Living in Angwin

Angwin village has only one supermarket, one U.S. post office, one service station, one bookstore, one hardware store, one printing-commercial mail room, one credit union, one teen center, and one launderette.

In keeping with the predominate religious faith of the community none of these businesses is open on Saturdays. Some are open on Sundays. Local residents wishing access to such businesses on these days go to nearby St. Helena or Pope Valley. One will not find cigarettes, meat (but plenty of meat substitutes), or alcoholic beverages available in the business firms that are operated by Pacific Union College. Some local vineyards provide both alcoholic and non-alcoholic wines.

Angwin is a community on the move. Some families move here for the educational opportunities afforded by the presence of Pacific Union College, a fully-accredited, co-educational, four-year liberal arts college. Also located in the village are the PUC Preparatory School, PUC Elementary School, and the Howell Mountain Elementary School.

Some people come to Angwin to retire. Others to plant and operate vineyards. Yet others come so they may have a quiet home from which they can commute to employment in near-by Deer Park, St. Helena or other locations in the Napa Valley.

There are three forces which limit population growth in Angwin: There is very little local employment. Napa County has adopted a long-range plan which discourages housing growth. Public utilities such as water and sewer systems are skeletal or nonexistent in some areas of the village.

The Angwin Community Council feels a responsibility to alert those wishing to move to the village of the difficulties of building homes in particular. The Napa County zoning regulations are such that applications for building permits are carefully scrutinized, and a considerable period of time may elapse before permission to build may be obtained. Sometimes the process may take over a year.

One reason for the area's slow growth is the limited water supply. The Howell Mountain Mutual Water Company, which serves a majority of the residents, is limited in its service capacity. The California Public Utilities Commission has limited the company's service to new subscribers until such time as a new system is in place.

Newcomers must drill their own water wells if they cannot become members of the village's few water companies. This is a process which in Angwin's unpredictable geological strata is somewhat speculative. The cost of boring a well and installing a pump and pipe is nearly $30 per foot. The average well is approximately 350 to 500 feet deep. [Read more about Angwin's Water Supply.]

There is no corporate sanitary system for the community. Newcomers must plan and finance their own septic tank and drain field systems to comply with strict county specifications. Some potential building sites are being denied development because of poor conditions for waste disposal. Prospective purchasers of property in the Angwin-Pope Valley area should thoroughly research the water situation and current county building restrictions.