Doug Filipponi grew up a virtual stone’s throw from Santa Margarita Ranch–but never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined where he finds himself today, as co-owner of this majestic property that he has admired since childhood.
In Doug’s words, “As a kid, being raised just literally on the edge of this ranch, always driving by, thinking what a beautiful place–what if you could ever own something like that? Not possible.”
Achieving The Impossible
Yet here we are, decades later, and Doug has not only achieved what he once thought impossible–he has done it while keeping his roots and boots firmly planted in the local community.
Today, Doug is more than co-owner of the ranch and Ancient Peaks Winery, where he also served as viticulturist at our estate Margarita Vineyard. He is a pillar of the community, with varied entrepreneurial interests. He is a longtime member of the Rotary Club and the co-founder of the Lighthouse Atascadero Foundation. Last year, he was honored with the “Atascadero Chamber of Commerce Award for Lifetime Achievement.” He was also named the “2021 Agriculturist of the Year” by the San Luis Obispo County Farm Bureau.
Doug’s unlikely journey can be traced back to the age of seven years old, when his family moved to a property located just a mile from Santa Margarita Ranch, where they operated a dairy farm. Getting up early and working hard are skills that he learned from a young age–and that set the tone for his entrepreneurial life to come.
Doug and his friend Ned Thompson started a firewood business when they were 15 years old. After Doug graduated from nearby Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, he and Ned started well drilling company. Filipponi & Thompson Drilling not only flourished in the burgeoning agricultural lands of Paso Robles–it introduced Doug to many new friends and neighbors, including his future partners at Santa Margarita Ranch and Ancient Peaks Winery.
“I met both Rob (Rossi) and Karl (Wittstrom) by drilling wells for them in the 1970s. Karl and I became business partners in 1994, and Rob invited us to buy into Santa Margarita Ranch in 2001. The rest is history.”
Enduring Influences
Doug credits his family and his wife Kathy for inspiring his work ethic. “Being raised by hardworking parents, and meeting Kathy and her parents, caused me to be influenced by hardworking and successful people,” he says. “Kathy is my number one partner in all of this.” They have now been married for 52 years.
Doug’s early success in the well drilling business is what also sparked his life in wine. “I met many retired and successful people who moved to Paso Robles and hired us to drill new wells for growing wine grapes,” he recalls. “I had always been close to wine due to my Swiss-Italian and Greek grandfathers, who both made wine for the family table.”
Today, Doug also has an active hand in other industries, including banking and tourism. He is a partner in the beautiful new Cambria Hotel in Templeton, bringing much-needed visitor accommodations to this local wine country hamlet. Doug is also an avid pilot, ever since starting flying lessons on his birthday in 1979.
But perhaps most notable, Doug is the co-founder of the Lighthouse Atascadero Foundation. The foundation is dedicated to supporting and serving the needs of local youth by building a healthy, safe, and addiction-free community through awareness, prevention, intervention, and education.
“Kathy and I have always felt that our community was responsible for our success,” Doug says. “We have always given back in many different ways, because we have been blessed by those around us feel called to serve those in need of a hand up.”