Published September 1, 2005

Suzanne Brangham hurries into the cozy terracotta-walled library at MacArthur Place, the country inn and spa that she founded and developed in 1997, runs a hand through her short pearl-and-pewter hair and profusely apologizes for arriving late.

In fact she’s not late at all, it’s just that business-savvy Brangham, who at age 61,has had one son, three grandchildren and eight highly successful and profitable careers (to date), doesn’t slow down for very long. What’s her secret?

“I have a high energy level, I think it’s inherited from my family,” she explains while straightening a table lamp. “There are people who make things happen, people who get inspired watching others make things happen, and those who aren’t interested in making a difference. I think one of the purposes of life is to be productive and have it make some difference that you lived at all. Life is so short you can’t just stand still.”
Brangham has hardly done that.

After earning a degree in education, Brangham, a native of upstate New York, taught art but discovered teaching stifled her own inventiveness. “I wanted to sit down with my students and use that paint or clay with them instead of just standing in front and directing,” she explains. “That’s when I got into other areas of creativity.”

After working in advertising and public relations, Brangham discovered a goldmine in the art of real estate investing and renovation. Using her design sense, and fondness for risk-taking, Brangham hired and worked hands-on with experts, transforming run-down residences into showplaces. She renovated and sold 70 properties in the Bay Area, and an additional 10 since moving to Sonoma 18 years ago. “It’s crazy, I admit it, but I love it,” she explains. “I just love getting out there in work boots and overalls and being on site.”
She also wrote “Housewise,” a practical guide on buying, renovating and selling property, aimed mainly at women. It became a best-seller and earned Brangham national recognition plus letters from women who claimed Brangham’s advice had helped them become financially independent. “They said ‘thank you for helping starting my life over,’” she recalls. “I think owning your own home is probably the best investment of a lifetime, especially in California – everyone needs that appreciating asset in his or her life.”

Brangham’s plans to quietly retire in Sonoma disintegrated in 1994 when she discovered that General M.G. Vallejo’s daughter’s home, an historic landmark on West Spain Street, was up for grabs. “My creative genes were saying ‘Hey, this would make a great restaurant,’” Brangham recalls. “But that was an insane idea, because you don’t take a home in the middle of a residential neighborhood and turn it into a restaurant thinking you’re going to get support for it.”

However, once neighbors saw Brangham’s non-instrusive plans on preserving the historic mansion, they began to favor her vision over other potential development. And so, the successful restaurant The General’s Daughter was born, and long-time epicure Brangham became a restaurateur.

“I love fine food, especially eating it!” quips Brangham, although she admits she doesn’t cook. “A glass of champagne and a fine meal is a panacea for many problems, and one of the biggest rewards for someone who is feeling off-base.”
Brangham’s next brainchild, Ramekins, a culinary school to showcase Sonoma produce and wines, opened in 1998.

“Sonoma lost the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) to Napa when they were looking to locate in the Wine Country ... so I thought with the land available next to the General’s Daughter I’d open a school for the home chef rather than the professional.”
In March, Brangham sold The General’s Daughter to make room for new projects, but she still owns Ramekins. In April, the school earned the “Avocational Cooking School of the Year” award from the International Association of Culinary Professionals.
Brangham’s latest incarnation, as hotelier, began in 1997 when she saw an 11-acre Victorian country estate in Sonoma. “I couldn’t resist it,” she says. Here she developed MacArthur Place, a 64-room luxury inn, spa and conference center. It boasts tranquil, sculpture-filled gardens and Saddles, a steak’n’ martini- style restaurant, decorated with a dozen saddles and 150 pairs of cowboy boots.

“We’re in an old barn and it was just appropriate,” Brangham says. “Sonoma didn’t have a steak house and the horses, saddles, and Western theme just all led in this direction.”
As with most of her projects, Brangham carried out the design of MacArthur Place and then delegated the operations to others. “I’m more interested in the sculpture of the projects as opposed to the operations,” she explains.

Brangham is bold with color and loves drama. “Color is a mood creator, I’ve never painted a wall white in my life,” she says. “The worst thing is I like to go into peoples’ homes and rearrange the furniture – I really have to restrain myself – that’s the craziness about me.”
The dynamic Brangham, who also plays volleyball, bicycles and gardens in her spare time, has yet another career move up her sleeve. She’s just completing a new home for herself in Sonoma, which includes an art studio.

“With eight careers my wish list is growing shorter and shorter – but I look forward to my next career of being an artist and creating some fine art pieces,” says Brangham. “It’s not my intent to become the Andy Warhol of Sonoma but I do love the idea that I can be in a studio and do what I want to do.”

Brangham says she’s slowing down “a touch” because she plans to take time to take some cooking classes at her school and entertain house guests.

“But mainly I want to be productive and in the studio – that’s my next level of creativity. And who knows, a decade from now there might be something else,” she says. “You learn from every career that you have, so why not try a lot – there’s a lot to experience in this world – why stand still?”