History
When Yvonne De Voto first walked down the main streets of Calistoga, she was just a little girl, on vacation with her parents from her home town of Santa Rosa. Already back then, she knew this was a special place.
Years later, when Yvonne and her husband Elmer Hemberger had a family of their own in San Francisco, they also brought their children to the small rustic town at the upper end of the Napa Valley for summer vacations. Her son Dana Hemberger, current manager of Hemberger Properties, remembers playing in the creek by Spring Street catching pollywogs, watching planes take off and land at the airport, attending bonfires and outdoor movies, and walking down the main street of old town Calistoga with his grandparents—all part of his fondest childhood memories.
In the mid 1970's, Yvonne and Elmer were ready to retire after having built a successful private school in the City. Her parents had taught Yvonne the value of owning real property, so over the years, any savings were invested in San Francisco real estate. Yet, the quaint town of Calistoga continued to draw the family to its friendly streets, and so they decided to retire to the country.
What happened next was far from retirement for the industrious Hemberger family. A unique real estate opportunity prompted them to sell off their holdings in the City and invest in commercial properties in Calistoga. Yvonne's artistic eye could see past the worn down decor of the buildings to the wealth of history stored in the walls. Elmer, who loved working with his hands and was an accomplished finish carpenter, saw the potential of the old buildings, too. Stucco was removed exposing beautiful brick, tin ceilings were torn out exposing rustic redwood beams, and historic Calistoga buildings were revived to their original glory.
Today, Dana De Voto Hemberger manages and develops Calistoga properties with that same attention to detail and high regard for Calistoga history.
