This vineyard and winery was once a Long Island potato farm, which the clients asked Centerbrook to transform into a more appropriate estate on which to bottle and market their wine.
The winery is open to the public for tastings on certain days, and to wholesalers on others. At the same time, the clients, who cherish their privacy, live on the farm. Therefore, they asked that the winery be notable from the street, but with an entry gate. Cars were to be kept out of sight of the house, the existing pool made private, and the commercial elements kept within the existing barn.
The primary task was landscape and exterior reorganization. Inexpensive pressure-treated "peeler" poles (also used as the vineyard stakes) are used for trellises throughout the project to create a sense of procession. At the road front the trellises become an arched entry that can close if traffic requires. Covered with fox grape, the trellised entry offers symbolic recognition for the vineyard.
Once through the gate, visitors drive through grape rows to park at a second entry - an outdoor hall carved from the unused center bay of the old garage. Tapering to a narrow three feet, this pedestrian entry heightens expectations as one enters the court. Here, in the backyard between the house and barn, more trellises are arranged across from the garage to complete a formal courtyard. They surround the swimming pool as an atrium which, covered with vines, ensures privacy.
To ease the expansive front of the barn, both in winter and in summer, trellises are employed again, arching up to make clear to the public which door is the entry. Inside, the east wing of the barn serves as a garage for tractors, the west wing as the winery itself, and the north shed as the cask room. The central room, carefully restored, is for visitors. The large space allows for an indoor stenciled folly which separates the wine display area from a tasting room and serves as a sales counter and bar for large receptions. To bring in light, and to distinguish the barn, two cupolas and a bell tower were built.
Photography © Norman McGrath