Photography by Daniel Dent for Gardenista.
Fifteen years ago this fall, Stephen Singer and partner Michel Boynton found a partly abandoned apple orchard for sale on 15 acres in Sebastopol, a tiny town in Northern California.
A galvanized gate welcomes visitors to the property, on unassuming Baker Lane. On the Baker Lane property, grapevines grow on about six acres; about 92 percent of the grapes are Syrah and the rest are Viognier.
A remodel transformed a former dairy building into a guest house. Grapevines grow on the pergola, shading the porch.
On the porch of the guest house, three varieties of potted pelargoniums thrive in the Sonoma County climate.
Baker Lane now makes two olive oils: the Occidental Blend ($38 for a 750-milliliter bottle), made from olives grown on a friend’s orchard in Sebastopol, and the Estate Tuscan (starting at $24 for a 375-milliliter bottle), made from a blend of Tuscan olives grown at Baker Lane.
Inspired by sculptor Richard Serra’s Tilted Arc, a 1980s public art installation in New York City that sparked controversy and was ultimately removed, Boynton envisioned the hedge garden maze.
Electricity from solar panels heats the lap pool.
Though they don’t have the hospitality resources of a huge outfit, says Singer, they welcome guests to the property because “the environment here says something about what we’re trying to do with our wines.”
At the north end of the pool is a small kitchen garden that Boynton tends. Anding designed an adjoining garden shed that evokes the regional vernacular of a farm building, he said.
A chaise lounge and matching table at the north end of the pool.
“When working on a site like this, you want to avoid making it look suburban,” she said.
Adjacent to the garden shed is a potting table with Boynton’s garden projects underway.
Boynton nurtures strawberry seedlings in aluminum pie pans.
An outdoor shower is connected to the master bathroom in the main house.
A wooden bench overlooks the vines and olive orchard.
Baker Lane 2016 Rosé ($20) served in tall, yellow-banded Acqua e Vino glasses from Permanent Collection.
Rows of grapevines create a picturesque backdrop.