+ '<\/div>' "In my opinion, most of these books are written for one of three reasons -- money, self-aggrandizement or a vendetta," she said. From 1979 to 1982, she was the society columnist for the San Francisco Examiner. I cant imagine having nothing to do but lie there and read a book. recentlyShown: { But I can understand what theyre talking about when you have human feces and syringes and all these things. }); } */ checkCookies(); ouibounceAPIaccess = ouibounce( They embrace everybody. script.src = "https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.1.1.min.js"; $modal.show(); A car with machine gun-armed men follows his armored vehicle. } Thats how I started collecting. We really didnt want it to leave San Francisco. I always regretted not buying it. She recounts a recent party for museum directors that took place in the de Youngs tower on one of those rare San Francisco nights where there was no fog: It was so beautiful. By continuing to use our sites and applications, you agree to our use of cookies. + '<\/div>' setTimeout(function() { defernl() }, 250); My lunch, if Im home, its on a tray with my dog. Wilseys legacy is the de Young Museum. Governed by a dedicated board of prominent vintners and local leaders, the Festival enriches the heart and soul of Napa Valley through its diverse programs. Top Image: Carlo Mondavi is equal parts entrepreneur, winemaker, and goodwill ambassador. pagetype = document.querySelector('meta[property="og:type"]').getAttribute("content"), Napa; SF Insider: Things to do; Wine Country; Monterey-Carmel; Real Estate. var c = ca[i]; Dede Wilsey isn't the only one taken to task. for(var i = 0; i ' I was there with John Buchanan, our director at the time. + '
' The To Kalon vineyards, which are all around us, have several different owners now, but fetch some of the highest prices in the world for grapes, Trevor explains. } He has two guards with him at all times. Dede Wilsey has been a supporter of the de Young Museum in San Francisco since 1998, but she only began collecting art for herself a few years later, when she was looking for a place to put her energy after the death of her husband, dairy and real-estate tycoon Al Wilsey. (function defernl() { Old, young, every ethnic group. We all have different reasons for coming to Napa Valley: the light, the air, the soil, the vistas, and, of course, the wine. Todd Traina is a film producer. In 1980, she married dairy millionaire Wilsey, who had recently divorced his third wife, Pat Montandon. I tried my hand in the vineyards and the cellar but found my niche in marketing. The goal was to create a useful guide to the place and to offer a look at the people who make it special. The Interview: The Joy of Generosity. Many a woman shudders at the terrible eclipse of those intellectual powers which in early life seemed prophetic of usefulness and happiness, hence the army of martyrs among our married and unmarried women who, not having cultivated a taste for science, art or literature, form a corps of nervous patients who make fortunes for agreeable physicians Sarah M. Grimke (17921873). No. + '
' socialites should set tongues wagging -- and other writers say it's not just trash talk, Mrs and Mrs Wilsey with Sean Patrick Wilsey, age 3, OPERA08D-C-07SEP02-MT-CKH --- Dede Wilsey attended theOpening night of the SF Opera pre-performance galas. Matthew Kelly nimbus arts, a community-based nonprofit, ignites artistic expression across the napa valley. 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. // Handler for close signup button .done(function(data, textStatus, jqXHR) { + '
' "So many memories are connected to being outdoors," Roman says. As Herb Caen used to say, 'There's nothing older than yesterday's news.' if (!$modal.length) { For the Fine Arts Museums, I recently bought a Canaletto at the Getty auction. 707-963-0278 f * Generic setCookie() method, used by setNewsletterCookie(). Since then, she has worked for the Sunday Style and Datebook sections, covering gala night openings and writing trend pieces. Since then, Dede has built a formidable collection of Impressionist art, and has continued to help the de Young and its sister museum the Legion of Honor grow their own. })(); artnet and our partners use cookies to provide features on our sites and applications to improve your online experience, including for analysis of site usage, traffic measurement, and for advertising and content management. Photographed & Styled By Claiborne Swanson Frank, The Parisian Hotel Where Joyce Finished Ulysses, From Town & Country for Cayman Islands Department of Tourism, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. Festival Napa Valley is presented by Napa Valley Festival Association, a nonprofit organization with a mission to bring the arts to all through world-class performances and inspiring arts education programs. She worked as the paper's society columnist from 2000 to 2004, when she wrote about the lifestyles of the rich but not necessarily famous. She raised $3.2 million for the Immaculate Conception Academy, and she led fundraising that bankrolled $16.6 million for Grace Cathedral. In fact, we planned a big outdoor christening, but it rainedand it never rains in Napa. The quick-thinking couple cleared out all the furniture in the seldom-used formal parlor to allow about 60 guests to gather inside for the ceremony. So, whats the difference? Years later another dealer called about the same picture and the price was $22 million. Dede Wilsey, born Diane Dow Buchanan, was the great-granddaughter of the founder of Dow Chemical Co. + '<\/div>' They are confident and bold in how they live. View ALL 9 Photos. The couple soon became leading lights of the high society of San Francisco and Napa Valley, where they maintained a country house. You learn all about what that art is and that artist. Al Wilsey also invested in real estate with developer Gerson Bakar. In my bathroom, I have dog portraits and Chinese export porcelain. $.fn.serializeFormJSON = function () { . And the thing is, we come from wicker. (Well, almost. In October, she funded the museums acquisition of Canalettos Venice, the Grand Canal looking East with Santa Maria della Salute. Everything in the Gettys house was just so special. There were two people in beautiful clothes, a man and a woman with a parasol, walking away from you. }; Festival Napa Valley celebrates musics unmatched power to enrich, uplift and inspire. The fact that in the Bay Area no female is as graceful and giving as Wilsey. Her sons position is a full circle moment for Wilsey: from 1975 to 1977 her father, Wiley T. Buchanan Jr., served the same role under President Gerald Ford. setNewsletterCookie('closedSignupBar', 1); I buy a lot of Chinese export porcelain. Thats me with my husband and partner in crime, Trevor Traina. // Init - Anything you want to happen onLoad (usually event bindings) Says, Bill, pictured here with Deborah, Ultimately were building a culture around wine and hospitality that we all hope will last for generations. . Sean Wilsey is hard on his mother, Montandon, a beauty from Oklahoma once squired by Frank Sinatra, because she was always trying to be a somebody. 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. "We'll teach him a lesson together." return o; Yes, tourists still pack tasting rooms and trek wine trails, but Napa Valley has also become a haven for entertaining, hobnobbing, creating, and soul-searching. San Francisco philanthropist Dede Wilsey underwrites the festival's dance series, which has featured dancers from American Ballet Theatre, Bandaloop, Bolshoi Ballet, . 74 is the new 54 and Wilseys bubbly blonde beauty has not faded. "What's impressive is the degree to which he acknowledges the good and the bad in both sets of parents," Maupin said. His addition to our metal arts team sharpened our offerings and his popular programs have proven to be a cut above! We are bound to one another by the kind of esprit de corps that comes with the pursuit of magicmagic in the vineyards, on the table, at the drawing board. .fail(function(jqXHR, textStatus){ Website design by Compass Marketing, websitedevelopmentbyStoryWorkz. He began to fantasize about her sexually as a teenager, trying to see her through his father's eyes. // dataType: 'json', The catalyst was the Russian National Orchestras annual summer residency in Northern California, starting in 1999. Giovanni Antonio Canal, Il Canaletto, Entrance to the Grand Canal looking East, with Santa Maria della Salute at right. To Wilsey, this is all in a days work and not something she brags about. Montandon was awarded $20,000 a month, which she said was too little to maintain the lifestyle to which she'd become accustomed. 649 main street She's sitting in an armchair in her Napa Valley homethe place where she is most happyher 10-year old Maltese at her feet. Alexis and I were married there on the front lawn, Trevor recalls, and our son was christened here. Model, TV hostess, society columnist and author. I loved that painting. Needless to say, we were immediately smitten. Their May engagement was followed in August by a garden wedding for 400 in the tiny Napa town of Oakville. e.preventDefault(); + '
Get hand-picked stories from our editors delivered straight to your inbox every day.<\/p>' + 'Please enter a valid email address' setNewsletterCookie('recentlyShown', 1); Wilsey was a prominent Bay Area businessman and owner of Rutherford River Ranch Vineyard in Napa Valley. . + '' Festival Napa Valley was founded in 2006. . var paywallPagesRegex = /^\/subscribe|subscribe-confirm|my-account(\/|$)/; A naturally gracious hostess, Wilsey has an uncanny ability to make anyone feel comfortable. Contributing to the causes she believes in is her job and one that she takes very seriously. regex: { Since then, I have been buying 19th-century or early 20th-century Maltese or terriers. }); Inside where the staircase isI looked over there and I sort of expected my parents to come down the stairs. Michael Taylor decorated Trevors parents homes, and his grandmothers house in Newport, Rhode Island, was done in the 1960s by Valerian Rybar; Thomas Britt decorated the homes of Alexis parents. My fantasy was to be a gentleman farmer with three grapevines and art. Tweet. //hide on mobile phones Wilsey's family got a direct thanks from the Trump administration for their past support . Dede has had a residence in the heart of the Napa Valley since 1970. var o = {}; Now living in Los Angeles, she's writing her own memoir. Dede Wilsey has been a supporter of the de Young Museum in San Francisco since 1998, but she only began collecting art for herself a few years later, when she was looking for a place to put her energy after the death of her husband, dairy and real-estate tycoon Al Wilsey. I didnt feel any better. Or that life in high society is about power and status, so everybody is always trying to position himself as a success -- or at least, avoid offending the powerful, for fear of being shut out of the scene. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. She remains a prominent figure in the artistic and . Everybody you can imagine. Father of Sean Wilsey and sons Michael and Ladd Wilsey from previous marriages. aggressive: true, }); var initOuibounce = setInterval(function() { callback: function() { I started to research my book, From Napa with Love, which was published by Abrams in September, by reaching out to the areas most colorful characters, people I grew up around or just admired, like film-maker and writer Roman Coppola, interior designer Ken Fulk, and Elizabeth Swanson, my wonderfully talented mother. His millions came from his Wilsey Bennett Co., which manufactured edible oils, margarines and butter pats, and also from real estate investments. var ca = document.cookie.split(';'); They embrace everybody. } Its very relaxing, watching her enjoying her book. link.rel = 'stylesheet'; We have a number of family portraits, of my grandparents and my mother, and pieces of furniture I grew up with in various houses, he says. Because we put on exhibitions of every kind. New Homes . Over the years, Wilsey has earned a place on the Mount Rushmore of remarkable women who lead by giving and doing for the City's premier cultural institutions. A fabulous Caillebotte in London. isnewsletter = pagetypeurl.includes("?page_1"); h = Math.max(document.documentElement.clientHeight, window.innerHeight || 0), The car looks like something out of a movie, Wilsey explains. Search. function initNewsletterSignup() { Lorenza rose is produced by Michele Ouellet, a Napa Valley native and fashion model, and her mother Melinda Kearney. That art needed a home, so I think it was pretty simple, we just had to rebuild it. While it was 10 years of hard work, Wilsey counts the de Young as the achievement she is most proud of. . Neil Became a Teachers Assistant for these classes and about 5 years ago started to teach the classes himself. function daysToMinutes(numDays) { } Hes an Australian. var a = this.serializeArray(); "My parents always had friends around and there was a lot of entertaining, and summer was . var $modal = $('#ouibounce-modal'); Since then, the Trainas have made plenty of their own memories at the estate. if (prefix == undefined) { email: /^([a-zA-Z0-9_\.\-])+\@(([a-zA-Z0-9\-])+\. . + '
' Definitely the Koons egg. On October 10, she emailed us an .css-gegin5{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#9a0500;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-gegin5:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}update after evacuating from Yountville, and this week, she sent us news that she and a number of local winemakers, chefs, and other concerned citizens (including many profiled in this story) have partnered with Tipping Point to form Napa & Sonoma Relief, a fund that will provide support to those most impacted by the fires. Her first husband was steamship executive John Traina, whom she met in her hometown of Washington, D.C. What a gift to our community! Sean Wilsey writes that his father was too busy with his new family -- Dede and her sons, Trevor and Todd Traina -- and building a fortune with his Wilsey Bennett Co., a dairy business that manufactured edible oils, margarines and foil-wrapped butter pats, to pay attention to him. Mother of Sean Wilsey. Once it is yours, you can do whatever you want with it. $form.find('.invalid-email').show().siblings().hide(); closeSignupBar(); That's the most powerful kind of memoir. "I don't think you can overestimate the size of the mushroom cloud that will appear over Pacific Heights," said author Armistead Maupin, whose 1976 serial "Tales of the City" provided a fictional mirror for real-life San Francisco personalities. //and we can just return here. } Instead, she moves the discussion to focus on her family. if(valid){ if (typeof ouibounce !== 'undefined') { There's only one Dede Wilsey on the Bay Area social scene. The Traina clan pulled out all the stops for their biennial Fourth of July barn dance held at the family's Napa Valley vineyard. What was your first purchase (and how much did you pay for it)? This isnt the first reporter shes entertained, and its probably not the lastbut she is so candid I feel as if Im chatting with one of my oldest girlfriends. w = pagetype + 20 * Math.round(w / 20), h = pagetype + 20 * Math.round(h / 20), googletag.cmd.push(function() { In 1980, she married dairy millionaire Wilsey, who had recently divorced his third wife, Pat Montandon. if (window.jQuery) { var ctx = this; // Add animation css $('body').append(signup); Stepfather to Todd and Trevor Traina. Wilsey is the mother of film producer Todd Traina and Trevor Traina. expiration_days: 5 Nonetheless, "we've had a good relationship," she said of Sean, "especially once he came back from the school in Italy, once he was happier with himself. Right now we have, Social Media Management for Interior Designers, Social Media Management for Real Estate Developers, Gettys Throw Star-Studded Poker Night For AmfAR, Faena Debuts Newest ShowSamsara Cabaret At Faena Theatre, Blossoms Rare: Haute Livings Exclusive Editorial Featuring, Chasing The Sun: Haute Livings Exclusive Editorial, Le Grand Ball of Time: Haute Livings Exclusive Editorial, Braman Miamis Mike Rodriguez On The Power Of, Gucci Taps Its 90s Archives For The Fall/Winter 2023, Inside Jenny Cipolettis Glamorous Baby Dior Baby, From Naomi Campbell To Sadie Sink: Inside Alexander, New York City Welcomes Haute Leaders For The First Time. I was in Maastricht to lead a group from our museum [the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco]a building committee, because we were building the de Young Museum at the time. signedUp: { '