The Man Behind the ‘Greenest Luxury Hotel’ in the United States

Chris Colin has a glowing profile in SFGate about Phil Sherburne, the developer of the newly-opened Bardessono Inn and Spa in Yountville, California. Though Sherburne has opened his multimillion-dollar luxury resort in the Napa Valley during the worst economic stretch since the Great Depression, “Bardessono has emerged a working laboratory where best practices are developed for sustainable building,” Colin writes.

Sherburne has an interesting history, which includes facing down the CIA some 40 years ago as a young man and later building an acclaimed sustainable development in the San Juan islands. Will his latest project nab the coveted platinum LEED certification rating for top green building projects? He’s paid attention to environmental detail by installing 82,300-foot geothermal walls for temperature control and 900 photovoltaic solar panels for power, and recycling something like 93 percent of the construction waste.

Bardessono is definitely out of most people’s price range, but Robert Redford apparently loved his stay there.

I’m going to it add it to the list of places to visit when I’m rich and quietly famous.

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