di Rosa

di Rosa Review

It's not unusual for Wine Country moguls to collect art and display it in their wineries, but the late Rene di Rosa took the practice one grand step further: in 1986 he sold his winery and used the proceeds to finance this 217-acre art preserve. Thousands of 20th-century artworks by Northern California artists crop up everywhere—in galleries, in the former di Rosa residence, on every lawn, in every courtyard, and even on the lake. Some of the works were commissioned especially for the preserve, such as Paul Kos's meditative Chartres Bleu, a video installation in a chapel-like setting that replicates a stained-glass window from the cathedral in Chartres, France. If you stop by without a reservation, you'll gain access only to the Gatehouse Gallery, where there's a small collection of riotously colorful figurative and abstract sculptures and paintings, as well as rotating modern-art exhibits. To see the rest of the property, sign up for one of the various tours of the grounds.