Over the years, Out There has made a study of perfect "staycation" spots for exhausted San Franciscans within day-trip range of the city. In our continuing survey we've visited cute little boutique inns, classic grand hotels, seaside spots, and quirky-charming B&Bs. We've stayed at "6-star" hostelries with personal concierges. Last week we returned to the wine country for an overnight stay, visiting a historic estate set amid landscaped grounds.
Madrona Manor is a lovely grand old house surrounded by eight acres of wooded and well-tended landscape and gardens in the hills above Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma County. The mansion, built in 1881, hosts an acclaimed restaurant that has received a Michelin star for 10 consecutive years. We headed over the Golden Gate Bridge early one afternoon. The trip to the Manor, mostly a straight shot up Highway 101, typically takes about one and a quarter hour.
News flash from The Santa Rosa Democrat: "An explosion involving a tanker truck delivering liquid oxygen Wednesday afternoon outside a Kaiser Permanente medical office building prompted the evacuation of patients and employees at the campus north of Santa Rosa. Nearby Highway 101 was shut for about two hours."
Reader, do you know the extent of a traffic jam that results from a two-hour freeway closure? Highway patrol directed all northbound and southbound traffic off the highway at the nearest exit. After sitting in a standstill on a service road, we took off for country roads that we thought might go through to our destination, and promptly got lost. By the time we found the freeway again, it had reopened.
So we didn't arrive at the Madrona until after 6 p.m. And here is when the healing properties of the place really kicked in. We guided ourselves in a "self-tour" around the amazing gardens and grounds, and soaked in the view over the valley from a promontory. Vineyards and the hills beyond beckoned. The peace and quiet was exactly what the doctor ordered.
Our guestroom offered antique furnishings, elegant decor, pillow-top mattresses, feather soft linens and thick terry-cloth robes. A gas-fired fireplace took the chill off. We contemplated our mountain and garden views. Soon enough our dinner reservation time arrived. Artisanal gin and tonic on the veranda served to whet our appetite. We had a view of the newly planted, dry-farmed vineyard that sits on the hill just in front of the Mansion overlooking the valley and the mountains of Northern Sonoma.
The mansion's restaurant well deserves its Michelin star. Chef Jesse Mallgren has been creating stylish cuisine there since 1999. Extensive dinner menus are inspired by the estate gardens. We ordered around the menu, sampling appetizers like Hokkaido Scallop Crudo, Wagyu Tartare, Charcoal Grilled Duck Yakitori, and Foie Gras Torchon. For entrees we enjoyed the Local Halibut with morels and smoked mussels, and a burger with dry-aged chuck and Australian black truffles. We followed our attentive waiter's suggestion of a locally produced pinot noir to wash it all down, and were glad we did, as the wine was light and refreshing.
We survived traffic from hell to arrive at a type of heaven, this grand estate in an elegant vineyard setting. We can recommend it as a staycation spot unreservedly. madronamanor.com.