Anne Teller and a Legacy of Land

Posted from Glen Ellen, CA

Anne Teller owns the Vineyard Gatehouse, the cottage we’re renting in Glen Ellen that’s situated on Old Hill Ranch vineyard. She and her late husband, Otto Teller, are revered in Sonoma Valley as pioneering and passionate practitioners of environmentalism and land conservation. Anne is the mother-in-law of Wendy Westerbeke, who manages the rental of our cottage through airbnb (click here to see Renaissance Women of Westerbeke Ranch post). We were delighted that Anne invited us for a private tour of her family farm and shared her stories.  

Anne Teller at Oak Hill Farm

It was Otto Teller’s flowering peach orchards along Highway 12 that first caught Anne (Bucklin) Teller’s eye in the 1970s.

In the 1950s, Otto and his then-wife had purchased some 1,000 acres of wild Sonoma Valley real estate on the eastern side of the Valley of the Moon and developed their ranch, called Oak Hill Farm. Wheat and native grasses grew there, and the land was lush thanks to mountain streams and natural springs.

Anne, a divorcee, and her four children would pass those peach trees on their way to their own family’s retreat at nearby Hood Mountain. She asked herself, “What’s going on over there?”

Anne soon found out when mutual friends invited her and Otto, a recent widower, to a dinner party. Seated next to each other, they talked about water, bees, weather, and other causes related to nature and the land. They married in 1977, and were married for 22 years.

“Otto was an icon, larger than life, and major in land conservation,” Anne said.

Concerned that the surrounding landscapes were at risk from developers, Otto spearheaded a group of Sonoma Valley residents in the 1970s to take action, and the Sonoma Land Trust was born to conserve scenic, natural, agricultural, and open land. As founding members of the Trust, the Tellers gave the organization their 300-acre Secret Pasture. In the 1980s, they signed a conservation easement for their remaining 700 acres to be protected wild lands.

Anne was well suited for living life on a ranch, having previously run a garden business in San Francisco. She had been gardening since childhood, when “my parents conscripted me at an early age to work their garden. They paid me.”

Strawberries ripe for picking

The Tellers were early comers to growing vegetables in Sonoma Valley. Influenced by the publication of The Locavore’s Dilemma, Anne got in on the “vegetable movement,” and began planting vegetables as people were becoming more concerned about the sources of their food.

“We started with the typical bad business plan… do what you like,” Anne grinned.

Acres of plantings

As matriarch of the ranch, Anne oversees the active farming that takes place on about 25  acres. While not certified organic, the farm follows a sustainable agriculture model and uses no chemical pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers. The area’s Mediterranean-like climate is conducive to growing their more than 200 varieties of flowers, vegetables, fruits, greenery, and herbs, which they sell at both wholesale and retail markets, including restaurants, around the Bay Area. They also sell their harvest at the Red Barn Store farm stand on the property. About 10 full-time workers live on the farm, aided by seasonal workers.

The four Bucklin siblings learned well from Anne and Otto, and express reverence for the land in their own ways.

Anne’s son Will is vintner of the certified-organic Old Hill Ranch vineyard, which the siblings founded. Bucklin and Ravenswood are the vineyard’s sole wine producers. Bought by the Tellers in 1981, Old Hill Ranch is historic, having been founded in 1851. The vineyard, established in 1885, has been said to be the oldest in Sonoma County. Daughter Arden turned the vacant lot next to her children’s school into a garden. Daughter Kate is a conservation geneticist and lives at Oak Hill Farm. Son Ted, who’s married to Wendy Westerbeke, manages the grounds and operations at Westerbeke Ranch.

Anne continues to live by the values that she and Otto espoused.

“I’m sticking to our principles of land conservation and using land wisely,” Anne said. “We could have made a lot more money doing other things with the land.”

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An avid cook, Anne shared her recipe for zucchini soup (serves 5).

Zucchini Soup

• 6 zucchini
• 1 quart chicken stock
• Bunch of fresh basil
• ½ pint cream
• Salt and pepper

Dice the zucchini. Cook zucchini in a little water until just done. Don’t drain the water. Add chicken stock. Cool. Add chopped basil and cream, and then blend in a blender or food processor. Chill and serve.

Further instructions from Anne: “Men like this soup, and they don’t like vegetables. Make them guess what’s in it.”