History of
Bartholomew Park

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Many people have called this fabled spot in Sonoma’s Valley of the Moon home, including the Miwok, County Agoston Haraszthy, and inmates of the state of California’s Industrial Farm for Women. Nearly all of them loved it (not so the “Wayward Women”) and may have created amazing things while they were here, but none of them had as tremendous an impact on what is here today as Antonia Bartholomew. Without her, there would be no Bartholomew Park.

Antonia’s story is the quintessential American story. Born to struggling immigrants, Antonia crafted a life for herself and her husband that enabled her to leave a lasting legacy with the establishment, upon her death, of the Bartholomew Foundation and the creation of Bartholomew Park. 

Today, Bartholomew Park is a private park, owned by the current co-trustees of the Bartholomew Foundation, Anna and Frank Pope. It contains 3.5 miles of hiking trails, three lovely picnic areas, and exquisite walking paths, all open to the public free of charge. The foundation also owns the winery at the heart of the park, Bartholomew Estate Winery (named by the San Francisco Chronicle as one of the most beautiful wineries in Napa and Sonoma). 

All profits from the winery support the conservation of this site, the heart of the estate where Count Agoston Haraszthy launched the California premium wine industry, and the preservation of its historic structures. 

Antonia in the Vineyard

Meet Antonia Bartholomew:

visionary, preservationist, conservationist.

Meet Antonia Bartholomew: visionary, preservationist, conservationist.

Antonia Petzelt was born in 1899 in Portland, Oregon, a little more than a year after her parents immigrated from Austria. Her father worked as a laborer in a box factory, and her mother as a domestic worker. Antonia excelled in school and graduated from the Oregon Normal School, the state’s primary teachers’ college.  

Young Bart Bartholomew lived a few blocks from Antonia. Raised by a single mother who created her own business sewing school banners and flags, Bart published his own newspaper at the age of 15. He met Antonia while attending the Oregon Agricultural College — now Oregon State — where he drove around in his “town car,” an old crank Model T, stripped to a wooden platform with junkyard seats bolted on, no windshield, no heat. Antonia never complained, even in the dead of winter. 

Bart got a job as a traveling salesperson for the United Press news service. When he got a major promotion, he immediately proposed to Antonia. They married and moved to Kansas City. Two years later, in 1924, they were transferred to San Francisco. 

As was expected of wives at the time, Antonia was an enthusiastic supporter of her husband’s rising career, often entertaining clients and associates. During Bart’s frequent work absences, she filled her days managing the house accounts, attending social lunches, golfing, riding, and skiing at their cabin at Lake Tahoe. 

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Restored Buena Vista Winery Buildings (Since 1947)

Antonia’s 1943 485-acre birthday gift

leads to the discovery of the Haraszthy landmarks.

Antonia’s 1943 485-acre birthday gift leads to the discovery of the Haraszthy landmarks.

In late October 1943, World War II was raging. Bart, a senior war correspondent for United Press covering the South Pacific, returned home after nearly a year abroad to support Antonia following her father’s death. 

The couple spent Thanksgiving weekend with friends in Kenwood. During a conversation about the beauty of this Valley of the Moon, their host casually said: “The state is auctioning off an old 500-acre ranch in Sonoma this week. Maybe we should check it out on our way back to the city.” 

Driving up unpaved Castle Road, they passed grazing cattle and the famous Budweiser Clydesdales before arriving at a Spanish Revival–style building (the current home of Bartholomew Estate Winery). Surrounded by a serene oak woodland, the property radiated a quiet, timeless beauty. 

In his memoir, Bart wrote: “I was immediately entranced by the quiet beauty of the property; my wife less so, because with a certain prescience, she had an idea of what would happen if we acquired it.” 

Four days later, on December 2, 1943, they did just that, purchasing 485 acres for $17,600 — a quarter of a million dollars in today’s currency. 

It was the day after Antonia’s 44th birthday. Bart presented her with the deed, said, “Happy Birthday, Dear,” and left to return to the war a few days later. 

“I was alone — just me and my horse, Tula Vista,” Antonia later wrote. She found solace in riding through the hills of her new property. While surveying her new domain, she decided she “couldn’t bear to see all this land idle …” 

Antonia knew nothing about farming. But she knew she wanted to DO something with her land and contribute to the war effort. She reached out to University of California, Davis, for guidance. They sent Dr. Albert Winkler, a leading expert, to evaluate the property’s potential. He told Antonia the soil was best suited for growing grapes, to which she responded, “Well, cheers, I would have been bored stiff raising potatoes or pigs!”

Antonia and Winkler arrived at two stone buildings — one in ruins, its structure compromised by the 1906 earthquake — and Winkler immediately recognized their significance. They were the original buildings constructed by Count Agoston Haraszthy, an ambitious Hungarian nobleman whose desire to introduce European wines to America ultimately brought him to Sonoma’s fertile lands.

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Buena Vista Vinicultural Society, CA rst corporate winery (1862-1879)

The California premium wine industry

is pioneered by Count Haraszthy at Rancho Buena Vista in 1857.

The California premium wine industry is pioneered by Count Haraszthy at Rancho Buena Vista in 1857.

In 1857, Count Haraszthy established the legendary Rancho Buena Vista on this site. In just four years, he expanded the ranch from 560 acres with 12 acres of vines to 6,000 acres with more than 250 acres of vines. Haraszthy pioneered California’s first wine caves in 1858 and brought back more than 165,000 vine cuttings from Europe to improve California’s viticulture. 

By 1862, struggling financially despite his grand vision, Haraszthy partnered with wealthy San Francisco investors to form the Buena Vista Viticultural Society, known as BVVS, California’s first corporate winery. 

With new funding, the society undertook ambitious expansion efforts. The great stone winery buildings were completed in 1862 and 1864, three additional wine caves were excavated, and vineyard acreage doubled to more than 500 acres. By 1870, Buena Vista was the self-proclaimed largest winery in the world. 

Alas, the story did not end as triumphantly as it began. Haraszthy was ousted from the society, and in February 1867, he left for Nicaragua to pursue a sugar and rum venture. His fate is the stuff of legend. In July 1869, he reportedly vanished while crossing a river. His footprints were found leading to a fallen tree, its broken branch hinting at an accident. Locals believed he fell into the river and was devoured by crocodiles. Haraszthy was just shy of 57 years old. 

BVVS also met a grim fate. In 1873, phylloxera — a vine-destroying pest likely brought over with Haraszthy’s imported European vines — began devastating the vineyards. By 1879, with the vineyards in ruins, BVVS was forced to liquidate. 

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Kate Johnson, Cat Lady & Philanthropist (1833-1893)

Rancho Buena Vista

is sold in 1881 to cat-loving Kate Johnson.

Rancho Buena Vista is sold in 1881 to cat-loving Kate Johnson.

Rancho Buena Vista was sold in 1881 for $41,501 to Kate Johnson and her husband. By 1883 the grand Buena Vista wine enterprise became a relic of history. 

At the time of Kate’s death, it was rumored she had 350 cats. She commissioned the artist Carl Kahler to do a painting of 42 of the cats, which was called “My Wife’s Lovers.” Kate loaned the 6x8.5-foot painting to the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, and it later became the most expensive cat painting ever sold at auction, when it was purchased in 2015 by a private collector for $826,000. 

Kate was also responsible for building the beautiful castle lawns and the estate’s mini Golden Gate Park. 

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State Farm for Delinquent Women (1921-1923). Castle converted to dorm, Hospital and reservoir completed 1922. Castle destroyed 1923.

The delinquent women

of San Francisco are sent to Rancho Buena Vista in the 1920s

The delinquent women of San Francisco are sent to Rancho Buena Vista in the 1920s.

Around 1919, women arrested for prostitution in San Francisco were being sent to San Quentin, which lacked suitable facilities for them. The women’s leagues, while wanting to clear the city of temptation, believed that reformation was a better alternative than incarceration.

They proposed that the women could be sent to the country, where they would live at the estate in the converted castle, be treated in a new hospital for their various sexually transmitted diseases, and do farm work in a good open-air environment away from the temptations of the city. 

The state of California purchased this property to serve that very purpose as the State Industrial Farm for Delinquent Women, which built much of the existing infrastructure.

The Johnson home was used as the residence for the inmates and, in 1922, a new building — now the winery — was constructed to serve as the hospital. A law was passed that allowed any police judge in San Francisco to transfer women to the farm for up to 5 years to be reformed. No trial, no jury.

The program failed mightily. Many inmates resisted reform, with one declaring, “I’d rather spend a month in San Quentin than a week on this goddamn farm.”

The program ended in 1923 after the castle burned down — likely from a chimney fire, despite rumors of arson committed by the inmates. The hospital later became part of the Sonoma Developmental Center, and the property languished until it was auctioned off in 1943, when the Bartholomews’ story began.

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Antonia Patzelt Bartholomew (1899-1990)

Antonia sets about reviving Buena Vista,

releasing its first estate vintage in 1949.

Antonia sets about reviving Buena Vista, releasing its first estate vintage in 1949.

Antonia was enthralled by the story of Buena Vista’s history. She wrote: “I was like Tula Vista chomping at the bit. WHEN do I start? WHERE do I start? HOW do I start?” 

She resolved then and there to revive the winery and vineyards, vowing to “return the great name of Haraszthy and his tradition of fine winemaking to the wine trade.” 

Antonia had no experience with farming, winemaking, or vineyard management, but her drive, imagination, and what would become a shared obsession with Bart set the stage for a remarkable transformation that embodied the boldness of her ambition. 

At the suggestion of Professor Winkler, Antonia planted her first vines — Cabernet, Riesling, and Sylvaner. This was a happy choice for Antonia who “was practically weaned on Riesling,” her German father’s favorite wine. 

Wartime labor shortages posed a significant challenge, so Antonia recruited off-duty sailors from Mare Island and work crews from the Sonoma Developmental Center to help clear the fields. She paid them in beer. Eventually, Antonia found the Cole family — a husband, wife, and their pre-teen children — who agreed to plant the vineyard. Though their efforts were earnest, the rootstock was planted like potatoes, creating rows that meandered across the fields like snakes. 

Antonia was advised to start all over again, so she did. When Bart inquired about the vineyard’s progress, Antonia replied, “Come home, you coward!” 

Antonia eventually found indispensable help in Antonio Maretti, a skilled foreman. Though initially reluctant to work for a woman, Maretti took a chance and proved unstoppable once he started. The following year, Chardonnay replaced Riesling, and Sylvaner was planted — accidentally, in some cases. 

André Tchelistcheff, a young Russian émigré hired by Georges de Latour at Beaulieu Vineyard to introduce French winemaking techniques to Napa, would become one of the 20th century’s most influential winemakers. He briefly partnered with the Bartholomews in their winemaking efforts and remained Buena Vista’s consulting ecologist until his retirement. 

Thanks to Antonia’s incredible efforts in restoring the vineyards in times of extreme hardship, in 1949, Buena Vista’s first estate vintage was released: Vine Brook, a blend of Sylvaner and Chardonnay. 

Like many others both before and after her, Antonia was confronted with a problem: Anyone can make wine; it still has to be sold. 

Antonia again forged ahead, choosing to market her wine at the annual exhibition of the Wine and Food Society of San Francisco. She had an artist friend adapt the old Buena Vista labels. But who would affix them to the bottles? With a paint brush and a pot of paste, Antonia, her mother, and a friend set up a bottling line on her kitchen table to affix three labels to each of the bottles. 

The Wine and Food Society event was a huge success. 

Antonia built on every win. Everywhere she dined, from San Francisco to Sun Valley, she seldom left without an order. At home in Sonoma, she often had to cross the bridge from her house to sell a bottle when a visitor drove up to the winery and rang the bell. The second offering: Vine Rosé, a Rosé of Cabernet, met with similar success. 

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The Villa at Bartholomew Park

Antonia and Bart enshrine their legacy

in the 1980s, restore the Haraszthy villa, and ensure future generations will be able to enjoy the land they loved.

Antonia and Bart enshrine their legacy in the 1980s, restore the Haraszthy villa, and ensure future generations will be able to enjoy the land they loved.

The 375-acre property was one of the great loves of the Bartholomews’ lives, providing meaning, purpose, solace, and serenity amid wartime. 

With no children to carry on their legacy, the Bartholomews were deeply committed to preserving this property and its rich history. They wanted others to experience the same joy and fulfillment it had brought to their lives. 

In the 1970s, they explored turning the property into a state park. However, when Antonia visited Emerald Bay near her Lake Tahoe home, she was appalled by what she saw: “There was nothing but naked, filthy children running amok, with marijuana smoke hanging over the mess.” She responded, “Not in my place, they’re not.”

Their lawyer, Bill Godward, suggested a different approach: establishing a nonprofit foundation to oversee the property after their deaths. The Bartholomews embraced the idea, ensuring their vision would live on. Thanks to their foresight and generosity, we now have the opportunity to enjoy this remarkable site. 

The Bartholomews spent as much time as they could in their beloved country home and ultimately retired here. By the time Bart died in 1985 at age 86, the vineyards and the Valley of the Moon had become a defining part of his life. 

Reflecting on his journey, Bart once said: “Creating fine wines for me was more than an escape from news pressures. I could, in the lovely Valley of the Moon, recharge my spiritual batteries.” One of the most famous newspeople of his time, Bart ultimately wrote, “I remain a farmer,” closing his memoir with the line: “And now to work in the vineyard.” 

After Bart’s death in 1985, Antonia, then 86 years old, worked tirelessly to honor his memory and preserve their shared legacy. 

Just a year before her death, mourning her husband and suffering from the effects of a stroke, she once again displayed her enormous strength and tenacity when she achieved her dream of completing the reconstruction of Count Haraszthy’s villa in 1989, as a monument to the two men she considered the founders of Buena Vista: Agoston and her husband. 

The villa is a near reconstruction of Count Agoston Haraszthy’s 1850s home and office for the Buena Vista Vinicultural Society. It is also a love letter from Antonia to her husband. 

Antonia died on October 1, 1990, just shy of her 91st birthday. With her passing, the property was transferred to Bill Godward as trustee of the Bartholomew Foundation, and he assumed stewardship of the estate. Today, the current co-trustees, Anna and Frank Pope, preserve and protect the Bartholomews’ legacy. They remain passionately devoted to the foundation’s mission to educate the public about California viticulture and the historic significance of this site, to maintain an operational winery and vineyard to preserve it, and to protect the gardens and wildlands as a private park for public enjoyment, honoring the legacy left by Antonia and Bart. 

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Bartholomew Estate Winery (Since 2019) Bartholomew Park Winery (1991-2018)

A dedicated winery,

100% owned by the Bartholomew Foundation, is set up in the 2010s to support Bartholomew Park.

A dedicated winery, 100% owned by the Bartholomew Foundation, is set up in the 2010s to support Bartholomew Park.

To fulfill the foundation’s mandate for an operational winery, after Antonia’s death, the estate was leased to the Vineberg Company — of Gundlach Bundschu fame — which operated as Bartholomew Park Winery for 27 years. After the 2017 fires, the lease was terminated, and the Bartholomew Foundation worked with winemaker Kevin Holt to establish Bartholomew Estate Winery, which opened in April 2019. 

The winery now produces 3,000-5000 cases annually, with four estate varietals and 11 wines. These wines are available exclusively at the winery or through our wine club. The winery is 100% owned by the Bartholomew Foundation, with all profits dedicated to supporting the park. Maintaining the property’s gardens, wildlands, and historic legacy is an ongoing and costly endeavor, making the winery’s success essential to the park’s survival. 

The team at Bartholomew Estate Winery is as passionate about the foundation’s mission as the co-trustees are. Everyone revels in the knowledge that we don’t just produce wine at the Bartholomew Estate Winery; we produce wine with a purpose, dedicated to preservation, conservation, and education. 

Our mission is not to build a brand to sell, but to encourage both locals and out-of-town visitors alike to share in the Bartholomews’ legacy, and to help sustain this historic place, where people can come to “recharge their spiritual batteries.” This is the perfect place to create lasting memories in the Valley of the Moon. Bartholomew Park is a beloved Sonoma Valley treasure. 

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