Local Business

Construction expected to conclude in mid-April 2021

Chalkboard, the high-end Healdsburg restaurant on the ground floor of Hotel Les Mars at 27 North St., closed abruptly late last month. Under the hotel’s signature striped awnings, its street-facing windows are now covered in brown paper. Both the hotel and restaurant space are owned...

Now when most winemakers talk about “clones,” they’re talking about varietals selected for specific qualities, such as flavor, color or intensity. The Dijon clones of pinot noir or chardonnay are well known; but the canine clone of a winery dog is a new thing entirely.

The news earlier this year that the Bear Republic Brewery, long associated with a popular brewpub and restaurant in downtown Healdsburg, had been sold to Drake’s Brewing Company of San Leandro surprised many fans of their signature brew, Racer 5 IPA. The sale included...

The coronavirus pandemic is taking a devastating economic toll on Sonoma County’s economy: tourism, once a mainstay, is non-existent; 16,000 local workers have filed for unemployment; more than a thousand small businesses have applied for the federal Small Business Administration (SBA) Payroll Protection Plan (PPP). Meanwhile local governments continue to provide essential public health and welfare services, while their normal revenue sources trickle to near-zero.

There’s been a new face on the campus of The Healdsburg School this fall: Tracie Mastronicola, has officially become the fourth Head of School for the 14-year-old independent TK-8 school at 33 Healdsburg Ave.

Simi Winery, whose signature wine-barrel tasting room was a landmark on Old Redwood Highway when it served as 101 North, will close its tasting room in February, Constellation Brands announced this month. “As we focus on evolving SIMI into a leading premium consumer lifestyle brand,...

What makes Healdsburg’s market particularly unique is the continued dominance of non-primary residence purchases. In 2024, 61% of all purchases were for second homes or investment properties, with rural properties showing an even higher rate at 76%. This tracks with 2023 when 64% of properties were purchased as non-primary residences, writes a local realtor.

The Healdsburg housing market saw a decrease in sales in 2023, with median prices increasing by 9% to $1.23 million, due to high interest rates and a rise in investors and second-home owners.

SPONSORED - Osmosis offered it’s first cedar enzyme bath in Sonoma County in May of 1985 in a handcrafted structure made from recycled wood in a friend’s back yard. Founder Michael Stusser had his life changed when he experienced the enzyme bath for the first time while living in Japan. “As the healing warmth of the bath enveloped my being, the whole picture of a healing sanctuary with a magical fermentation bath at the core surrounded by meditative Japanese style gardens, architecture and gracious hospitality flashed before my minds eye. From this remarkable moment I knew it was my calling to come back to Sonoma County and recreate the Japanese enzyme bath in West,” Stusser says.