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A RUSTIC YET REFINED NAPA VALLEY HOME
Summer Hill’s Don and Rela Gleason collaborate with architect Bobby McAlpine on a
stunningly serene compound nestled in a Northern California vineyard
Text by Theres e Bis s ell
| Photography by Roger Davies
| Portrait by Avis Mandel
|
Produced by Robert Rufino
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Rela Gleason—interior designer and creative director of the fabric and furnishings company Summer Hill
—at Casa Kulanu, the Napa Valley home she shares with her husband, Don.
Composed of three interlocking pavilion-like structures, the Gleason house is the first California project by
the Alabama firm McAlpine Tankersley Architecture. The gas lantern centered over the courtyard entrance
was custom made by Bevolo; the bronze bicycle sculpture by Robert Holmes is used as the logo for the
Cabernet and olive oil produced by the family’s Summer Hill Vineyards.
Casa Kulanu’s salon features a sofa, lounge, and wing chair by Summer Hill, all upholstered in the firm’s
fabrics. The mantel and mirror are Formations designs, the klismos chair is by Scala Luxury, and the
small side table at far right is by David Iatesta. Multipaned transom windows top steel French doors;
concrete tiles by Peacock Pavers line the floor.
Chinese lacquer cabinets flank a mirrored pocket door that leads from the salon’s dining area to the
kitchen. The table, set with heirloom Canton china, is by Studio Workshops, and the 19th-century English
chairs are upholstered in a Summer Hill linen.
In the kitchen, sconces from Urban Electric Co. illuminate the sink areas, and pendant lights designed by
Rela are installed over the stainless-steel islands; Thermador refrigerator and freezer columns (one
unseen) bookend the far counter, and the range is by Wolf.
A Samsung television is tucked beneath the dining counter; the ottoman is by Summer Hill.
The Gleasons’ grandsons draw on a chalkboard-paint-coated kitchen door that leads to the salon; the
door is flanked by another set of Thermador appliances.
A Summer Hill tray table and wing chair join Chinese chairs in the sunroom; the floor lamp is by Galerie
des Lampes.
Stacked Napa stone lines the sunroom’s fireplace and walls, including this alcove; the leather banquette
is a Summer Hill design.
Antique French fauteuils and an 18th-century games table are gathered in the red-cedar-paneled library;
the heirloom portrait over the sofa has been attributed to John James Audubon.
Andrew Fisher of Fisher Weisman created the Gleasons’ bronze bed, which is draped with an antique
suzani from Suzanne Tucker Home; the limestone mantel is by Atelier Jouvence. The love seat and wing
chair are both by Summer Hill and the antique armchair is from Heather & Co.
Off the master bedroom is an outdoor shower walled with stone salvaged when digging the foundations
of the house.
Iron mirrors designed by Rela and made by McLain Wiesand hang above his-and-her marble vanities in
the master bath; the sink fittings are by Dornbracht, and the sheepskin rugs are by Hide House.
A concrete soaking tub from Sonoma Cast Stone dominates the master bath; the Summer Hill ottoman is
covered in a Suzanne Tucker Home cotton velvet.
The carved bed in a guest suite is by Michael Taylor Designs; the wing chair is an heirloom, and the
curtains are made from a prototype for a Summer Hill crewelwork fabric.
The dramatic bed curtains in another guest room hang from the ceiling; at the foot of the bed are a fauxfur throw, a plaid blanket by Himalayan Cashmere Co. from Flats, and an antique Swiss chair.
A child’s guest room features a chalet-style box bed that has been nicknamed the Heidi Nook; the
Windsor chair is 18th-century English.
The pool coping is made of handpicked flagstones.
Don drives the family’s Lab, Finley, through the vineyards in his 1949 Chevrolet pickup.
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