27-05-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
Photos: $9.25 million Wine Country estate of Williams Sonoma visionary hits the market
The former Wine Country estate of retail magnate W. Howard Lester, credited with transforming Williams Sonoma into a household name, has come to market for $9.25 million.
Known as 'The Williams-Sonoma House,' the Glen Ellen property was featured in Architectural Digest and served as the longtime residence of Lester, who helmed the gourmet kitchenware chain from a four-store operation in 1978 to a $3.4 billion empire by the time of his retirement. Lester died in 2010.
Tucked into the hills adjacent to Jack London State Park, the nearly 9-acre estate at 1500 Morningside Mountain Road offers a serene, park-like setting with a year-round pond, private trails, and mature landscaping.
The 6,018-square-foot home features three bedrooms, four bathrooms and a bonus room. With walls of French doors and floor-to-ceiling glass, the single-level residence is designed to bring the outdoors in.
'This estate is a statement in casual and refined Wine Country living,' according to the listing by Daniel Casabonne and Gina Clyde of Sotheby's International Realty.
Lester's legacy extends beyond retail. He established the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley, and was lauded for pioneering data-driven marketing in the home furnishings industry.
'I just thought the company could do better,' he once said. 'I felt like I could run it better.'
