Nestled in the shadow of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the peaceful enclave of Saratoga, a mere 20 minutes from downtown San Jose, is home to two of Northern California’s most esteemed entertainment and event venues as well as one of the county’s most beautiful Japanese gardens.
Along with presenting a seasonal roster of headline entertainment, both the Montalvo Arts Center and the Mountain Winery offer a variety of bucolic function spaces that are a world away from Silicon Valley’s more urban side.
Montalvo Arts Center offers an early 20th century, Mediterranean-style mansion called Villa Montalvo, which is surrounded by 175 acres of gardens. The estate was originally owned by James Duval Phelan, a former U.S. Senator and mayor of San Francisco.
Today the Montalvo Arts Center supports a variety of artists-in-residence programs and presents a popular annual series of concerts by top artists in jazz, pop and classical music.
Montalvo is also frequently used for events that include conferences, retreats, seminars, dinners, and receptions. The villa itself offers meeting space for up to 80 people on its main floor as well as an upstairs conference suite for up to 14 people.
The grounds include such spaces as the Carriage House, a 300-seat permanent theater equipped with lighting and sound systems. Outdoor areas, large enough to accommodate up to 300 people for luncheons and receptions, include the Spanish Courtyard and Front Veranda, a terrace that encircles the villa. Montalvo’s main lawn area can accommodate receptions of up to 1,000 people.
In addition to attending the regular concert series, groups can also have customized concerts arranged just for them that feature some of the same headliners. The private concerts can take place in either the Carriage House or the main 1,100-seat Garden Theater.
“There’s a lot we can do with private concerts, as long as we have plenty of notice,” says Kathleen Kirkpatrick, manager of private events, adding that pre-concert banquets or receptions are also an option.
For small groups of 8 to 12, Montalvo also offers several historic cottages separated from the main villa by a wide lawn. Each cottage offers an informal meetings area and a kitchen.
While Montalvo is known primarily for its concert series and as a wedding location, Kirkpatrick says it is in the process of building more awareness among the Silicon Valley corporate community that lies just a few miles away.
“We’re ideally set up for corporate events, but a lot of people still don’t know we’re here,” she says.
The Mountain Winery, known for its popular summer concert series, offers event space with spectacular views of Silicon Valley from its mountaintop location on the edge of Saratoga. The concerts take place in an outdoor theater adjacent to the Chateau, an historic ivy-covered winery building.
Lined with oak casks, indoor events for up to 250 people can be held in the Chateau. For outdoor events, the winery has spaces that include a large terrace encircled by gardens and redwood groves.
The Mountain Winery also offers a complete menu of customized group activities that include culinary workshops, wine-tasting seminars, casino parties, and scavenger hunts.
Cooper-Garrod Estate Vineyards, a family-owned winery in Saratoga, provides a glimpse of how the region looked when it was famous for agriculture rather than technology. Groups can enjoy tours of the winery and taste wines in the Fruit House, a 75-year-old structure that was once used as a storehouse for dried prunes and apricots.
For picnics and other informal gatherings, the winery provides covered and open-air picnic tables adjacent to the Fruit House. In addition to winery tours, Cooper-Garrod offers eco-themed tours on the estate’s hillside trails that showcase the winery’s sustainable winegrowing process.
Another Saratoga gem is Hakone Gardens, which is made up of hillside gardens, historic buildings, multitiered waterfalls, koi ponds, lanterns, and stonework, all based on ancient Japanese garden traditions. Dating from 1918, the Hill and Pond Garden is a “strolling garden” with meandering pathways offering enchanting views at every turn.
Hakone is known for its traditional Japanese tea ceremonies that are staged in various historic tea rooms around the grounds. The largest, located in the Cultural Exchange Center, accommodates up to 70 people to observe the intricate tea ceremony ritual, a fixture of Japanese culture since the 8th century.
Docent-led tours of the garden, flower-arranging classes and tea ceremonies that include a kimono-wearing demonstration can all be arranged for groups. Outdoor spaces for receptions are also available.
For More Info
Cooper-Garrod Estate Vineyards 408.867.7116
www.cgv.com
Hakone Gardens 408.741.4994
www.hakone.com
Montalvo Arts Center 408.961.5800
www.villamontalvo.org
Mountain Winery 408.913.7127
www.mountainwinery.com
