Marin architecture firm celebrates 30 years

Sausalito s Backen Backen Architecture firm, which has additional offices in Los Angeles and Salt Lake City, has spent the last three decades overseeing high-profile residential, winery, hospitality and commercial projects nationwide and abroad.

The Details

A few weeks ago, it celebrated its 30-year milestone with a festive luncheon party for its team, clients and collaborators at one of its Napa Valley projects, the historic Louis M. Martini Winery in St. Helena.

The winery has a sweet history. It was founded in 1933 by Louis M. Martini, who had traveled from Genoa, Italy, to San Francisco when he was only 12 years old to work for his father’s seafood business in San Francisco.

He found his future in land, rather than the ocean, when he arrived in the Napa Valley and set down roots, both his own and those of his grapes. At the end of Prohibition, when he built his winery, he was only one of five winemakers who do so in the Napa Valley.

In 2019, the winery tapped Backen Backen to lead the hist