Alta Cresta Orchard
The Owners
Susan O'Reilly is originally from Florida. Trained as an accountant, her last position before running Alta Cresta Orchard full time was as a Senior Applications Consultant with SAP America. Sarbanes Oxley compliance kept Susan busy. Her specialty was assisting corporations with the implementation of SAP's Consolidation Accounting Software and in SEC Reporting.
Ron Sanders originally from Alabama then Florida worked for 40 years as an environmental engineer. He most recently was employed by CertainTeed Corporation as “Western Environmental Manager” with responsibility for assuring environmental compliance for CertainTeed’s manufacturing facilities in the western US and Canada. In July 2009 he retired to devote all his energies to tending to the growing of olives and production of Alta Cresta Orchard’s award winning extra virgin olive oils.
Alta Cresta Orchard
Both Susan and Ron are avid gardeners. Knowing that gardening would always be a part of their lives and anticipating a welcomed change in their hectic lifestyle as retirement approached (influenced a bit by the reality show "The Good Life" admits Susan) they began to look for a lower stress rural environment with an ideal outdoor climate. The Florida humidity can be oppressive during a large part of the year, so they began a search for a place with a drier Mediterranean-type climate. Their search quickly focused upon California. Paso Robles Wine Country, not well known at the time, was a chance discovery during an impromptu visit to the area in 2002. They wanted a place that was rural --but still easy access to a city. Paso Robles fit the bill. They located an ideal property, but the seller was not quite ready to sell at the time. They contacted a local realtor and asked her to watch the property and contact them when it came on the market. They got the call from the realtor several months later and Alta Cresta Orchard was born.
There was nothing on the property when they acquired it. As owner-contractors they managed the design and installation of the house, guest cottage and olive orchard on the ten-acre estate. Susan, an "interior designer by avocation" focused on the interior design, while Ron applied his engineering training to the "physical plant." 95% of the energy needs of the site are supplied by a solar electric system, and the orchard is irrigated with a highly efficient automated drip irrigation system fed from a central 18,000 gallon tank. Susan and Ron handled the design and installation of the extensive house gardens, and landscaping and now maintain it themselves.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil Production
One of the objectives of the project was to develop a commercial agricultural operation. Since the site has a classic Mediterranean-type climate, and the terroir was a perfect match for Italian varietal olives grown for olive oil, they chose to grow olives for Extra Virgin Olive Oil production. The orchard was planted with three Tuscan varietals: Frantoio, Leccino and Pendolino, and one from southern Italy, Coratina. Susan and Ron are firm believers in sustainable farming practices. It is their belief that the olive trees will produce the highest quality fruit by cultivating them without the aid of chemical fertilizers. All of the orchard tree trimmings and green wastes are returned to the soil to replenish its nutrients.
Alta Cresta offers three award winning 100% estate grown certified Extra Virgin Olive Oils: Coratina, a southern Italian style extra virgin olive oil made from 100% Coratina olive oil; Tuscan Blend, an extra virgin olive oil blend of Frantoio, Leccino and Pendolino oils; and Italian Blend, an extra virgin olive oil blend of Coratina, Frantoio, Leccino and Pendolino olive oils. In December of 2008, the couple opened an on-site olive oil tasting room where customers can purchase, and sample and compare the different extra virgin olive oils.
The Olive Cottage Bed and Breakfast
Located high on a crest and overlooking the serene and beautiful Olive Orchard and neighboring vineyards of the Creston Valley, the Olive Cottage Bed and Breakfast was originally built as a guest cottage. In 2006 it was remodeled with added extra conveniences and touches and transformed into a high-end Bed and Breakfast. The Olive Cottage Bed and Breakfast has every amenity one could ask for: a complete kitchen, serene and spacious bedroom, living/dining room and full bath. If a guest doesn't feel like cooking dinner or going out to a local restaurant after a busy day in the Paso Robles Wine Country, visiting personal Chef Terry Birchfiel is available to provide a full-course wine-country dinner.
To reserve the Olive Cottage Bed and Breakfast, click here for Online Reservations.
