Varenna is the flagship senior community developed by William (Bill) P. Gallaher and is owned and operated by the Gallaher family. Bill and his wife Cindy have a long history in Real Estate Development and have been building since the 1970’s. The family's development arm, Gallaher Companies, has built more than 1000 custom homes, 500 multifamily units and several local commercial projects. In the decades of focus on the senior industry, Bill initially built for other senior companies including Chancellor Health Care, Atria, ARV and Sunrise. He then co-founded and built for Aegis Assisted Living, and later founded Oakmont Senior Living and Oakmont Management Group (OMG). To date the Gallahers have built 62 senior communities throughout the Western states of which they have decided to retain just 8. Most were operated until recently under the Oakmont brand. Scaling down to 8 communities will allow the family to have a greater impact on how the communities are run, hence the decision to partner with WellQuest Living. 

Bill also founded and is the chairman of locally based Poppy Bank of which the family is the majority stockholder. Poppy Bank currently has more than 5 billion in assets and is rated one of the strongest financial institutions in the nation. Poppy has funded hundreds of small business interests locally and across the nation and is strongly committed to local concerns.

Bill and Cindy are natives of Sonoma County and have 5 adult children all raised in Santa Rosa. Their daughter Molly, who lives locally with her husband and daughters, serves on the Poppy Bank Board of Directors and holds the role of Chief Operating Officer for Gallaher Companies. With 5th generation Gallahers in Santa Rosa, the family is heavily invested in the welfare of the local community. 

Bill and Cindy have made a range of past, present and ongoing charitable investments in Sonoma County. The family built more than 100 homes for fire victims at under market prices subsequent to the 2017 Tubbs fire in which all profits were donated to local concerns. In 2020 they donated land to the Boys and Girls Club, provided financing through Poppy Bank at under market rate, and then designed and built a new club with a total contribution of more than 5 million. In 2022 Bill and Cindy rescued the Hope Village and the Athena House programs for Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation and Sober Living for women and children. They also founded, funded and operated non-profit North Bay Adoptions for 13 years (1990-2003), during which time more than 300 children from other countries were placed with local families.  

Through the many decades of work Bill and his companies have weathered multiple cycles of ups and downs in the economy and the concurrent impact on the construction, senior and banking industries. The family’s commitment to quality, integrity and function is matched by a keen sensitivity to changing market and economic indicators. Both have served the family and their many long time employees remarkably well and Varenna residents can be assured of the financial and ethical integrity of every Gallaher Companies project.