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Home is where the art is
Carneros house, plus work by DeKoonig and LeCorbusier, on market for $4.5 million
Saturday, May 03, 2008
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Like many in Napa County, Louise Newquist has a house for sale. But it is different from anything else on the market.

Located in Carneros, Newquist’s home reminds visitors of a modern art gallery.
Contemporary works, including solid-colored canvases inviting wide interpretation, hang on every wall. Large statues fill Zen-like garden spaces. Smaller sculptures top counters and modern furniture in the minimalist home.

Newquist’s not only selling the estate, she’s selling everything in it, including approximately 75 pieces of original works by artists such as Christo and Willem De Kooning, black leather and chrome furniture by Le Corbusier and 72 place settings of Heath ceramics. Even the books on the bookshelves and the canned food in the pantry are included in the $4.5 million dollar asking price.
“They can have it,” said Newquist with a smile. All of it.

“I’m 80 years old and it’s time to move on,” she said.
Newquist was actively involved with the design of the home, having the 3,364-square-foot space built around her art and furniture. She moved into the house in 1998, several years after her husband, a neurosurgeon, passed away.

“From an early age I was taught to live with art,” said Newquist, who grew up in Canada. Why modern art? “I like living with art that’s done now, she said.

Her Carneros estate definitely has the “wow” factor. Built in the shape of a square, the minimalist exterior conceals the surprising spaces inside.

A dramatic entry into the large rectangular dining room with “floating” walls and polished concrete floor causes most guests to stop in their tracks. That’s a good thing, because they should be careful not to step on the art — in particular, a circular white patch of crushed white rock salt by artist Gregory Mahoney.

“It’s from Death Valley,” said Newquist. At an opposite end, a capsule-shaped vacuum-formed Plexiglas sculpture by Craig Kauffman seems to glow on the wall.

Morgan Lane Realtor Agi Smith has listed the home, art, furnishings, a separate guesthouse and gardens on two acres for $4.5 million price. Without contents, the property is a cool $1.95 million, “But I really want to sell it with everything in it,” said Newquist.

To this collector, art and home are one. “I feel the house is a work of art,” she said.

Brad Nichinson, currently renting around the corner from Newquist, stopped by at a recent open house.

“It’s incredible,” said Nichinson, who admitted the price might be a little out of his range. Admiring the art and architecture, he said, “It’s a museum but it’s comfortable. It’s masterfully done.”

Does Newquist have a favorite piece?

“It’s so hard to decide,” she said. After thinking a little, she pointed out a wall displaying a seven foot square light green resin “light trap” by artist Ron Cooper. An outdoor piece by Jene Highstein, shaped like a giant beehive, is another standout.

Walking from room to room with her guests, Newquist seemed to enjoy giving the informal tour.

“It’s fun to share with people who are interested and sometimes it turns people on to collect,” she said.

Newquist’s next home will be a loft in downtown Sacramento, closer to one of her daughters.

If she sells everything, what will she fill her new home with?

More art. “I’ll start over,” Newquist said with a smile.

For more information, visit www.carnerosartestate.com
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