MAY / J U N E 2 0 1 4 43 Returning to San Francisco with their earnings, Trubody invested in real estate, where good fortune was again on his side. With a portion of their real estate profit, Trubody purchased more than 600 acres of property in Napa and built the Trubody house as a wedding gift for his son and daughter-in-law, William and Mary Trubody. The neighboring farm was owned by the Ragatz family. Their farm consisted mainly of fruit trees, which were later replaced by walnut trees. Then they turned to livestock—sheep, turkeys and finally certified Hereford cattle, which they ran on the Trubody ranch. As was typical in those days, round-ups were managed cooperatively with other ranching families. Minnie Ragatz worked as a cook for the Trubody household, residing in the servant’s quarters. The Ragatz and Trubody families were close, but still it came as a complete surprise when the last living heir to the Trubody Ranch willed a portion of the estate, including the Trubody house, to the Ragatz family. That Ragatz family member was the grandmother of the current owner, Jeff Page. When Jeff showed interest in the property, his grandmother said, “Oh Jeff, you don’t want to bother with that place. It’s too much work.” It was true—after years of neglect, the Trubody house was indeed in bad shape. “Gritty grey-brown fiberboard siding covered the original clapboard construction,” says Jeff. “The gingerbread had rotted off on two wings, woodpeckers had made holes in the siding, and wild hives of bees were hanging in the attic, along with a thriving colony of bats. The good thing about the house was that it had never been remodeled. All the woodwork was original inside, and the foundation and framing were in great condition. Also, I had one good face on the house, to copy and restore the gingerbread trim all around the exterior to spec, just the way it looked when it was built in 1872.” Jeff did alter one piece of the home’s history. In order to make room for the kitchen pantry he had to tear out the old staircase that led up to the room where his great-grandmother had once slept—the servant’s quarters. When I ask Jeff what the worst of the remodel process was, he tells me, “The absolute worst job I had to do was remove all the bat guano from the attic and the hollow walls. It was over four feet thick inside the walls of the first floor!” Jeff Page and his wife, Mary, continue to work on the house and gardens. They have two daughters, Lily Ann (named after her grandmother) and Rosa. Lily Ann says, “Most people’s yearly DIY project is my parents’ weekly list.” Along with a vegetable garden that provides green beans, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers and basil, the family orchard includes pears, citrus, apples, figs and persimmons. Sitting on the wide veranda offers a visual oasis of pink The old farmhouse dining room Mary on the porch with vegetables from her garden daphne shrubs, mock orange, heirloom roses, narcissus and blue sage, to name but a few. Mary’s motto for gardening is “It has to smell good, and be tough as nails.” “Tough as nails” could be a motto to describe the legacy of this Napa family and their generations of farmers who have called Napa home for over 100 years. Visit Indra Fortney at Boho Lifestyle 1238 First Street in downtown Napa www.shopboholifesyle.com
NVLife_MayJune_2014
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