Margaret Grade, the eccentric lodge and restaurant owner with a presence in Inverness for over two decades, purchased two properties in West Marin’s tiny town of Olema over the last several months: the Olema Schoolhouse and the Druid’s Hall. According to realtor B.G. Bates, the schoolhouse sold in July for $995,000, an additional $200,000 over the asking price. The Druid’s Hall sold in September for an undisclosed amount and is now registered to First Valley Four, L.L.C., a business entity whose agent is Jaemie Altman, a San Francisco accountant and business consultant for restaurants like Chez Panisse, Per Se and The French Laundry.
Known for keeping a low public profile behind her long, black skirts, hats and sunglasses, Ms. Grade declined to comment for this story, despite repeated attempts by the Light to convince her since late July. (Ms. Grade’s partner and chef Daniel DeLong also declined to comment on how the two new properties will be used, saying, “Real estate sales are newsworthy?”)
After closing on both properties, Ms. Grade announced her intentions to staff at a meeting last month, detailing plans for an event venue with 125 seats, multiple employees said. At dinner service at Sir and Star, the restaurant housed in the Olema Inn, which she purchased in 2012 for $1.65 million, Ms. Grade has also told guests that rooms will soon be available for overnight stays after two properties are refurbished.
A Milwaukee native and a former clinical neuropsychologist, Ms. Grade found herself at Manka’s Lodge in 1989, a hunting lodge built in 1917 among Inverness’s oaks, firs and redwoods, and she purchased it with her family for about $1 million soon after. She proceeded to create a world-class destination, known in particular for dinners that utilized hyper-local shellfish, meats, vegetables and cheeses long before the idea of “farm-to-table” became commonplace.
In 2006, a windstorm toppled a tree onto a gas line, and the ensuing flames quickly devastated the historic inn’s main lodge and dining room. At an impromptu memorial a few weeks later, in Jan. 2007, devotees of the restaurant left notes like, “Born: 1917. Died: December 27, 2006. Reborn: Any moment now.” But lacking comprehensive insurance coverage and threatened by neighbors’ opposition, Manka’s never fully rose from the ashes and even faced foreclosure in 2009. (An airstream trailer now houses the reception desk, and several cabins still accommodate guests at the site.)
There’s speculation that after years of controversy and red tape thwarted her in Inverness, Ms. Grade might once again have her chance at building a lasting West Marin institution in a valley just a few miles south. Few doubt her talent at seeing a project to completion, and Ms. Grade has admitted she’s a tad ambitious. In a 2002 profile in the San Francisco Chronicle, she confessed, “I don’t think I’m prone to satisfaction.”