Courtesy Charmaine Warmenhoven
entertaining
Charmaine Warmenhoven leaves planning of big parties to the pros. “I just sit back and applaud and open the door.”
American Cancer Society’s Cattle Barons’ Ball each year. “I do a variety of different things,” she says, “but they all make sense to me.” She and her husband met sitting next to each other on a plane on their way back to Princeton from the West Coast when she was a junior and he was a senior. “He asked me to dinner,” she says, “and we were married two years later.” After moving around the East Coast with his jobs for IBM and HP and hers in teaching, they arrived in Santa Clara Valley in the early 1980s. In the mid-1990s, Dan Warmenhoven became president and CEO of Network Appliance, employing 45 people at the time. It has since grown to 8,000 employees worldwide. The Warmenhovens moved from their house in Saratoga, which their son and daughter-in-law now own, to the Monte Sereno estate three years ago. Even though the house is grand, the rooms feel intimate. And she loves the indoor/outdoor flow of the house, which is perfect for entertaining. She enjoys planning gatherings for her family and close friends, but she leaves the big parties to the pros. She has her list of favorite local party planners, florists and caterers. “I just sit back and applaud,” she says, “and open the door.” S
gala with a heart The Silicon Valley Heart Gala celebrates the American Heart Association’s work, donors, volunteers and lives saved. Chaired by Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz. 6 p.m. Saturday, June 12, at the home of Dan and Charmaine Warmenhoven, Monte Sereno. $1,500 per seat; table sponsorships available. www.heart.org/siliconvalley caheartball; 408-977-4950. Another American Heart Association event of interest: Silicon Valley Go Red For Women Luncheon – encouraging women to become champions of heart health. Keynote: Dr. Marie Savard, author and ABC News medical contributor. 10 a.m. Friday, May 7, Fairmont San Jose, 170 S. Market St. $150 a seat; $2,500 a table. www.heart.org/SiliconValleyCAGoRedLuncheon; 408-977-4950.
For more photos of Charmaine Warmenhoven’s home, see www.lookiloos.com
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