Welcome!
Welcome to One Mound
Our home is located in Kenwood, an unincorporated wine country village along Sonoma Highway (State Rt. 12) between the cities of Santa Rosa and Sonoma. Kenwood is in the Sonoma Valley AVA, also called the Valley of the Moon, and is known for vineyards, wineries, and restaurants. We love Kenwood with its small town charm. The climate is California-mild and weather is just beautiful most of the time. We live in a magical place and love to share it with family and friends. Peruse the photos below to see our property.
Mound Avenue is actually a county road, albeit just over 100 yards long, and serves only our property. In 2020 we installed two electrified fences around the maples to protect them from the deer. There is an abundance of wildlife here due to the creek. There is a wildlife camera installed 12-ft. down the bank along the water to track the local mountain lions.
Right side of entrance: Here is the electrified fence to dissuade the deer from eating the gorgeous maple trees. It is working well and the trees still look awesome and offer the most beautiful seasonal colors.
Left side of entrance: The deer congregate here to go down to the creek, so we put the fences on both sides of the bridge to keep the beautiful maples safe.
We built this bridge in 2005. It is dedicated to Dave’s dad, Ken Jefferson, who passed away Christmas Eve, barely a month after the bridge was completed. In order to get a county permit to build this bridge, which we had to call a “repair,” we needed permission from the CA Department of Fish & Wildlife, the CA State Water Resources Control Board, and the Army Corps of Engineers. It was no small task to complete!
Here’s a summer view of Sonoma Creek, under our bridge- it is such a special spot! In winter the water level is much higher and it is moving quickly.
Our colorful cow welcomes visitors from her commanding position on the driveway “island.” Nora Russo, a local artist and friend, painted her with African patterns, motifs, and prints. This was one of the many “cash cows” that were milked for art during a 2000 Sonoma county stampede called Cows on Parade. The painted cows raised $100k for the Sonoma County Arts Commission.
The island is planted with Cotinus, aka “Smoketree”. The graceful island driveway circle makes coming and going on property very orderly and Catherine keeps it quite lovely with her carefully curated seasonal plantings….
After you pass over the bridge, this is the first view of our home. The traditional “farmhouse” was constructed during 2009-2010. It replaced a 1937 cottage. One enters the foyer which transitions into the large, sun-drenched great room, kitchen with butler’s pantry, and “formal” dining room. With two bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, an office, laundry room and upstairs lounge, the home is extremely comfortable for us.
The front of our home is beautifully appointed with timber framed posts and beams. The landscape materials were carefully chosen to reflect the Riperian Corridor in which we are located. We have chosen only plants that are native to Northern CA or to Mediterranean climates that are drought-tolerant perennials, shrubs and trees.
Next to our home is this custom barn which was completed in 2007. We call it the “Big Red Barn.” Catherine originally moved in on the 2nd floor (which is now our “vacation unit”) from the 1937 cottage which we then demo’d to break ground for the house. Behind the barn’s three-car garage, under the vacation unit, is Dave’s office, the wine cellar, and a traditional open passageway (breezeway) to the winery crush pad. There are amazing views from the upstairs covered porch where you see horse pastures and vineyards.
Here is the breezeway in the barn where grape fermentation is happening in this picture. Usually this area is empty. But it is a “working” winery for Catherine and her friends who perform the miracle of grape to glass each year. To the right in this photo are three parking bays and to the left are Dave’s office and the large wine cellar where wine is stored in both bottles and barrels.
This is the wonderful Crush Pad where Catherine and friends make lots of delicious red wines. It was built to accommodate the 3-5 tons of grapes that we annually process here in our barn. The Crush Pad is lighted and covered and has all the necessities of wine making.
No wine county home is complete without its own temperature controlled wine cellar. Besides Dave’s Silkbush and White Oak wines, and Catherine’s “Moylan Rouge”, we make room for barrels aging the upcoming wines Catherine produces.
This is the view from the front door of both the house and barn. We are daily pleased to see horses frolicking about and rolling vineyards, with no vet bills or vineyard management costs.
This cottage was originally a tiny, one-room pole barn that had been converted for somebody’s teenager in the 60’s. When the roof leaked, we found that it not only needed a new roof, but new electrical, plumbing, and insulation. In the end, we replaced everything but the exterior siding and some of the studs! It now has a spacious bedroom, full kitchen and bathroom, and a cozy eat-in living space. There is a pretty winter creek running behind it and it has great views of the horse pasture.
The cottage’s backyard is completely fenced so guests with pets can leave them to play. There is a small patio area with BBQ and seating. The cottage backs up to a winter creek and rolling pastures and is very cozy and private. We officially call it our “Creekside Cottage.”
The Chicken Coop was a 2020 “Covid 19” addition. Catherine was concerned about sourcing food as stores began to have empty shelves due to the pandemic, so she decided to become a “chicken fancier.” Each of the 11 chickens are different breeds. More than half are rare heritage breeds. When they are all laying, we will have pink as well as blue, green, and dark chocolate colored brown eggs.
Chickens must be kept amused and given adequate space, or they can develop bad habits. They just love the mirror you see in this picture. They enjoy seeing themselves, and we think they think there are more girls inside the mirror.
Here is (top to bottom) Bessie Smith, Lucille Ball, and Goldie Hen! In May 2020, Catherine purchased these three girls as “pullets”; they were four months old. It was very hard to buy chickens during the early Covid days. People said it was like trying to buy toilet paper! The girls started to lay eggs after only a month. Shortly after that, Catherine bought 3-day-old chicks that were raised in a brooder box in the laundry room.
We have enjoyed evening fires at this Fire Pit ever since we purchased the property. With all the trees around us, we never have had a shortage of firewood. However, we’ve not had a fire since October 2017, when our world changed.
We love our irregularly shaped Pétanque Court which is happily tucked in between the septic field which we can’t use, and the beautiful 200 year old Valley Oak Tree (Quercus Lobata). Pétanque is a French sport similar to boules and lawn bowling.
This swimming pool is another Covid 19 addition to our property. Since we cannot meet the setback requirements for an in-ground pool, Catherine decided to build an above the ground pool complete with deck and stonewall surround.
The stone that was chosen for this project is called Sonoma Field Stone. The house and barn have Sonoma Field Stone Wainscoting, so naturally we stayed with that. However, it no longer comes from Sonoma but is sourced from Tehama County near Lassen National Forest. This basalt, with its rough volcanic texture, moss and lichen on its surface, is very popular.
Patio between house and creek…
Here is our little garden. The lovely heritage redwood grape stake fence pickets were difficult to source. Some even came from Monterey. Catherine wanted to mimic the old fences one sees along the Northern CA coast. The fencing spans two sides of the property.
View from Petanque Court towards back of house.
