Alfred Hitchcock Presents... his Heart o' the Mountain estate in Scotts Valley, CA

   The Wine Room, Palo Alto, CA - "Let every eye negotiate for itself."  ~Shakespeare
                                               (Photo by Debi Willis)

“Good e-e-vening.”  Do you remember Alfred Hitchcock’s infamous welcome?  Since the Alfred Hitchcock Presents television series first aired on this date (October 2) in 1955, and since the prior article here highlighted his film Vertigo, this seems a fine time to share a special travel experience from this summer.

The outing was organized by The Wine Room at 520 Ramona Street in Palo Alto, CA, and information about it was discovered “by chance” a couple of days before the event while researching/reading about Hitchcock’s northern California filming locations.  What can I say?  It was meant to be.

The Wine Room image shared here was taken looking out from the back room through the open front door to Ramona Street.  This was taken early on a Saturday morning; be advised the same image on a Saturday night would include a lot more human bodies! 

Don’t you love the rendering of the Shakespeare Much Ado About Nothing line?  There’s so much to love about The Wine Room – the staff, the ambience, the wine!  It’s housed in an historically-protected architectural gem designed by artist and craftsman Pedro de Lemos, who incorporated both Spanish and early-California styles into his work.  Think tile roofs, wrought iron, graceful archways and courtyards.  Think breathtaking.

Thinking back, this introduction to The Wine Room was an amuse-broche of sorts for the winery we were headed to:  Heart o’ the Mountain in the Santa Cruz Mountains, so named by Pierre Cornwall and his wife Sada in 1881 and where they produced wine from 1887 until Prohibition.

The Heart o’ the Mountain winery is about an hour south of San Francisco, and its current owners, the Brassfield family, offer information about the property’s early history on their website (the link lands on their “about” page), as well as information about the property’s more famous prior owner, Alfred Hitchcock.  Given the estate’s secluded location, the winery is not open to the public (except for special events offered to its club members).  You can take my word, though:  The wine is truly extraordinary.

While the property was never used as a film location, it’s easy to imagine Hitchcock in creative contemplation at Heart o’ the Mountain.  Old photos also evidence him entertaining and enjoying the property with others -- Prince Rainer and his wife Grace Kelly, Ingrid Bergman and her husband Peter Lindstrom, Hume Cronyn, the Jimmy Stewarts and Kim Novak. 

The California Spanish-style home that served as a refreshing retreat from Hollywood for the Hitchcock family was built by Pierre and Sada Cornwall’s son Bruce in the 1930s.  At that time, he was a lawyer and a partner in the Coldwell, Cornwall and Banker real estate firm. (Yes, that's the one that later dropped his name and became very famous in its own right.)

The home featured arched doorways, a red-tiled roof, hand-hewn beams and a million-dollar view of Monterey Bay.  The Hitchcocks purchased the property in 1940 and added their own distinct touches – including a solarium and a glassed-in outside dining room with a heated-tile floor – and they turned the former cistern into a guest room.  They also added a grand piano and displayed a collection of works by noted artists.  The extensive gardens, which now evoke an enduringly graceful maturity, were planned by landscape architect Roy Rydell.

The Hitchcock's last visit to the home was in 1972. After a burglary, they became fearful and had all their priceless paintings replaced with copies.  It’s interesting to think of Hitchcock as obsessed by fear, but it’s actually not difficult to imagine.

Heart o’ the Mountain is a glorious piece of real estate, and the hardest thing about writing this article was culling the photos down to my favorite ten.  Please, do take a look!