+ '<\/i>' //position at bottom of screen + ' @media (max-width: 575px){ #ouibounce-modal {display:none !important;} }' setCookie(cookieName, value, expirationMinutes); Dede Wilsey is a San Francisco socialite, Republican donor and philanthropist, and the widow of San Francisco businessman Al Wilsey. His millions came from his Wilsey Bennett Co., which manufactured edible oils, margarines and butter pats, and also from real estate investments. Wilsey and I are 30 minutes into an hour-long conversation, and I . From 1979 to 1982, she was the society columnist for the San Francisco Examiner. Feature Stories, News, One On One, Philanthropy. Maupin doesn't think so. expiration_minutes: 5 Napa Valley's flagship festival presents international stars and emerging talent in free and affordable concerts in iconic venues, and to audiences virtually worldwide. The cast of characters is as rich and intertwined as a soap opera. var expires = "expires="+d.toUTCString(); She claims the long, unpaved, tree-lined driveway as being her favorite spot on the property. It is a nurturing environment where I feel comfortable at work with my new creations and benefit being surrounded by such talented people and their positive energy. Elizabeth and Clarke Swanson. if (generalSettings.loadFontAwesome) { The home was built in the 1860s by H.W. There was a sham wedding to trial lawyer Melvin Belli (who'd represented Jack Ruby) in a Shinto ceremony in Japan that was annulled after 36 days; Montandon wanted the marriage to be official, but Belli refused to have it legally recorded. //if there are cookies indicating that we shouldn't show the signup bar, then the modal won't have been added to the page In 2016 she contributed to more than 380 different charities. Dede has had a residence in the heart of the Napa Valley since 1970. Often well put the kids to bed and then take a walk, he says. TaxID#26-4008029. setTimeout(function() { William Van Meter in Partnership With Royal Salute Scotch Whisky, But ultimately, Wilsey made his peace with Montandon; he dedicates the book to her. head.appendChild(link); .done(function(data, textStatus, jqXHR) { Its a museum picture and it really belongs in a museum. It was held, fittingly enough, in the de Young Museum's central court . var c = ca[i]; Hair and makeup by Sherrie Long (Molly Chappellet and Thomas Keller) and Bianca Rubi (all others). We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. Its as if shes seeing it for the first time. + '<\/div>' As my temporary unemployment began, I knew I wanted to use my free time to tell the story of the valley, and to do it in a way that would illuminate the fact that life here is no longer centered exclusively on wine. When they rebuilt it, they modernized it and reworked some of the space. Society brat grows up, stops throwing oranges at cars on Russian Hill and escapes to the East Coast. What was your first purchase (and how much did you pay for it)? // Submit the form She also told her son that she had cancer and would "be dead by Christmas," but mysteriously, lived on -- with no explanation as to her recovery. Search. What a gift to our community! We are bound to one another by the kind of esprit de corps that comes with the pursuit of magicmagic in the vineyards, on the table, at the drawing board. Traina is living in the exact house that Wilseys father resided in and much remains the sameincluding the exterior, gardens, and grand staircase. Montandon was awarded $20,000 a month, which she said was too little to maintain the lifestyle to which she'd become accustomed. + 'Please enter a valid email address' An interior designer and event wizard, Ken Fulk first visited the valley in 1994, and says We came to Napa on our very first trip to California. All I knew about Napa was what I learned watching Falcon Crest. aggressive: true, Says, Bill, pictured here with Deborah, Ultimately were building a culture around wine and hospitality that we all hope will last for generations. December 5, 2022. Every item on this page was chosen by a Town & Country editor. Nonetheless, "we've had a good relationship," she said of Sean, "especially once he came back from the school in Italy, once he was happier with himself. It was very sad. I wasnt quite sure what that meant, just that I wanted to work with them.. We really didnt want it to leave San Francisco. Thats scary. Facebook. Shes given generously to the UCSF medical facilities, San Francisco Ballet and San Francisco Opera. Stepmother of Sean Wilsey. Festival Napa Valley blazed a trail for the other festivals that have since made wine country their home. Old, young, every ethnic group. info@nimbusarts.org, 2023 nimbus arts tax ID: 27-1503762, Nimbus Arts I don't think that Dede would pay attention, and I don't think she should. Festival Napa Valley is a music, food, wine and lifestyle festival held in Napa Valley, California. + '<\/div>' while (c.charAt(0)==' ') { A car with machine gun-armed men follows his armored vehicle. She recounts a recent party for museum directors that took place in the de Youngs tower on one of those rare San Francisco nights where there was no fog: It was so beautiful. Its popularity led a group of local leaders to imagine a festival that would define Napa Valley as a cultural destination. I wish him well.". $modal.find('.newsletter-signup-thank-you').fadeIn('fast'); I always regretted not buying it. } loadFontAwesome: false She worked as the paper's society columnist from 2000 to 2004, when she wrote about the lifestyles of the rich but not necessarily famous. Historically, its mind-blowing, she says. At least $95 million | 78 years old | United States Primary Position: CEO, Wilsey Properties . I dont care. var name = prefix + cname + "="; A screen grab from Wednesday, August 21, shows the award for Dede Wilsey still includes House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's name on Shanti's website. o[this.name] = this.value || ''; I dont go to lunch with people or ladies Well, really any lunch. His parents, he writes, were so narcissistic they didn't have time to nurture him. She is the widow of Alfred Wilsey, who . New Homes . o[this.name].push(this.value || ''); var head = document.head I was there with John Buchanan, our director at the time. Everything in the Gettys house was just so special. The Interview: The Joy of Generosity. (function defernl() { She remains a prominent figure in the artistic and . Dede Wilsey has been a supporter of the de Young Museum in San Francisco since 1998, but she only began collecting art for herself a few years later, when she was looking for a place to put her . Her father had been an ambassador to Luxembourg and Austria, and chief of protocol to President Dwight D. Eisenhower. He went on to become winemaker at Harlan Estate and Bond, producers of some for the most sought-after cult wines ever made in the United States. 2023 Artnet Worldwide Corporation. return ctx.regex.email.test( $email.val() ); " Maupin read the book and has supplied a cover blurb for it. Picking up where Robert Mondavi left off, the Harlan family has completely rewritten the playbook of American wine. Magic that celebrates ones surroundings. pagetype = document.querySelector('meta[property="og:type"]').getAttribute("content"), }; Helsinki, Finland - July 19, 2017 Co-operation begins with interfaces for NAPA Steel and NDES Beagle, linking early-stage design with production planning NAPA, a leading global maritime software, services and data analysis provider, and NTT Data Engineering Systems (NDES), Japanese experts in maritime software development and engineering, today announced collaboration on ship design and . + '<\/div>' "The people who are in McSweeney's are rising stars. var paywallPagesRegex = /^\/subscribe|subscribe-confirm|my-account(\/|$)/; var ctx = this; Nimbus Arts He began to fantasize about her sexually as a teenager, trying to see her through his father's eyes. And make this a better place and respect the climate and respect people from all countries and understand that unless they work hard to make it better, were in real trouble, she says sounding more like a politician than a grandmother. join our mailing list. } Everything awesome about summer in Napa Valley can be traced back to a glass of rosepeople sip it like water here. // Check if ouibounce exist before calling ouibounce expiration_days: 5 break; He never found exactly what he was looking for, so back in 2015, he and his wife enrolled in a blacksmithing class through The School of Visual Arts in Brooklyn, NY, to learn how to make hand forged knifes. We spend our weekends tinkering with old cars. The car looks like something out of a movie, Wilsey explains. // ------------------------------------------------------------------- + '
' He did drugs, got in fights at boarding school, stole money and even took his uncle's gun, at one point. Dede Wilsey's House (Google Maps). I bought it in memory of Ann Getty. + '' Its unpleasant. }, 7500); data: JSON.stringify( $form.serializeFormJSON() ), $modal.addClass( $modal.hasClass('slideInUp') ? } Dede Wilsey isn't the only one taken to task. // Handler for close signup button Her father was against the marriage. A national book-signing tour is scheduled to follow. Festival Napa Valley is presented by Napa Valley Festival Association, a nonprofit organization with a mission to bring the arts to all through world-class performances and inspiring arts education programs. The house we built together in San Francisco is very contemporary, with my photography collection and objects weve inherited and purchasedits a more sophisticated mix, in a sense, Trevor says. }); . } // ------------------------------------------------------------------- I dont know. . Paul Pelosi and Dede Wilsey. Artnet News, // Extends jQuery with a function to serialize to JSON Another thing she loves about the museums? callback: function() { Al Wilsey, meanwhile, married Dede, who coolly co-opted Pat's position in San Francisco society, took over Pat's Napa Valley weekend dream house, and turned suddenly against Sean, hardening . Dede Wilsey, born Diane Dow Buchanan, was the great-granddaughter of the founder of Dow Chemical Co. }, 5000); Europe's Most Luxurious Train Rolls Again! Dec 5, 2022, By Diane (Dede) Wilsey relinquished the title of C.E.O. }); Early in life, he decided that emotions "had made my mom crazy, and I would not succumb to that." The divorce of Wilsey and Montandon after 10 years of marriage was -- at the time -- one of the most expensive divorce cases in San Francisco history. return o; Wilseys pride, admiration, and love for her family are evident and strong. The residency featured concerts, family programs, and events that generated support for local youth charities. I kept looking around and finally I thought, maybe if I buy a happy painting, Ill feel better. . ); I buy a lot of Chinese export porcelain. //after successful signup, hide the signup bar after 5 seconds Standard subscriptions can be purchased on the subscription page. She is the granddaughter of Herbert . Tweet. "It's not a gossipy tell-all, it's a coming-of-age story about a child surviving a life of conspicuous consumption," Maupin said in a telephone interview from New York, where a film based on his latest novel, "The Night Listener," is being filmed with Robin Williams and Toni Collette. return numDays * 24 * 60; /** My sisters and I each found our creative passions early in life. Trevor said to me, Mom, you have to sit here. sensitivity: 50, She married John Traina after his divorce from Dede. This is a carousel. . function slideInModal(upOrDown) { The old house had less room, but was very charming., Even with its updates, the Napa Valley getaway is a far cry from the couples primary residence, in Pacific Heights. Gina Gallo and Jean-Charles Boisset were the only ones audacious (and legit) enough to purchase the Wappo Hill home that belonged to Bob and Margrit Mondavi. if (window.jQuery) { Theres nothing I love more than sitting in the passenger seat with him driving, going nowhere fast. } function loadJQuery() { But this could have happened to a kid anywhere. $email.focus(); The Venetian scene was due to be auctioned off as part of another prominent San Francisco collection, that of Ann and Gordon Getty, with an estimate of $6 million to $9 millionbut the San Francisco Fine Art Museums nabbed it hours before the sale was due to begin. Wilsey was a prominent Bay Area businessman and owner of Rutherford River Ranch Vineyard in Napa Valley. Years later another dealer called about the same picture and the price was $22 million. Although her role as a member of the board has her at the museum several days of the week, she looks at the de Young with childlike wonder. Since then, the Trainas have made plenty of their own memories at the estate. + 'Signup failed. Theres just a lack of camaraderie in this city anymore, and thats really sad., Speaking of camaraderie, is Wilsey seeing anyone special? document.body.appendChild(script); }); On October 10, she emailed us an .css-gegin5{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#9a0500;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-gegin5:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}update after evacuating from Yountville, and this week, she sent us news that she and a number of local winemakers, chefs, and other concerned citizens (including many profiled in this story) have partnered with Tipping Point to form Napa & Sonoma Relief, a fund that will provide support to those most impacted by the fires. Just fabulous. // Show signup failure error and hide other errors But two people can be in the same place at the same time and come away with two different perceptions of reality. I have been told by friends that people think that Im intimidating and I thought it was the funniest thing Ive ever heard, Dede Wilsey says. Now living in Los Angeles, she's writing her own memoir. ctx.customSerializer(); Sean Wilsey is hard on his mother, Montandon, a beauty from Oklahoma once squired by Frank Sinatra, because she was always trying to be a somebody. The new Mission Bay hospital complex will include: a 183-bed UCSF Children's Hospital to replace inpatient . Neil Became a Teachers Assistant for these classes and about 5 years ago started to teach the classes himself. So Im finally pulling myself together. ouibounceAPIaccess = ouibounce( The couple soon became leading lights of the high society of San Francisco and Napa Valley, where they maintained a country house. Blacksmithing and blade smithing classes followed, and he found his passion. "The clich 'truth is stranger than fiction' may well have been coined to describe Sean Wilsey's wild, wise, and whip-smart memoir." Elle "[An] irreverent and remarkably candid memoir about growing up in wealthy eighties San Francisco . Following her mother Ruth Buchanan's death, Dede Wilsey purchased the house in March 2020. Festival Napa Valley celebrates musics unmatched power to enrich, uplift and inspire. Arriving at their historic, Victorian-style Oakville home, its easy to understand why the pairknown for their notable art collection, philanthropy and omnipresence on the San Francisco social scenepack up their kids almost every weekend and head here to unwind. Governed by a dedicated board of prominent vintners and local leaders, the Festival enriches the heart and soul of Napa Valley through its diverse programs. There . The dining-room table belonged to my great-grandmother, as did the sideboard next to it, and [the nearby] secretary belonged to my mother., Though theres no denying his familys pedigree, Trevor cant help but make fun of some of the houses inherited features: It reminds me of that great comment by Marella Agnellimade after the socialite toured Sid and Mercedes Bass apartment in New Yorkwhen she said, It will take her another lifetime to understand wicker! Theres nothing more WASP-y than lattice and wicker. In my bathroom, I have dog portraits and Chinese export porcelain. The longtime supporter of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco on the Caillebotte that got away and the pleasures of pet portraiture. San Francisco is a character here, as is Tuscany. If you could steal one work of art without getting caught, what would it be? In recent years, Wilsey has become one of the top tier socialites in San Francisco and the unstoppable force behind the construction of the new de Young Museum, which one wag in town has taken to calling the "Dede Young.". Old, young, every ethnic group. } }) In 1980, she married dairy millionaire Wilsey, who had recently divorced his third wife, Pat Montandon. .fail(function(jqXHR, textStatus){ I couldnt care less. timeout: 10000 $(function() { } else { "Oh the Glory of It All," the coming-of-age story of troubled rich kid Sean Wilsey, won't arrive in bookstores until mid-May, but it's already the talk of the party circuit -- and is likely to become the juiciest gossip in years when the book is excerpted in the New Yorker in its April 11 issue, hitting newsstands this week. I tried my hand in the vineyards and the cellar but found my niche in marketing. With inspiring education programs for youth and seniors, tuition-free summer academies for vocalists and instrumentalists, and scholarships for talented students, Festival Napa Valley plays a vital part in creating a thriving, healthy, and engaged community, fulfilling its mission to bring the arts to all. I opened the French Laundry to celebrate the work of the farmers, fishermen, winemakers, foragers, and other purveyors who work directly with the land of this beautiful place. Dede Wilsey has been a supporter of the de Young Museum in San Francisco since 1998, but she only began collecting art for herself a few years later, when she was looking for a place to put her energy after the death of her husband, dairy and real-estate tycoon Al Wilsey. On the lifestyle front, her duties also including writing about cannabis culture for The Chronicle and its cannabis website, www.GreenState.com website. I am truly a happy camper!, Dianne Martinez, Nimbus Arts first ArtPass holder, The caliber and quality of Nimbus Arts programming is exemplary. } Its something I never thought I would buy. Her bid for $57, 000 a month was rejected in court, and the judge advised her to get a job. Since then, Dede has built a formidable collection of Impressionist art . $form.submit(function(e){ In 1982, Wilsey writes, his mother helped author Jerry Jampolsky promote his book, "Children as Teachers for Peace." The author of "Oh the Glory of It All." See our Privacy Policy for more information about cookies. + '
' var o = {}; The drive from San Francisco to the Napa Valley takes only a little more than an hour, but for tech entrepreneur and IfOnly CEO Trevor Traina and his wife, Swanson Vineyards creative director Alexis Swanson Traina, the two places feel as far away from each other as possible. But hating Dede Wilsey, a San Francisco socialite and philanthropist, is the most enjoyable part of a memoir that is at once an effective coming-of-age tale, a touching love letter to aging parents, and a comic romp through . Right now we have Muslim fashions, we just closed Truth and Beauty, which was Pre-Raphaelite Art. expirationMinutes = daysToMinutes(settings.expiration_days); } In a six-month project with The Chronicle's investigative team, she recently revealed the misleading practices of a San Francisco fashion charity that took donations from wealthy philanthropists but donated little to the stated cause of helping the developmentally disabled. isnewsletter = pagetypeurl.includes("?page_1"); Repressing his emotions caused anger, rage and hate, but at Amity, he writes, he found a tenderness in the teaching program that allowed him to open up. + '<\/form>' Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). . + '<\/div>' slideInModal('Down'); Along the way, theatrical and visual arts experiences expanded into . A renowned artist, entertainer, and major league raconteur, Ira Yaeger also happens to be my mothers best friend. if (prefix == undefined) { He arrived in Napa Valley at age 12 when his parents, Eleanor and Francis, bought a house and moved the family up from San Francisco. We all have different reasons for coming to Napa Valley: the light, the air, the soil, the vistas, and, of course, the wine. }, 100); checkCookies(); And living in a house like this, you realize that a great big kitchen and a great big porch are really where you want to be., For his part, Trevor adds that even the houses indoor living can feel somewhat alfresco: I joke that were camping here, because we have 18th-century wallpaper. Though they both grew up in high-style households, Trevor says, were very casual and we arent at all fancy here., Trevor and Alexis are undoubtedly the chicest couple I know, says design impresario Ken Fulk, a close friend. } Wilsey and I are 30 minutes into an hour-long conversation, and I couldnt agree with her more. We love living as much as we can outdoors, Alexis says. She and Wilsey were fixtures on the social axes of San Francisco and Napa Valley, where they maintained a country house. It was just magical. And she relishes the process that comes with each new exhibit. This isnt the first reporter shes entertained, and its probably not the lastbut she is so candid I feel as if Im chatting with one of my oldest girlfriends. if (!expirationMinutes) { Its not random. Oct 21, 2022, By $form.find('.signup-failed').show().siblings().hide(); Her fierce commitment and intense loyalty can also be seen in her tireless philanthropic works. // of subscribing, or managing their account Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. } Want to stay ahead of the art world? Shes sitting in an armchair in her Napa Valley homethe place where she is most happyher 10-year old Maltese at her feet. + '

Get hand-picked stories from our editors delivered straight to your inbox every day.<\/p>' slideInModal('Up'); There's only one Dede Wilsey on the Bay Area social scene. She is the chairman emeritus of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. His addition to our metal arts team sharpened our offerings and his popular programs have proven to be a cut above! + '