Glen Ellen Estate - A Rustic Modern Vineyard Compound
The Glen Ellen Estate takes the place of a small home destroyed by the Northern California wildfires of 2017. The first words the Owners shared as we walked the charred property was, “No one ever knew where the front door was at the old place, I want to have a clear and welcoming entry.”
But beyond a front door, the Architect and Owners decided the new residence should champion connection in all its manifestations. Dialogue focused on fostering emotional connections - namely the desire to welcome family and entertain guests. As well, visual connections to outdoor spaces and the vistas beyond - both verdant and reviving naturally from the blaze set the conceptual framework for the design.
While the entry is clearly featured upon approach as a tower clad in Corten steel, the massing of the house and its organization unfolds slowly. The quartet of volumes serve to circumscribe a pair of courtyards. Within the individual volumes, careful composition captures framed views of the nearby vineyards and distant hillsides.
In form and materials, cedar, and stone in addition to the Corten, the ensemble possesses a strong vernacular aesthetic that, in another kind of connection, anchors the new home to the Owners’ working vineyard and the region’s agricultural history.
At the interior, warm toasted-oak millwork echoes tones of the grassy hillside. Metal pickets at the stair nod to the stakes supporting vines and charcoal accents acknowledge the charred landscape that remains. Connections also extended to those crafting the house. Many of the carpenters, metalsmiths and millworkers were also directly impacted by the upheaval of the 2017 wildfires. The shared experience galvanized these makers to do their best work as evidenced by the craftmanship throughout.
The Glen Ellen Estate captures the poignant history of the vineyard property within structures representing a renewed future for its Owners.
General Contractor: Total Concepts, Landscape Architect: Pedersen and Associates, Lighting: Lighting Forms Millwork: RMS Designs,
