Preserving Historic California Architecture

2008 Napa Conference

Map of Conference Venues (please note you must register at the Embassy Suites to get your Tour and Event tickets)

Special Events

• State Historic Resource Commission Reception
• Opening Reception
• CPF Emeritus Trustees Reception
• New Preservationists' Reception
• Plenary Session
• International Preservation Luncheon
• President’s Circle Reception
• Three-Minute Success Stories
• Silent Auction Closing and Reception
• Closing Party

State Historic Resource Commission Reception
*BY INVITATION ONLY* – Beringer Vineyards
TUESDAY, APRIL 22, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM

Grounds bedecked with elaborate gardens and graced with stately 19th Century architecture evoke the Victorian heyday of Beringer and provide a unique glimpse into one of one of Napa Valley’s earliest wineries. The entire winery site was designated a Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001 and is the oldest continuously-operating winery in the valley. The Reception will be held in the historic Rhine House, completed in 1884 by Architect Albert Schroepfer.

Cost: N/A, by invitation only.

Back to TOP of page

Opening Reception – COPIA
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Catch up with old friends and make new acquaintances at the kick-off reception for the 33rd Annual California Preservation Conference in a stunning venue. COPIA, The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts, is a cultural museum and education center dedicated to the discovery, understanding, and celebration of wine, food and the arts in American culture. The Reception will be held in the stunning glass-fronted Atrium Lobby which provides dramatic views of the Napa River.

Cost: $40

Back to TOP of page

CPF Emeritus Trustees Reception
*BY INVITATION ONLY* - venue TBD
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 8:30 PM - 9:30 PM

Cost: N/A, by invitation only.

Back to TOP of page

New Preservationists’ Reception -
M J Schaer Gallery, Historic Napa Mill
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 9:00 PM - 10:30 PM

Join us for the first New Preservationists' Reception at a classy art gallery in the Historic Napa Mill, a National Register Landmark built in 1884. The New Preservationists is a new initiative of CPF to introduce budding preservationists to one another and provide mentoring opportunities with experienced professionals. The definition of a New Preservationist is purposefully vague, and we invite anyone who considers themselves new to the field of preservation (from students, to interested individuals, to those with 5+ years of experience – you decide!) to join us for this inaugural event.

Cost: $15

Back to TOP of page

Plenary Session – Napa Valley Opera House
THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 9:00 am - 11:30 am

Keynote addresses by James Conaway and Reno Keoni Franklin, and the presentation of the CPF President’s Awards will be on the agenda at this year’s Plenary Session, to be held at the Napa Valley Opera House.

James Conaway is the author of “Napa : The Story of an American Eden”, “ The Far Side of Eden: New Money, Old Land, and the Battle for Napa Valley” and other books, is a contributing editor for Preservation Magazine and a regular contributor many magazines including Smithsonian, National Geographic Traveler, and Food & Wine.

Reno Franklin has spent the last five years as the Cultural Resource Director for the Kashia Pomo Tribe, four years ago he was appointed as a Tribal Historic Preservation Officer. He has been instrumental in elevating the Historic and Cultural Preservation needs of his tribe and hundreds of others to the national level by providing testimony to Congress. In 2007 Mr. Franklin played a key role in the nomination his reservation, the Stewarts Point Rancheria, to the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.

Built in 1879 and known as one of the first "respectable" venues west of the Mississippi River, the Opera House was the cultural center for the region, until the decline of vaudeville and other pressures forced it to go dark in 1914. It was nearly destroyed until a few Napa Valley Opera House devotees spared it from the wrecking ball in the early 1970s. For the last 15 years, the NVOH has been slowly restoring itself for a new future and came back to life when its historic main hall reopened in late Summer 2003, in all of its original splendor.

Cost: No charge for Conference attendees
(cost included in registration fee),
$35 for guests or general public.

Back to TOP of page

International Preservation Luncheon –
Cafe Theater, Napa Valley Opera House
THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 11:45 AM - 1:15 PM

Join us for a talk on innovative projects from around the world! Presentation by John Fidler, RIBA IHBC, who served as Conservation Director for English Heritage from 2001 - 2006 (the equivalent of the Chief Historical Architect of the NPS). Fidler now helps lead Simpson Gumpertz and Heger’s preservation technology practice nationwide.

Cost: $40

Back to TOP of page

President’s Circle Reception -
*BY INVITATION ONLY*
Spottswoode Estate Vineyard & Winery
Thursday, april 24, 6:00 Pm - 7:30 PM

Spottswoode Winery - Photo Courtesy of Charles O’Rear, St. Helena

Back to TOP of page

Three-Minute Success Stories –
Culinary Institute of America (CIA) at Greystone
THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 8:00 Pm - 10:30 PM

The Culinary Institute of America - Photo Courtesy of Charles O’Rear, St. Helena
This year's annual Three-Minute Success Stories will be in the spectacular Vintner’s Hall of Fame at the CIA Greystone Campus – truly the wine country’s grandest and most beautiful space. Since 1995 the CIA's Napa Valley Campus has occupied the former Christian Brothers Winery — Greystone Cellars “the largest stone winery in the world.” Greystone's exterior walls are 22-inch thick tufa stone. Built in 1888, it has survived two major earthquakes. Greystone was used by the Christian Brothers to make sparkling wines from 1950 to 1989.

Cost: $40

Back to TOP of page

California Preservation Foundation
Annual Meeting & Luncheon –
Downtown Joe’s American Bar & Grill
FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 12:30 Pm - 1:45 PM

CPF’s 2008 Annual Meeting & Luncheon will take place at Downtown Joe’s. The restaurant is in the Oberon Building.  The original Oberon Bar was built in 1893 in the heart of downtown Napa.  In 1934, the Oberon burned and the present one-story Oberon was built in the Art Deco style with masonry bearing walls and polychromatic tiled facades.  In 1978 a small group of preservationists organized to save the building from demolition and found a new owner to do the needed renovations.

Cost: $20

Back to TOP of page

Silent Auction Closing and Reception –
Embassy Suites Hotel, Conference Headquarters
FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 5:15 PM – 6:30 PM

The Conference ends with the Silent Auction Closing at Conference Headquarters. Hundreds of Conference attendees come together to celebrate and place winning bids on numerous auction items.

Cost: FREE

Back to TOP of page

Closing Party – St. Supéry Vineyards & Winery
FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 7:00 PM – 10:30 PM

Finish off the Conference with dinner, music and a live auction at St. Supéry Vineyards & Winery, owned by a third-generation French winemaking family.

During the event, tours will be available of the 1882 historic landmark Victorian on the property, called "Atkinson House."

Cost: $75

Back to TOP of page