The retreat home is a rebirth from the ashes of a small cottage and its surrounding woods destroyed in the 2017 Tubbs Fire. The retreat on a 5.6-acre hill site consists of a 5,000 sq. ft. Main House with six en-suite bedrooms, a Wine Cave Guest House, and a Vineyard Guest House, each with two bedrooms.
The Vineyard Guest House (a legal ADU) marks the cottage's original location near the site's entrance. It sits elevated atop a carport and viticultural warehouse overlooking the vineyard. A row of young olive trees leads up an 800-ft gently ascending driveway to a newfound vista point at the east end of the property. A view court at the vista point is embraced by the Main House, the Wine Cave Guest House, a pool, and a solar panel pavilion. An angled Main House south wall guides one to the entrance door. It opens to a semicircular-shaped space with a panoramic Napa Valley view through an expansive curved window wall. As the multi-level house steps down the slope, a skylight-topped stairwell/elevator tower connects the roof deck garden to the living, bedroom suites, and gym levels below. The Wine Cave Guest House across the court perches over the wine cave carved into the hillside. The cave functions as wine barrel storage and as a unique event venue.
While the architectural style is distinctly contemporary, it draws on a classic wine country theme. The roof garden, concrete paved roof deck, and alternating metal cladding with plaster for the building exterior are for function, fire defense, and aesthetics. The complex is grounded in green building design and represents the latest in sustainable residential architecture.
© Z Studio Architects 2019 SITE CREDIT