Diamond Mountain Residences - Richard Beard Architects

Panoramic views of seemingly endless rows of grapevines and, beyond that, the rocky Napa Palisades and distant Mount St. Helena are key to this new build on a prominent wine estate in Calistoga, California. Asked by the vineyard’s owners to design a private retreat on the property, Richard Beard Architects responded with a serene, secluded home precisely designed to honor the landscape. 

Beard’s team had already restored several of the estate’s existing 19th-century buildings for contemporary use—including a dilapidated barn and an old schoolhouse—and created new, world-class winemaking facilities. The firm drew on this 10-year history of collaboration when devising the property’s crowning glory: a serene residence beautifully shaped to its site and infused with historic reference.

The clients wanted their home completely removed from day-to-day working of the winery, so Beard situated it at the highest point of the property on a hillside at 1,800 feet of elevation, overlooking yet worlds away from the hospitality program below.

A linear structure—only one-room wide, but very long—the house capitalizes on the exchange between indoor and outdoor spaces. A warm, restrained palette of natural cedar, board-formed concrete, and stone provides a quiet complement to the scenery.

The architecture is enhanced by interiors with warm, tactile surfaces and interesting artwork. A mostly neutral color scheme is punctuated by pops of burnt orange and blue, which echo the surrounding landscape. But the natural setting itself steals the spotlight at every turn thanks to the home’s generous, boundary-erasing openings. 

One of the client’s favourite spaces is a covered outdoor room off the primary suite with a hot tub and outdoor fireplace made for year-round use. Whether gathered around the hearth in the cooler months or restoring themselves with a soak in summer, the wine entrepreneurs are always directly connected to the landscape they love.