Client Journeys is a series about how our client relationships actually unfold.
Minding the Store by Stanley Marcus has been one of the philosophical cornerstones of Webster Estates since Chris founded the practice in 1976. The book was first published in 1974, and when Chris first read it, in the mid-1970s, he was not looking for a sales manual. The book’s emphasis on discernment, quality, relationships, and trust became a kind of compass.
Inspired, Chris wrote a letter to his circle of friends, colleagues, and contacts, letting them know that he was entering real estate and sharing the values he hoped would guide that work. He copied Stanley Marcus on that letter. That letter is where Webster Estates begins. The practice opened in 1976 and has been headquartered at 54½ Lincoln Avenue on the Plaza ever since.
Weeks later, Stanley wrote back. It was not a business reply, but a human one. Soon after, when Stanley was visiting, he invited Chris to have breakfast with him at La Fonda. What began as a conversation about ideas became a friendship, and, over time, a professional relationship rooted in trust.
Stanley put his own side of it in writing, in a testimonial the team still publishes: “Chris is a person of very broad interests. He is a man of complete integrity in whom I have ultimate confidence both as a friend and as a real estate dealer.”
Friend first, and then dealer. That is the order it happened in.
For decades, we had the privilege of advising Stanley and his wife, Linda, through different chapters of their Santa Fe life. Each home carefully chosen, each transition considered. After Stanley’s passing in 2002, our work with Linda continued until the sale of the family’s final residence in 2019.
What stays with us is not the roster of properties. It is the through-line. A shared belief that trust is built slowly, that taste is practiced, not performed, and that relationships are stewarded over time. That is the journey that still guides how we work today.
Continue Exploring
- Stanley Marcus’s Testimonial. His endorsement in full, in his own words.
- From Houston to Santa Fe: A Client Journey. The first journey in this series, and a relationship that took its own time.
- About Webster Estates. More than a transaction. How we work with buyers and sellers.
- Select Solds. A record of the sales we have closed.
Chris Webster · Patti Webster · Christopher Webster III · Paisley Mason Webster
What a Home Is Worth