The story of Izumi Point

Izumi Point is a sculpture garden on our Saratoga property, set just inside the entry gate. It’s one of the first things you see when you arrive and serves as a nature welcome point. It’s composed of three stone installations that face outward toward the Mount Eden Valley, and it’s where we currently welcome our guests and host tastings. One of the most common questions we get is about how it came to be and what each of the stones represents.

Izumi Point was created as part of the development of our Old Oak Way property in the late 1990s. Initially, only the two lots at the top of the ridgeline were purchased. A few years later, a third parcel just to the west of the property was acquired, which would later become the site of Izumi Point.

The space was ultimately designed in collaboration with Japanese stone artist Masatoshi Izumi, who our founder, Dave House, invited to travel from Japan to create and install the work that now defines Izumi Point. The stones are Mannari stones, a type of natural granite traditionally used in Japanese landscape design. They were selected by Izumi from a region of Japan known as the Seto Inland Sea, where this type of stone naturally occurs in large coastal quarries. They were transported to his studio, where they were carefully shaped to preserve their natural form, and later shipped to California in four shipping containers. The installation was completed in 2006 under Izumi’s direction, using two 50-ton cranes. On the final day of the installation, Izumi performed a traditional “Washing of the Stones” ceremony, during which water is used to cleanse the completed stonework and mark its completion. Following the ceremony, the surrounding ground was raked by members of the family using new rakes tied with red ribbons.

Titled Earth Meets Sky, the installation is composed of three groupings of stone, positioned from the entry gate inward. The first, closest to the gate, is known as “Welcome,” often referred to as the Guardian Stones. The second, set further in, is “Source of Light,” oriented upward toward the sky. The third, positioned deepest into the site, is “Balance,” representing family. In total, the installation weighs over 31 tons. A film crew from Japan documented the entire development and installation process as part of a broader study of the Izumi’s work, a short excerpt of which is included below.

What remains today is largely unchanged, and if you’ve spent time with us, you’re likely familiar with the stillness the site offers. It’s a place we continue to value for exactly that reason. It gives us the chance to pause and take in our surroundings, and, if nothing else, a quiet place to enjoy a glass of wine.