HOUSE OF EL CADEJO · OUR STORY

A Woman Determined.

Before there was a brand, there was a house.

A small house in southern Missouri built by my great-grandmother, Odell Tommie Lee, at a time when the world had very specific ideas about what a Black woman could own, what she could build, and what she could leave behind.

And with a defiance that seems to be hereditary, she built it anyway. And in that house, stories were born.

Stories told around tables. Stories passed between generations. Stories that changed a little depending on who was telling them, because that is what good stories do. They travel. They collect pieces of the people who carry them. And if they survive long enough, they become part of a family.

One of ours was the story of El Cadejo.

A HOUSE

Odell Tommie Lee

Before there was a company, there was the house Odell built in southern Missouri. It held family, memory, celebration, and the quiet proof that a future can be made by hand.

A HOUSE

Odell Tommie Lee

Before there was a company, there was the house Odell built in southern Missouri. It held family, memory, celebration, and the quiet proof that a future can be made by hand.

THE WOLVES

El Cadejo

El Cadejo is an old Central American folktale about two supernatural dogs, sometimes described as wolves, who wander the roads at night.

THE WOLVES

El Cadejo

El Cadejo is an old Central American folktale about two supernatural dogs, sometimes described as wolves, who wander the roads at night.

WHITE

The one who guides

THE WHITE CADEJO PROTECTS TRAVELERS. IT KEEPS WATCH, GUIDES PEOPLE HOME, AND STANDS BETWEEN THE ROAD AND WHAT MAY BE WAITING IN THE DARK.

WHITE

The one who guides

THE WHITE CADEJO PROTECTS TRAVELERS. IT KEEPS WATCH, GUIDES PEOPLE HOME, AND STANDS BETWEEN THE ROAD AND WHAT MAY BE WAITING IN THE DARK.

BLACK

The one who follows

THE BLACK CADEJO FRIGHTENS AND TEMPTS. DEPENDING ON WHO TELLS THE STORY, IT IS AN OMEN, A WARNING, A TRICKSTER, OR A DARK MIRROR OF THE PARTS OF OURSELVES WE TRY TO HIDE.

BLACK

The one who follows

THE BLACK CADEJO FRIGHTENS AND TEMPTS. DEPENDING ON WHO TELLS THE STORY, IT IS AN OMEN, A WARNING, A TRICKSTER, OR A DARK MIRROR OF THE PARTS OF OURSELVES WE TRY TO HIDE.

They are opposites, but their stories have always belonged together.

The story that reached me

By the time the story reached me, they were simply the twin dogs of fate. And my grandmother, Jettie, made them real. I didn’t understand it then, but she was teaching me something much bigger than a scary story. She was teaching me how cultures survive.

2022

A borrowed lesson on building houses

In 2022, House of El Cadejo began as an idea. I knew I wanted to build something around wine, but I didn't want to simply sell bottles. There are already plenty of beautiful bottles of wine in the world. I wanted to build something people could belong to. Something built around the things that had always mattered to me: wine, culture, conversation, beautiful objects, gathering around a table, and the stories we tell when we finally stay long enough to know one another. So I borrowed a lesson from my family. I built a house.

2022

A borrowed lesson on building houses

How stories travel

Folklore rarely arrives intact. It moves from one mouth to another, crossing oceans, borders, languages, kitchens, porches, bedrooms, and generations. Every storyteller leaves a fingerprint behind. Even though we can’t pinpoint a place in history where this story found its way into our family, it became ours. The wolves followed us home. They found their way into the house Odell built. They found their way into my grandmother’s stories. And eventually, they found their way to me.

The house is still being built

The word House is intentional. This house holds stories. The House exists because I have learned that our stories are worth telling. Even when the chapter gets difficult. Even when the ending seems decided. There can still be another page. These wolves represent everything that travels with us. Where we came from and what we’ve survived. Survival is a skill worth learning, and a story worth telling always comes at the end. So tell it with a good wine and a stylish bag. Tell it with flair and passion and pride!

House of El Cadejo

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