tank house on the back of the property. It was capable of storing up to 20,000 gallons of water collected from nearby mountain springs which were used for winery operations.

Rather than build something new, the Coppola family wanted to share this rarely seen, historical building with a wider audience. Over the past two years, the building has been carefully relocated to the entrance and restored as a Visitor Center, where we will welcome visitors. Guests will check in here before proceeding to the Chateau for their experience.  

SPECIAL OFFERS FROM INGLENOOK:

1. Inglenook welcomes fellow members of The Luxury Marketing Council to come see the new Visitor Center, schedule a tasting with one of the winery’s sommeliers or enjoy a glass of wine in the beautiful courtyard.  Mention you are a member of The Luxury Marketing Council when you make your reservation for a special discount.  Reservations@inglenook.com
2. For those of you who want to enjoy a taste of Inglenook at home, Inglenook is offering a 40% discount of its 1882 Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 and Sauvignon Blanc 2014.  www.inglenook.com. Use coupon code "LMC2016”
3. 10% discount off all Corporate events for LMC members. Call Gemma at (707) 968-1182

Thursday, Sept. 15th
5:30 – 7:30 PM

Whether by accident or design, the working partnership between real estate agent and building contractor is not a rare occurrence. At the high-end, that newly-purchased luxury home will inevitably require some degree of remodeling, and it’s often from the real estate agent that the home buyer seeks recommendations for a trusted contractor. How well do these two service professionals work together? We have the answers.

In this revealing, tell-it-as-it-is presentation, a panel of the Bay Area’s most respected building contractors and remodelers will the discuss the optimal partnership between the contractor, real estate agent , architect and interior designer. They’ll reveal the secrets of a happy marriage, one that maximizes time and resources, leads to more effective methodologies for building client trust and ultimately results in a long-term partnership that benefits all parties, most noticeably the client.
Featuring:

• Sid Baxter, S.A. Baxter, Inc.
• Brad Hayes,  Upscale Construction
• Melody Mortazavi, Pinnacle Group
• John Schrader, Nova Designs + Builds
• Elizabeth Suzuki, Sutton Suzuki Architects

The Blind Cafe Experience, is a 'pop-up dinner, blind awareness experience and a music concert', a mind bending / heart opening experience where the audience indulges in a Sensory Tasting Experience' prepared by a local Chef. The audience participates in a Q & A with legally blind wait staff and enjoys a concert of original music by Blind Cafe Performing Artists, Rosh & the Blind Cafe Orchestra & Richie Flores ...all in the 100% pitch dark. Dine over a three-course dinner paired with Merryvale Vineyards wine.

This is NOT just another dinner in the dark…it’s a community experience where people connect, learn and break bread together without their visual conditioning, social etiquette and cell phones.
Dates / Times:

• September 22 - 23, Thursday & Friday shows start at 7PM
• September 24, Saturday shows starts at 5:30PM

Location: Merryvale Vineyards 1000 Main St. St. Helena, CA 94574
Tickets: here
Cost: $225 - $500

September 24th at 7.00 PM
 

Renowned actor Derek Jacobi stars with actor/director Richard Clifford and the acclaimed early musicians of Washington DC’s Folger Consort in a World Premiere event celebrating the 400th   anniversary of William Shakespeare’s legacy.

Presented by the Folger Shakespeare Library and NapaShakes, this extraordinary production combines dramatic readings of Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure” with excerpts from Henry
Purcell’s chamber opera “Dido and Aeneas” to create a perfect depiction of the ecstasy and excesses of love. With a cast of 27 including Peter Becker (baritone), Molly Quinn (soprano), and Emily Noël (soprano), don’t miss the first performances of this historic pairing of two monumental works,starring one of the world’s most respected and beloved actors, before it moves to the Kennedy Center.
 Dates / Times:

• Saturday, September 24 at 7:00 pm, Lincoln Theater, Yountville
• Sunday, September 25 at 7:00 pm, Green Music Center, Sonoma State University

Tickets: www.napashakes.org/tickets.

More information at http://fortune.com/2016/05/25/sutter-home-wines/

Dzhibrailova Ranks in THE THOUSAND and The Leading 100
Tanya Dzhibrailova was named one of the country’s top real estate professionals by REAL Trends, as published in The Wall Street Journal. She is now ranked in the top one half of one percent of the more than 1.1 million Realtors® nationwide. According to The Thousand, Dzhibrailova had sales volume totaling $87,053,389, ranking her as 158th in the nation, up from her previous position at 187.

She was also named to another elite group, The Leading 100 List, a ranking of top-producing Bay Area Realtors by dollar volume. This list is compiled by The Luxury Marketing Council of San Francisco, Real Trends Annual Research Report and San Francisco Magazine. The Leading 100 awardees were honored at The Luxury Marketing Council’s Annual Real Estate Boot Camp on Thursday, August 18. Over 300 peers, colleagues and affiliates were on hand to celebrate the accomplishments of The Leading 100. The recipients will be featured in the September issue of San Francisco Magazine.

The Collection, New Online Luxury Magazine Debuts

Zephyr Real Estate has just released the first edition of its all-new online luxury magazine, The Collection. The semi-annual publication is a sumptuous showcase for Zephyr’s most elegant properties. The featured residences include glamorous interior, exterior and landscape images as well as some of the more dramatic panoramic views across the Bay Area.

Humphries Joins Marin Office
Clayton Humphries has joined the Marin office of Zephyr Real Estate. His background includes marketing, publishing, architecture, design and photography, creating a broad network of skills and contacts from which to draw. Humphries has worked on countless marketing projects for associations such as the American Institute of Architects, Museum of Craft and Design, San Francisco Association of Realtors, Curran Theatre and Marine Mammal Center. Some of his contributions include NEMA, a Crescent Heights Development and The Harrison of The Mark Company. In addition to his passion and success in the real estate industry, Humphries has a great love of the outdoors, particularly the Sierras.

Second Quarter 2016 Achievement Awards Announced:

• Top honors once again were awarded to Tanya Dzhibrailova from Zephyr’s West Portal office who received the Highest Dollar Volume Award with an impressive $33,503,000.
• Largest Sale Representing Buyers Award went to Isabelle Grotte from the Noe Valley office with a sale of $4,940,000. Originally from France where she received her degree in marketing and international business from ECE, Isabelle relocated to San Francisco in 2004.
• Ken Eggers, also from the Noe Valley office, received the award for Largest Sale Representing Sellers, coming in at $4,000,000.

In the Marin Office:

• Jenn Pfeiffer clinched the Highest Sales Volume Award with an imposing $11,497,000. Pfeiffer also received the award for Highest Number of Transactions, a total of nine
• Myriam McCarthy and Chris DeNike share the award for Largest Sale Representing Buyers with a $3,520,000 transaction
• Mark Machado and Stephen Pringle share the Largest Sale Representing Sellers at $2,420,000.

Alain Pinel Realtors has successfully completed the re-certification process for the prestigious RELO® Quality Certification by Chicago-based Leading Real Estate Companies of the World. The RELO Quality Certification (RQC) was the first program in the relocation industry to quantify and qualify what true relocation service excellence means. Modeled after the Malcolm Baldrige national quality award, it was created by the network to provide measurable standards for the pursuit of relocation excellence. After earning the certification, a company must complete a re-certification process every five years to ensure it continues to meet the program’s rigorous standards and remains current in terms of technology, relocation trends and other relevant areas.

Under the guidance of Michi Olson, vice president of Global Business Development & Relocation, Alain Pinel Realtors has demonstrated that it continues to meet the specific criteria used to evaluate performance and production, staffing, training and continuing education, quality and scope of relocation service, program marketing, customer satisfaction, technology resources, office facilities, and more.

Painting With Light - Glorious Illuminations: Huether Creates New Fine Art Work With Dichroic Glass.

Revisiting a classic concept, Gordon Huether recently finished a series of works, the 'Dichroic Fins', where the captivating properties of dichroic glass take center stage To set up an appointment to visit the Studio and explore these captivating works of art, https://gordonhuether.com/dichroic-fin-series

Work In Progress: The Cow Jumped Over the Moon

The famous nursery rhyme 'Hey diddle diddle' and its implications of impossible occurrences as well as the iconic Texas Longhorns are both inspiration for this installation, 'The Cow Jumped over the Moon' https://gordonhuether.com/the-cat-and-the-fiddle-the-cow-jumped-over-the-moon

Explore Stunning Residential Installations

Explore three residential projects by Gordon Huether

1. Moss Residence Project: https://gordonhuether.com/moss-residence
2. Sommerfield Residence: https://gordonhuether.com/sommerfield-residence
3. Urbach Residence: https://gordonhuether.com/urbach-residence

"If even there was an argument for minimalism, it’s made at the Chapman Park home of Marika Sakellariou. With nary a color in 4,500 square feet and sparsely decorated with sculptural modern furnishings, the space feels more like an art gallery or laboratory than the home of this doyenne of dance and fitness known simply as Marika."

Read the full article by Sarah Lynch in Marin at Home here

San Francisco’s luxury home prices leveled off in the second quarter of 2016 while a continuing shortage of homes listed for sale led to a sales decline compared to a year ago, according to a new market report by Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, the Bay Area's leading luxury real estate services company.  

The report is based on Multiple Listing Service data of all homes that sold for more than $2 million during the last quarter in San Francisco.

Read the report here

• A Soft Landing? A Report on the San Francisco Market here
• 1st Half Commercial Brokerage Report on the San Francisco Bay Area Apartment Building Market here
• Bay Area Real Estate Market Survey here
• Income, Affluence, Poverty & the Cost of Housing in the SF Bay Area here

The Mark Company is the authority on urban residential marketing and sales. Their method aligns buyer insights with developer goals to deliver unbeatable results.

• The Mark Company Launches Residential Developments with Over $1 Billion in Projected Sales Volume During First Half of 2016. Read the article here

Monthly Reports—May 2016

• San Francisco
• Oakland/Emeryville
• Santa Clara County
• San Mateo County

Trend Sheet for San Francisco—July 2016: here