Photographer Captures Napa's Threatened Treasures

Every year the historic non-profit chooses ten buildings and architectural elements to put on their Threatened Treasures list – structures and sites of historical significance that, for one reason or another, may not be around for much longer.

Last year, for the first time, the preservation group held a public exhibit of photographs of its ten choices, and the exhibit proved so popular it's back again this summer.

For the second annual , Landmarks engaged St. Helena-based photographer Robb McDonough to document each chosen building – or theme, as explained below – and his framed prints are currently on display in the entry hall of the Goodman Library, itself an historic stone building at 1219 First Street where the Napa County Landmarks shares office space with the .

McDonough is a lean, energetic man with an artist’s restlessness, who carried a digital camera with attached light ring (for portraits) when we met.

“I’m a fine arts photographer,” he said, pointing to some of his other work for the as one of six photographers lining up to document the “food experience.”

He’s also done work for the Napa Valley Grapegrowers, the and , among other commercial clients.

“I also like to think of myself as a documentary photographer,” McDonough added.

His task in documenting this year’s Threatened Treasures called upon his technical as well as artistic skills:

He used a technique known as “black-masking” in Photoshop to dampen down the colors in the background of an image so the building and its construction are subtle but effectively highlighted.

He used a Canon Mark I 17-megapixel camera.

The show runs through Aug. 30, and is open to the public whenever the Goodman Library is open (Tuesday through Saturday between noon and 4 p.m, or during Chefs' Market on Thursdays)

If you're interested, you can purchase a framed copy of any of McDonoogh’s photographs to benefit Napa County Landmarks. Just ask Landmarks program director Kara Brunzell -- you’ll usually find her working to discover, catalog and preserve Napa County’s historic buildings.

This year the list includes only seven specific buildings, though the first item is the broad category of "Unreinforced Masonry Buildings throughout Napa County."

There are at least 11 buildings in this category alone, including the much-discussed (813 Main Street), the (810-816 Brown Street), and the (1212 First Street) in Napa, as well as six more in Yountville and an undetermined number in Calistoga.

"Napa County’s historic Stone Bridges," which at one time numbered 326 bridges and culverts, are also on the list. Landmarks is currently working with the City of Napa to designate the Main Street Bridge over Napa Creek, built in 1860 and the State’s oldest remaining stone arch bridge, as a city landmark.

Last on the list is probably the most ubiquitous, yet endangered: "Wood Windows."

The original windows of historic homes are being replaced by vinyl and metal, yet the original wood windows are often character-defining architectural elements of historic homes: custom-designed, hand-crafted, and made from local old-growth redwood.

Among the buildings listed are many familiar, and several not so much. The oldest house in town is officially known as the Cayetano Juarez Adobe, though most people just call it the Old Adobe (376 Soscol). 

The adobe structure itself, built in the 1840s, is difficult enough to see behind the newer wood framing, added to the fact that the building is on a busy street corner where Soscol splits into the Silverado Trail.  

Its latest inhabitant is .

The full list of Threatened Treasures, ranging from an art deco gas station to a long-abandoned hospital building in Calistoga,  can be found on the website at this page.

But to fully appreciate these structures in their craftsmanship and appeal, a visit to the Goodman Library should be on any Napan’s walking tour of downtown.