Florence Ropelewski’s L’AGENCE: A Real Estate Makeover

Florence Ropelewski is poised to open the doors to her new headquarters for L’ AGENCE Napa Valley, which will also serve as a community resource hub.

Read on to learn about Florence’s vision for this historic property, her unique home branding method, and the three pillars of her business: Real Estate, Lifestyle and Community.

Home Branding and Movie-Inspired Experiential Open Houses

“It’s amazing that real estate is the most expensive good or asset you will ever buy, but marketing is often poorly executed or nonexistent. This country does great marketing for pistachios and chips, but not for houses!”

Florence Ropelewski created L’ AGENCE Napa Valley, a new kind of real estate agency, ten years ago after a career as a marketing professional and branding director for the likes of Francis Ford Coppola Winery, Artesa Winery and Hess Persson Estates.

Florence does not take shortcuts when listing a property for sale, and leverages her branding know-how in innovative ways.

“We get paid a lot for what we do,” she says of realtors, “and our clients deserve the best.”

“Although some agents might just put a sign in the front yard and an ad in the paper, that doesn’t sit well with me. I’m going to provide my clients with the absolute best experience they could dream of, just as if they wanted to launch a new soda in the marketplace and went to an agency in New York or San Francisco for help marketing the product. I want to showcase my clients’ homes in the best light possible and earn them the maximum return on investment.”

To achieve this goal, Florence has created a customized three-step “home branding strategy” that consists of presentation, storytelling and advertising. The story she crafts for each property is authentic to the home, the era and the neighborhood. This is easier for homes downtown that have character, but requires more creativity for tract homes that are more uniform.

At a recent open house showcasing a mid-century modern home, Florence drew inspiration from the parties in the show Mad Men, serving canapés and martinis to the sound of a custom playlist. (For a listen, click here).

Shows and movies serve as inspiration to Florence for setting the mood and tone for listings, and she even comes up with a unique playlist for each. After applying her branding process to a property, Florence creates a “branding brief” that she shares with her team of carefully selected stagers, photographers, and videographers.

“I am like the producer, and I have found very skilled and talented people who follow me with my crazy ideas,” she laughs. Florence struggled to build her team, but says she now has it 90% built out. She admits that she had to part with at least 10 stagers before finding two who understand her aesthetic and expectations.

Florence’s unique approach includes creation of “experiential marketing” plans. “When people come through the door, I don’t want them to just see, but to remember. Some people remember smells, others sounds, so I want to create an experience that touches all five senses.”

Florence produced a unique lifestyle video for the Rose Drive property featured below. To view the video, click here.

An invitation from a collaborative open house soirée in 2023.

For help hosting, cooking, pouring wine and making floral arrangements for open houses, Florence collaborates with friends, acquaintances and new partners in the community.

She recently partnered with Hess Persson Estates, a winery she worked for in the past, to host a special open house that included wine club members.

On another occasion, Florence hosted an episode of an HGTV cooking show in the beautiful kitchen of a home she was selling, featuring local private chef and certified sommelier Robert Dubben. (Robert also happens to be one of Florence’s clients).

(To view the episode, click here).

The goal of these open houses is to create a buzz that attracts the right buyer for the property. While neighbors or members of a collaborating winery’s wine club might not be interested in purchasing, they likely know someone who is.

Florence’s commitment doesn’t end when escrow closes on a property. Should her clients choose to undertake a home renovation project, she introduces them to her connections in the construction and design world.

In 2022 and 2023, Florence was voted Napa’s Finest Realtor in the Register’s Napa Valley Finest contest.

French Expatriate Turned Real Estate Entrepreneur

Florence admits that she could never have done all of this in her native France. Although she loves the lifestyle, food, and fashion in France — and the appreciation for the “slow life” where you aren’t served the bill at a café until you ask for it — being an entrepreneur in France is difficult.

Florence came to the US in 2007 to complete an internship in English, which was a requirement for her business degree at INSEEC, an international business school in Bordeaux. She worked as a marketing export coordinator for Francis Ford Coppola Winery, and was immediately offered a full-time position. She flew back to France to finish her degree, then turned right around and moved permanently to Napa, which “felt like home.”

“I could never live anywhere else in the US!” Florence laughs. She identifies with Napa’s celebration of what we grow, whether it’s wine or vegetables.

“There is a deep respect here for how we feed our bodies, which is how I grew up and how I am raising my children.”

While working at Coppola, Florence met her husband Richard, a private pilot (standing on the right side Florence in the photograph).

After the birth of their eldest son, Florence entered a time of introspection about her career. Business trips were taking her away from her family on a regular basis, and one of the wine brands she had built for eight years from the ground up, from conception to market execution, was suddenly cancelled by the company. She lamented where all of that equity went — the work and sweat and efforts, the time spent away from her newborn son.

Florence’s great-grandmother was a real estate agent in Bordeaux in the 1930’s, and Florence’s grandfather followed in her footsteps. He founded a brokerage called Agence Le Deunff and redeveloped multi-unit buildings across the demolished city after World War II. (Le Deunff is Florence’s maiden name). As a little girl Florence loved going out with her grandfather to meet tenants and discover different architectural styles.

Agence Le Deunff is still in existence today, specializing in luxury properties.

Despite her upbringing in Bordeaux and decade working in the Napa Valley wine industry, Florence admitted to herself that she did not particularly care about selling wine, and was drawn to working in real estate like her grandfather and great-grandmother. But she did not want to simply pivot from marketing wine to selling houses. She wanted to be an entrepreneur and build equity in something that would live beyond her, that her children could benefit from.

Blending Lifestyle, Community and Real Estate to Create a Legacy

Florence launched L’ AGENCE Napa Valley in 2021. Her business plan centered around three pillars essential to her vision: Real Estate, Lifestyle, and Community.

In order to bring to life the “community” portion of her vision, Florence dreamed of purchasing a building that would not only serve as her office but also as a real estate resource hub. This would allow Florence to expand on her free virtual events, such as a recent webinar she hosted on the California Dream for All Program — with a focus on down payment assistance options.

This dream recently became a reality when Florence closed escrow on a historic Edwardian Landmark home at 2151 Main Street in Napa, thanks to a Small Business Association commercial loan.

She is working with one of her favorite design and staging partners Ulrika Edin to renovate the interior to stay true to its historic roots while evoking Parisian old-fashioned charm. This transformation pays tribute to Florence’s great-grandmother, who was paid real estate commissions in French antiques.

When renovations are complete, 2151 Main Street will be the home base for L’ AGENCE, as well as a community gathering space for all things real estate. Florence is planning on hosting workshops and seminars featuring loan, tax, and estate specialists to promote home ownership to as many people as possible and “de-mystify” the process and empower individuals to make informed decisions.

In addition to more formal seminars, Florence is planning regular drop-in hours along the lines of “Café, croissants and real estate,” where she can answer questions about buying a home and at the same time foster a social atmosphere encouraging interaction and connection within the community.

Florence envisions the Main Street building retaining its identity as L’ AGENCE long after her career winds down. Her aspiration is for her children or another member of the community to continue running L’ AGENCE, as her principles and practices will have been firmly established, making L’ AGENCE an integral part of the community.

A Mompreneur with Clear Priorities

When asked about how she juggles everything that she is doing — representing buyers and sellers, leading her sales team, hosting open houses on weekends, parenting two young boys with a husband who travels 50% of the time, and working on new ideas such as a YouTube channel to promote the Napa Valley lifestyle — Florence’s answer is no-nonsense.

“For me, it’s always about priorities. Time management is the number one skill of a real estate agent, and if you don’t manage your time well, you’re not worthy to be hired. I work more than I’ve ever worked, but I have the flexibility to prioritize. Being home at night with my kids is the number one priority.”

Florence hits the gym at 6am in the morning and comes up with many of her best ideas on the treadmill.

“I know nobody will be trying to reach me then, so I take an hour away from sleep to exercise and be home for breakfast and take my kids to school. They also come with me to open houses on the weekends. I have no family here to help. Luckily my boys are independent, which I’ve taught them along with how to work. They help with signs, turning on the lights, and greeting people.”

After the open house, “we go do something fun for them.”

One of Florence’s sons can be seen in the background of this promotional image for a house recently sold by L’ AGENCE.

Stop in for a Workshop and Experience a Living Canvas in Historic Napa

In just a few months, L’ AGENCE will open its new headquarters at 2151 Main Street and begin hosting workshops.

True to her collaborative spirit, Florence is partnering with local artists to host ephemeral art installations “to celebrate the vibrancy and creativity of the Napa community by transforming the space into a living canvas.”

Keep an eye out for upcoming events at L’ AGENCE — and don’t be surprised if you end up having a multi-sensory experience.