Wine Country Barn

This project in Dry Creek Valley — for a San Francisco-based couple who have enthusiastically embraced Healdsburg as their second home — expands their existing property with the addition of a new entertaining barn, courtyard and pool to accommodate visiting family and friends. The new “party barn” complex includes a covered outdoor kitchen and dining area, drive-through parking space, guest suite with bathroom, expansive patio lounge area with a fire pit overlooking the vineyards, and a courtyard that connects the new structure to the existing house. 

Inspired by our clients’ desire to spend more time outdoors and connect with nature, our goal as a team was to knit the new elements of the property seamlessly into the surroundings. Set under the canopy of an existing walnut tree, and clad in locally-harvested cedar siding, the barn is in direct dialogue with its surroundings, connected to the main house by a spacious courtyard. Generously-proportioned concrete pavers, gravel, decking and a bridge spanning a small stream form a varied and layered journey from the courtyard to the pool. We reshaped the area around the existing pool, which sits immersed in the vineyards oriented toward the valley views and subtly aligned to unite the existing structures with the new. 

To complement the restrained palette of the architecture, the planting palette is subtle. Existing oaks are underplanted with lomandra, swaths of slender velt grass provide a soft counterpoint to the drama of the surrounding vineyards, and heritage olive trees lend a sense of gravitas and permanence.