Napa Custom Home, Vineyard Barn

Centric General Contractors worked together with architect William Duff of San Francisco to relocate and transform an empty barn for contemporary art collectors and philanthropists Cindy and Howard Rachofsky. As collectors of contemporary art, they wanted the space to be consistent with their artistic tastes. Careful consideration was made to select the barn’s new location. Given wine industry’s role in the contemporary Napa Valley identity, the architect and client felt grape vines should surround the barn. The most natural site was an empty field past the yard. The field was transformed into a vineyard to embrace the relocated barn, which was elevated just above the vines. In its new location, the barn became an art object in the landscape, just beyond surrounding sculptures that visually link it to the main house. Once relocated, the barn was completely restored, and two rectangular, steel-framed, mirror-clad pavilions were created inside. The original barn, intended for drying hay, was left intact with light and air passing through its slatted structure. Gaps between the siding that once allowed light and air in for livestock and drying hay, now have a new board-formed concrete foundation that elevates the barn. Additionally, a new concrete plinth allows outdoor dining terraces around it. The barn serves as an airy entertainment pavilion. Light streams in through the barn’s wooden slats, form patterns on the new dark-stained polished floors, and when the barn doors are rolled back, the interior mirrors reflect the view.