This could be F O R E V E R A two-year project turns into twelve years of love for property S E P T E M B E R / O C TO B E R 2 0 1 3 23 Article by Kari Ruel Photos by JANA WALDINGER Last spring I rode around Downtown Napa with Mike Gibson, owner of Partners in Painting, a painting contractor, as he pointed out a multitude of Victorian homes that he has helped refurbish or maintain, or added his special gold leafing touches to. We featured several of the homes he worked on in NVL then. I learned he had been schooled in Los Angeles in faux painting and wood finishes, but that still didn’t explain the more artistic side to his work. Yes, he went above and beyond the scope of his initial work learning the history of each dwelling, helping to aid him in which building characteristics he should highlight. But still, I knew there was more to Gibson’s motivation for perfection and pride for the unique detail in all that he does. What Gibson does is observe and soak in his client’s life passions and mimic the degree of their surrounding while subconsciously painting the next step in his mind. This became clear when Gibson invited me to join him on a job at Seven Stones Winery and the home of Ronald Wornick, an American food scientist, entrepreneur and art collector. He is best known for founding the Wornick Company, which was selected by the U.S. Department of Defense in 1979 to mass-produce Meals Ready to Eat, or MREs. Wornick and his wife, Anita, live part-time on the 45-acre estate high in the eastern hills of Napa Valley when they want to escape the cold fog of San Francisco. Both are lovers of the arts, including visual and performing arts, and their 10,000-square-foot home pays homage to pieces that have been showcased in art collection books, been on traveling circuits and will eventually be donated to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. After a fast-paced life in the food industry, running from airport to airport, Wornick said he welcomed a place that offered peace and tranquility. “We initially bought 508 acres in 1980 on Mt. Veeder because I was a wine adventurer and we wanted to build the best winery possible,” he said. “We failed miserably, so we sold the land to Donald Hess. In 1997,
NVLife_SeptOct_2013
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