Major Napa Museum Puts Estate Up For Sale Amid Financial Struggles

NAPA VALLEY, CA — The di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art in Napa has listed its 217-acre estate for $10.9 million. This announcement comes less than a year after the center unveiled plans to boost revenue through event rentals, according to reports.

The listing is part of a broader effort to stabilize finances while keeping the 28-year-old collection intact, according to reports.

"As part of ongoing, thoughtful planning, di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art is exploring opportunities that protect our mission, collection and public access to art ensuring a strong and sustainable future," Executive Director Kate Eilertsen said on social media.

Eilertsen said the museum is exploring philanthropic and land partnerships.

Even if the property sells, the museum hopes to preserve public access to the estate’s upper lands and sculptures. This could happen through partnerships with local land trusts. The museum is also considering creative arrangements, such as a wealthy patron buying the property and leasing it back for a nominal fee.

A patron called the announcement "heartbreaking."

Located along Sonoma Highway, the 217-acre estate, museum, and event space sits between Napa and Sonoma in the Carneros area.

The campus remains open to the public and for private rental events. Indeed, the museum paused several planned facility improvements to focus on the rental program.

Yet, despite its collection and the events — including a major boost in wedding bookings following coverage of the high-profile Saxe-Blaustein wedding — income is not keeping up with the cost of current operations, according to Eilertsen.

The preserve has struggled financially since the death of its founder and art collector, Rene di Rosa, in 2010, according to the Napa Valley Register.

He bought the property that was originally part of the Rancho Huichica land grant in 1960 and moved among wine and art communities for half a century.

Following his death, the di Rosa Center stopped buying new art, and in 2019, it planned to sell off almost every piece in its 1,600-piece collection, according to reports. Even a partial sale of deaccessioned pieces drew strong critiques from the local art community and was stopped, according to reports.

In March 2025, the di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art announced staff cuts. The center will also convert the Carneros gallery closest to the main parking lot into a permanent event rental space for weddings or other gatherings.

Eilertsen, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, said the organization has been drawing too heavily from its endowment.

However, this time, the di Rosa art collection is not part of the sale. "Collection stewardship is our absolute priority," Eilertsen said.

The museum will remain open to visitors and continue to host exhibitions, events, and public programs while exploring ways to secure its financial future.

The property is directly across from Domaine Carneros, minutes from Downtown Napa and Sonoma Plaza.

About 250 acres of the land was once planted in wine grapes after di Rosa founded the Winery Lake Vineyards in 1963, according to the museum. He sold the vineyard to Seagram in 1986, using the profits to establish the Rene and Veronica di Rosa Foundation to build an “art park” for the greater public.

The di Rosa center in its first incarnation opened in 1997 and became a separate nonprofit 501(c)3 organization in 2000. Originally known as the di Rosa Preserve: Art & Nature, the organization changed its name to the di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art in 2017. The property encompasses multiple galleries and a sculpture meadow.

The company handling the deal, W Real Estate, called the sale a "rare opportunity to acquire one of Napa Valley's most iconic and irreplaceable cultural estates."

With two parcels, the property blends expansive open space, vineyard and lake views, historic structures, and highly valuable legacy Napa County Use Permit entitlements, according to the listing. The property is "truly once-in-a-generation offering combining land, legacy entitlements, cultural significance, and irreplaceable location in the heart of Napa Valley."