Alexis Traina, "Gucci aviators are always sexy, mysterious, and full of fun. Then he was out until the wee hours having dinner with a Disney executive and some tech-mogul friends at Spruce, a cozy, Michelin-starred Presidio Heights restaurant in which he is a co-investor. Inside the Home of San Francisco's Most High-Profile Couple For tech entrepreneur Trevor Traina and his wife Alexis Swanson Traina, a historic Napa Valley home is an ideal respite from city life Written by David Nash Photographed by Douglas Friedman View the gallery "And while each of them was very different from the others, their common thread was the love of drama, romance, and imagination. So with $300,000 in funding from friends and family (and receiving a credit from Haas for writing up the business plan), Traina hired a small team of programmers, moved them into the upstairs nursery of his father's house and launched CompareNet. Alexis Traina's birthday is 09/19/1970 and is 52 years old. This story appears in the April 13, 2014 issue of ForbesLife. Five O'Clock Somewhere: Riverside Sundowners At Zambia's Luangwa Safari House, Designer Mara Hoffman on Her Vibrant New Activewear Line, Cara Delevingne, Tag Heuer Raise Funds for Cecil the Lion Researchers, This 50 Million Vertical Ship Will Revolutionize Ocean Exploration, Vatican For Sale: Very Wealthy Rent the Sistine Chapel, Dine with the Pope and Buy Secret Archives, Mido Launches Watch Design Contest With Famous Timepiece Designers. So if you want to, say, play a round of golf in Big Sur with Greg Norman or have Alice Waters oversee the catering for your private dinner party, it can be arranged. [16] She resides in San Francisco with her family. It was as if true refinement had sprung to life. Today, it is all chintz and chinoiserie, bright colours and white wicker, lovely lattice walls and chic perfection . Traina and his wife, Alexis, packed up their two children and moved to Vienna. 22 Black-Tie Wedding Guest . When they rebuilt it, they modernized it and reworked some of the space. The goal was to create a useful guide to the place and to offer a look at the people who make it special. "The house is the embodiment of that commitment to each other. He will discuss Elsie de Wolfe's oeuvre with as much enthusiasm as the capabilities of his beloved Audi R8which he drove in the infamous Gumball 3000 Rally from Shanghai to Beijing, a trip that also involved one night in North Korea as a guest of Kim Jong Il (who loves cars). A writer and filmmaker (Golden Globe for, By Alexis Traina. In 1997, the home was destroyed by an electrical fire (thankfully, no family members were present). New to Traina's list of endeavors is becoming CEO of messaging app, .css-gegin5{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#9a0500;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-gegin5:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}HiNote. Although the house had survived the 1906 earthquake that devastated the city a year after it was built, it had been in the same ownership for a half century, and its patina of genteel shabbiness had confounded most prospective purchasers. The Trainas also sought out furniture makers, designers, and decorative painters who could realize their schemes. Previously cities included Oakville CA and New Orleans LA. I started to research my book, From Napa with Love, which was published by Abrams in September, by reaching out to the areas most colorful characters, people I grew up around or just admired, like film-maker and writer Roman Coppola, interior designer Ken Fulk, and Elizabeth Swanson, my wonderfully talented mother. "My father collected Faberg jewelry and vintage cars. Wake up to the day's most important news. Often well put the kids to bed and then take a walk, he says. Below, shop a few of the items that the talented multi-hyphenate will be bringing along with her on her summer adventures. All of our good times were up here, Trevor, son of the late shipping mogul John Traina and the philanthropist Dede Wilsey, says of the six-acre property. Here, time slows down, and things like cars, wine and friendships evolve and improve with age. "That's such a specific moment in life and time. C Publishing LLC 2023 All Rights Reserved, Alexis Traina on Raising a Family in Wine Country, father-in-law) in the garage, and a spacious, Tooling around in old cars is something of a family tradition and acutely. I felt that story needed to be told. She chronicled it all in a blog, Alexis Napa for the Curious and Eccentric. A favorite excursion entails piling everyone into an old Woodie for burgers at Gotts Roadside and praying the transmission doesnt fall out on the way there. "Collecting is a disease that runs in the family," he says. His passion for philanthropy, business and adventure converged in 2012 while he was looking for a Christmas present for his younger brother, film producer Todd Traina, a tennis fanatic. Now comes our first glimpse into their glamorous new lives in Europe. Is this socializing, is it business? Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images I am obsessed with a pine scented candle called Frasier Fir by Thymes. We keep the valleys mechanics quite busy, Trevor admits. Below the house is something almost as dramatic: a 3,000-square-foot basement blasted out of solid granite to display the photography collection away from sunlight. Now theyre reinventing the narrative of wineand doing a good job at it. "That was a pretty serious acquisition, but it would probably go for a lot more than that now," he notes. Alexis's ethnicity is unknown, whose political affiliation is currently a registered American Independent . Ambassador! Trevor's childhood homes were concocted by his vivacious mother, Dede Wilsey, in collaboration with the innovative Michael Taylordramatically pretty backdrops for dramatically pretty Impressionists. The mother of two is married to entrepreneur and philanthropist Trevor Traina, attends many society galas and. These two works formed the nucleus of a sophisticated collection that now spans the decades from Eggleston and Arbus to Gursky and Wall. Trevor, Todd and their mother, philanthropist Dede Wilsey, who now has a home in the next town over, relied on their memories and photographs to rebuild the residence as it once was and took the opportunity to modernize some of the wonky layouts. One of my very favorite parts of the holiday season is the revolving door of sweet tokens, gestures, and gifts delivered by friends and family. All I knew about Napa was what I learned watching Falcon Crest. My sisters and I each found our creative passions early in life. Nena Woolworth, Alexis Swanson Traina and photographer Claiborne Swanson Frank attend the Veronica Beard Spring 2015 dinner at Petit Ermitage on March 10, 2015 in Hollywood, California. We were lucky; the point of entry was much different then than it is now, Alexis says. Situated in Pacific Heights, one of the city's most rarefied neighborhoods, the home, which Traina shares with his wife, Alexis, and their two children, was decorated by his neighbor Ann Getty.. For tech entrepreneur Trevor Traina and his wife Alexis Swanson Traina, a historic Napa Valley home is an ideal respite from city life Written by David Nash Read the Full Story ≫ Photographed by Douglas Friedman. Her high-society family pioneered the frozen. ", The couple love to entertainTrevor sits on the boards of seven nonprofits, and one of Alexis's projects at the winery is "to partner with companies that celebrate pleasures complementary to wine drinkingincluding Chicago's Vosges Haut-Chocolat, domestic caviar from Tennessee, and iced coffee from New Orleans." Ultimately, as she discovered, "the art lives with us, rather than us with it.". In the 1880s, Crabb added an addition to the home,and after a terrible fire in 1997, the home was nearly completely rebuilt. This fall, Claiborne and I shared an amazing story,inspired by my book for Town & CountrysNovemberissue, where she shot all the portraits and that was super special for us both. Mine was wine; Claiborne (center)s, photography; and Veronica (front)s, fashion. A life-size black-and-white Hiroshi Sugimoto photo of Queen Elizabeth rules over the Cool Britannia red hand-blocked velvet-lined living room. So much of HiNote is about self expression in technicolor, and its the idea of being able to tell your story digitally.. He arrived in Napa Valley at age 12 when his parents, Eleanor and Francis, bought a house and moved the family up from San Francisco. Trevor's latest Internet venture is DriverSide.com, a Web site focused on car maintenance. To accommodate the photography, Trevor boldly decided to dynamite the granite rock on which the house was built to excavate 3,000 square feet of subterranean space that would prove perfect for the light-sensitive prints. They immediately filled it with young children, good art, and a round-the-clock point of view. Meadowood just opened their new spa, and it is pretty incredible and special. The crimson velvet is dusted with gold; "at night, by candlelight, it's really potent," says Alexis. Consider, for example, some of her favorite pairings: Oreos and merlot, cake and Sancerre, barbecue chips and ros, chocolate bonbons and a bottle of Modern House Wines, a project that she started at Swanson in 2000 with the help of Andy Spade (another contributor to the book and one of her favorite partners in crime). Says, Bill, pictured here with Deborah, Ultimately were building a culture around wine and hospitality that we all hope will last for generations. "Because of my two kids, my wife has exiled the more risqu images to far walls," he says, staring out from behind one of his Frederick Remington statues. By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. "During the days, we'd work on little painted-rabbit tables and pack everything away when the kids had to go to bed," Traina says. Some of the trees are 130 years old. Alexis Traina, creative director at Swanson Vineyards, is one busy person. We have a number of family portraits, of my grandparents and my mother, and pieces of furniture I grew up with in various houses, he says. I thought that at the time I would never have the kind of wallet to have a great collection, so I turned to photographs." 1999 Traina started his career as brand manager at Seagram's. Since her family moved to Northern California in 1985, Alexis has shuffled between her city home in San Francisco and her idyllic vineyard spread in the Valley. They ran the winery for more than 30 years before selling it in 2016, and its where Alexis honed her instincts for celebrating the ceremonies and rituals of winefirst, with the introduction of a salon-style tasting room, then a modern sip shoppe. His late father, John, was a San Francisco shipping magnate, art collector and legendary bon vivant. Feature photography by Clairborne Swanson Frank, Katie von Strasser is a former ballerina with a background in fashion and art. Getty's three full-time seamstresses were set to work on the Trainas' maharaja library, sewing a dense tapestry of the eyes of peacocks' tail feathers to its gently curving wall. Larry Lovett, Nicole Hanley, Alexis Swanson and Trevor Traina attend Venetian Heritage MAN RAY Photo Exhibition at VBH on May 4, 2006 in New York. The silver-haired free spirit is known for amassing one of the most legendary prop closets in the valley, filled with trinkets and tchotchkes to adorn her candy-colored tablescapesthink confetti, party hats, miniature American flags and a collection of tap-dancing shoes for after-dinner amusement. I've spent my entire life as a connector of people," Trevor Traina says in his cozy San Francisco den. I wasnt quite sure what that meant, just that I wanted to work with them.. Traina is married to Alexis Swanson Traina and has two children. Historically, its mind-blowing, she says. The odyssey even involved an overnight stay in Pyongyang as a guest of the late Kim Jong Il, who, among other things, was a car aficionado. "I had a dirt bike and loved exploring the mountainside on it." I wanted to tell a new story about Napa Valley, one that illuminated the talent, spirit, and creativity that enriches our kitchen tables, wine cellars, homes, closets, book shelves, and celebrations. As my temporary unemployment began, I knew I wanted to use my free time to tell the story of the valley, and to do it in a way that would illuminate the fact that life here is no longer centered exclusively on wine. Elizabeths favorite place to entertain is a 1904 utility barn on her property, which she describes as Marie Antoinettes poor sisters ballroom, complete with a special perfume thanks to the henhouse thats attached to it. My parents house is an enchanted, imaginative and romantic world with donkeys, sheep, chickens, playhouses and banana trees along the Napa River, says Alexis. Trevor Traina has not been divorced. . In a Thursday morning ceremony at the historic Hofburg imperial palace in Vienna, San Francisco tech entrepreneur and socialite Trevor D. Traina was officially installed as the U.S. ambassador to. The home today is spacious enough that Trevor and Todd and their families are able to share it as a weekend retreat from their primary residences in Pacific Heights. Photographed by Douglas Friedman / via DuJour. The silver-haired free spirit is known for amassing one of the most legendary prop closets in the valley, filled with trinkets and tchotchkes to. I always intended to collaborate with my youngest sister, the photographer Claiborne Swanson Frank, on the project. He commissioned Venice-based textile maven Sabina Fay Braxton to create a stamped crimson velvet and, in the tradition of grand eighteenth- and nineteenth-century establishments, "bathed the whole thing in itwalls, curtains, sofas, the works." Alexis Traina, "Gigi Burris makes insane hats all year round, but Im particularly fond of this straw stetson with an extra broad rim." Back in 2020, Traina an author ( From Napa with Love ), former vintner and influential creative found herself glued to her phone, checking on friends and family via texts: "I'm embarrassed to admit the hours I spent reading and sending those blue and gray bubbles." And then one day, the pay phone rang in the hallway of my dormitoryit was my Dad calling, with news: Were moving. "We have specialists for our categories to reach out to luminaries," he explains. Alexis Traina, "Im a gold hoop kind of girl, and I'm pretty obsessed with Jennifer Fishers hoops in all different sizes. They were seduced by a light-flooded Edwardian mansean appropriate setting for Alexis, whose cameo looks seem fashioned for a John Singer Sargent canvas. One hundred percent! she says. He is a general assignment reporter with a focus on writing feature-length obituaries. When I was growing up here, we had this thing we called scary walks, and after dinner wed go out with our flashlights and walk through the vineyards. Veronica Swanson Beard and Veronica Miele Beard. Alyssa and I have worked together successfully on many projects and this book was going to either make or break our friendship/ creative partnership. Like Napa, Alexis latest travel and lifestyle guide is enchanting, full of hidden treasures and favorite spots not to be missed! From there, he and his wife, Alexis Swanson Traina, hopped over to the Hamptons, joining designer Oscar de la Renta and director Baz Luhrmann at a soiree hosted by Vogue Editor in Chief Anna Wintour. In a Thursday morning ceremony at the historic Hofburg imperial palace in Vienna, San Francisco tech entrepreneur and socialite Trevor D. Traina was officially installed as the U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Austria. Alexis Traina opens the doors to the best of wine country living, Words by KELSEY McKINNON Photography by DOUGLAS FRIEDMAN. Buy Me! As a child I knew I wanted to do what my grandfather [Robert] and father [Tim] did. We all have different reasons for coming to Napa Valley: the light, the air, the soil, the vistas, and, of course, the wine. Alicia Engstrom and Heather Pegg. Christopher Kostow, seen herewith his wife Martina and their two daughters, grew up near Chicago in a food-forward family that, he says, traveled to eat. After working in some of the best kitchens in the world, he opened the Restaurant at Meadowood in St. Helena, which has been awarded three Michelin stars. The dining-room table belonged to my great-grandmother, as did the sideboard next to it, and [the nearby] secretary belonged to my mother., Though theres no denying his familys pedigree, Trevor cant help but make fun of some of the houses inherited features: It reminds me of that great comment by Marella Agnellimade after the socialite toured Sid and Mercedes Bass apartment in New Yorkwhen she said, It will take her another lifetime to understand wicker! Theres nothing more WASP-y than lattice and wicker. Home Design Inside the Home of San Franciscos Most High-Profile Couple, For tech entrepreneur Trevor Traina and his wife Alexis Swanson Traina, a historic Napa Valley home is an ideal respite from city life. Its a really amazing thing to do, to stroll on a warm night with a glass of wine.In a place like this, it certainly is. "Most of the luminaries are doing this for charity, so most, if not all, of their part is usually donated," Traina explains. Creative Director, Swanson Vineyards. The wife and mother of two also runs a carefully curated Children duly arrived; the couple moved in two weeks before their second child, Delphina, was born (her elder brother, Johnny, is now two). 2023 Cond Nast. Some of my annual favorites include the spectacular homemade fudge from our favorite nun; the sweet, seedless Satsuma oranges from our neighbors; the addictive salted Virginia HUBS peanuts from good friends; and lastly, the Enstroms world-famous dark chocolate almond toffee from my aunt. With cheeky wine labels like Help Is Here, Expensive and Mazel Tov, Modern House Wines epitomizes Alexis oenophile ambition to take away the stuffiness and formality around wine culture. Our food guy is a well-known food critic." There was a knock on the door, and the company's photography conservator came in to offer a print for his office. At his behest this was transformed after-hours by Linda Fargo into a softly lit bower, echoing to birdsong and filled with ornamental lovebirds and white peacocks, orchids, chandeliers, and silvered Venetian grotto furniture (some of which has made its way into their airy dining room). " Alexis Traina, Suzie Kondi makes these amazing French terrycloth jumpsuits that are an easy, comfy travel essential. When did Trevor Traina get divorced? Magic that celebrates ones surroundings. President Donald Trump nominated Traina last January, and in the spring the Senate confirmed his appointment. Situated in the heart of To Kalon Vineyard (which supplies grapes to Opus One, Schrader and Paul Hobbs), the area is considered sacred ground in the wine world. Theres an appreciation for simple pleasures, like swimming at sunset, water-balloon fights, cookie baking and bike rides. Start typing to see results or hit ESC to close, At Home With: Designer Isabel Lpez-Quesada, Madrid, At Home With: Stylist Colin King, Tribeca, At Home With: Derkan & John, the Gooi, Netherlands. Alexis Swanson Traina, creative director of her family's winery, Swanson Vineyards, lives a life that is rich in delight. "Over the years I've reached out to the people I care about and recruited them to colonize the coolest and best part of the city," says Traina, who matches friends and nearby real estate with the enthusiasm of a high-commission broker. (Trevor found a Proustian double-peacock bench at Steinitz in Paris to set against it.) Fantasy environments are certainly a leitmotif in the couple's life together; Trevor proposed in the handbag rotunda of Bergdorf Goodman. The acquisition was part of a complex transaction whereby vintner Robert Mondavi purchased the vineyards and Trainas parents received the property and the house. RSVP OUI to our newsletter and get all the latest scoop on beauty and wellness trends, tips and features. But its not just milestones that make the house special; its also everyday moments. "So many memories are connected to being outdoors," Roman says. Whats Your Fancy? There are more peacocks in the dining room, specimens that were a gift from Trevor's stepmother, Danielle Steel. 78 Alexis Traina Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images Images Editorial Video Editorial FILTERS CREATIVE EDITORIAL VIDEO 78 Alexis Traina Premium High Res Photos Browse 78 alexis traina photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more photos and images. The Trainas also looked to some iconic tastemaking neighbors for inspiration. In 2008, to generate publicity for DriverSide, he drove an Audi R8 in the Gumball 3000 rally from San Francisco to Beijing (with the help of a cargo plane). There were no databases of products where you could compare television sets or phones and that sort of thing. I will not be revealing where we hid beers as teenagers, though!, The Trainas spend their days between their house and Trevor and Todds late father John Trainas property across the street (which is now shared among Johns children with Danielle Steel: Samantha, Victoria, Vanessa, Max and Zara) and Alexis parents place at the intersection of Oakville Cross. For the familyfull-time residents, weekenders and summer folk alikeNapa Valley has evolved into a, Jimmy Choos Beach Capsule Presents Bold Summer Essentials, California Classic: The First Truly California Sports Car, Daniel Arsham, The Artist Breaking the Mold. I tried my hand in the vineyards and the cellar but found my niche in marketing. And living in a house like this, you realize that a great big kitchen and a great big porch are really where you want to be., For his part, Trevor adds that even the houses indoor living can feel somewhat alfresco: I joke that were camping here, because we have 18th-century wallpaper. Though they both grew up in high-style households, Trevor says, were very casual and we arent at all fancy here., Trevor and Alexis are undoubtedly the chicest couple I know, says design impresario Ken Fulk, a close friend. Tooling around in old cars is something of a family tradition and acutely reflective of the kind of idyllic, nostalgic existence Alexis and her husband, Trevor, the founder and CEO of the charity site IfOnly, and their two children, Johnny and Delphina, lead in the valley. We are bound to one another by the kind of esprit de corps that comes with the pursuit of magicmagic in the vineyards, on the table, at the drawing board. shadyside dragway 2022 schedule,
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