The Life and Times of Park B. Smith: Collector, Businessman, Restaurateur, Philanthropist

P ark started collecting wine over 45 years ago, when he converted his root cellar into a wine cellar in the 1970s. This room still exists today, much as it did then, but the cellar expanded to three rooms in the 1980s and to seven rooms in the 1990s, totaling 8,000 sq ft, which, of course, includes a dining room and kitchen. This illustrates a healthy appetite for enjoying wine, as Park never bought for investment, intending to drink every bottle. At one time, the collection exceeded the equivalent of 85,000 bottles – enough to last 233 years if he drank a bottle a day. I say equivalent, because Park probably has the highest ratio of magnums and large format bottles from any collection I have seen. And, while the scale of the cellar is extraordinarily impressive to any visitor, it is even more so when you realize that the racks are double-deep, even for the double magnums, so there is twice as much wine as first appears. With this quantity of wine to keep track of, it will not surprise you that it is all immaculately organized with an impeccable temperature-controlled system, maintained at 53 degrees, fitted with alarms for any variation in temperature.

Park was in the textile business, owning and operating Park B. Smith, Ltd., a privately held New York-based home furnishings business that designed and provided hand- and machine-woven home fashion products, supplying many of the retailers who are household names across the United States. The Park B. Smith Company was founded on the belief that the definition of fashion is constant change and the company offered an ever-changing mix of stylish home textiles for the bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and dining room, along with hostess gifts and accessories. Over the years, Park traveled to Asia well over 300 times and always took this opportunity to make wine an important part of these trips, frequently visiting vineyards on the way there or in return.

Park’s appetite for buying wine, and the realization of how many bottles he would need to consume, led him to partner with Steve Verlin and open Veritas restaurant in 1998. This wine-centric restaurant was ground-breaking, even for New York City. Park’s cellar focusing on Bordeaux, Rhône and California was a perfect fit with Steve’s Burgundy and Champagne, and when this was combined with Scott Bryan’s excellent food, it became a “must-go” for any wine lover visiting NYC, let alone those of us who lived here. Veritas led the way for American restaurants to be heavily focused on wine and for sommeliers to be as important as the chef – the ingredients of the cellar matching those in the kitchen. Over the 15 years that Veritas was open, countless thousands of great bottles were opened and enjoyed by wine lovers from all over the world.

Park attended College of the Holy Cross, graduating in 1954. His experience there had a profound impact on the rest of his life and he took the Jesuit credo “men and women for others” as an important principle. He has never forgotten what he gained from those years and over a period of ten years became the largest donor in their history.

Park built four buildings at Holy Cross. First, in 1997, he contributed $1.5 million for the construction of the Carol and Park B. Smith Wellness Center which included a state-of-the-art fitness and training facility. In 2000, he donated $10 million for the construction of a new building, the Carol and Park B. Smith Hall, which houses the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture. This gift was the largest ever in the history of Holy Cross at the time and the first eight-figure gift, dwarfing other previous contributions. In 2006, he launched a $10 million challenge that helped vault the Lift High the Cross Campaign far beyond its original $175 million goal, all the way to $216 million.

This contribution went towards the construction of a new state-of-the-art science complex, called Smith Labs and Integrated Science Complex, as well as a new soccer stadium named after his wife, the Linda Johnson Smith Soccer Stadium. The entire $5 million proceeds from Sotheby’s single-owner auction in November 2006, titled The Magnificent Cellar of Park B. Smith sold to benefit The College of the Holy Cross, were donated, going towards construction and restoration of the College’s athletic facilities. Park not only supported his alma mater, he has also been very active over many years with the Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation (MC-LEF) giving them a significant gift in 1999. Due to generous donors like Park, MC-LEF currently provides a $30,000 scholarship account for every child who loses a parent serving in the United State Marine Corps or any Federal Law Enforcement Agency.

Asked why he supported this organization, the reply was simple: “I like to help the kids”. But there is a similarity with his relationship with Holy Cross: giving back and being loyal has always been important to Park. Interestingly, Park served in the Marine Corps, stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, where he first discovered his passion and love for wine, finding that a heavily discounted Beaujolais tasted pretty good. Park B. Smith has had a profound effect on the lives of numerous people, many of whom he knew and many he did not. When the wines from this auction are delivered to the new owners, some of whom he would know and many he would not, they can each toast his life and generosity and appreciate the impeccable condition of his wines.

Past Auction

Vine | The Park B. Smith Cellar, Celebrating California

29 September 2020 | 10:00 AM EDT | New York