Published September 8, 2005

When Leon Taylor and Masha Levinson moved to this country from Russia – in 1976 and 1981, respectively – they could never have predicted they would meet in San Francisco, get married and make a second home in the Sonoma Valley.Even more surprisingly, especially for a couple who are in the real estate business themselves, they could not have predicted how difficult it would be to find the right property.

Starting in the late 1980s, says Taylor, “Every weekend we could get away from the city, we’d go to wine country. By 2001, we really got into it and started looking seriously for a place up here.”

They knew they would keep their main residence, a condo on Nob Hill, but they wanted a summer home where they could spend weekends with their daughter and their friends.

“We started with a wish list,” explains Levinson. “We thought we’d buy a place with a swimming pool, a hot tub, a tennis court, vineyards and a wine cellar. What we found was.... it didn’t exist.

“So we changed strategy and searched for a property where things would be possible. To our surprise, it was hard even to find a place with potential.”
After spending six months looking at dozens of properties, most of them too large or too small, they were driving along Highway 12 in Kenwood, where they came upon a suitable location at the right size – 3 acres. By then, Taylor and Levinson knew better than to walk away just because the existing house was uninhabitable and surrounded by abandoned automobiles.

“The place definitely needed someone with a vision,” says Levinson.
By 2003, the couple had created an estate that reflects their twin passions for Italian style and the wine-country lifestyle.

With the majestic Sugarloaf Ridge in the background, they built a Tuscan-style home with ochre exterior walls, a red tile roof and extensive views of the vineyards and the mountain. They also planted an acre of cabernet sauvignon, landscaped the remaining acreage with roses and fruit trees, installed a pool and hot tub, built a pool house and added a tennis court and a combination guest house/garage/wine cellar that duplicates, on a smaller scale, the appearance of the main house.

And the four-bedroom, four-bath house itself was obviously designed on quite a grand scale.
In the middle of the huge living room, a curved staircase sweeps up to the second floor, threatening to steal the show from the grand picture windows overlooking the vineyards. The color scheme is gold-and-ivory, from the walls to the furnishings, all of which came from Italy.

“Everything in this house was custom-made for us in Italy,” explains Levinson. That includes the marble statuary displayed in built-to-fit niches, the collection of ceramics from Orvieto and the spectacular dining room chandelier handmade in Murano.
The two upstairs bedrooms have walk-in closets, small balconies and fireplaces that can be turned on and off by remote control.

Levinson looks around at the opulent interior she created, smiles broadly and says, “This is the first time in my life I got everything I wanted.”