FRESH PERSPECTIVE
An Old Farmhouse Gets a New Lease on Life as a Private Guesthouse
Written by Jeanine Matlow
It all began with a quest for more land. As Carolyn Duryea Smith, founder and partner of Hourglass Wine Company, in St. Helena, California, explains, “The wine we created from the original four-acre Hourglass Vineyard, which my husband’s family purchased in 1976, became very successful, but it limited us in how much wine we could make.” So, she and her husband, Jeff, searched for another vineyard where they could develop a second estate wine.
Their search led to a beautiful forty-one-acre piece of property now known as the Blueline Vineyard. The 1850s farmhouse on the property, however, left much to be desired. “It was very dark, with heavy window treatments and no real continuity between the rooms,” she explains. “The kitchen had been taken over by field mice, and the gardens were a bit overgrown. What it needed was a fresh start. We wanted to open it up to celebrate the amazing vineyard setting.”
The direction of the renovation was clear from the start. “We have great reverence for Napa Valley’s history, so tearing it down was not an option,” Smith says of the approximately 1,400-square-foot structure that now serves as a private guesthouse. “From that point, the guiding vision was to simplify and refresh.”
Because the guesthouse is part of the vineyard and winery, Smith says the aesthetic is driven largely by the forty-one acres that make up Hourglass and the style of wine they make. “Our plan was really a process of reduction more than anything,” she says. “The bones were there; they just needed to be uncovered. We removed much of the adornment that had been added over the years, creating a simpler, cleaner look.”
They removed an exterior wall in the newly renovated kitchen and replaced it with French doors that lead to an outdoor living and eating area. “We did this to encourage that wonderful California indoor-outdoor lifestyle,” Smith says. “But when it came to the original fireplace—the centerpiece of the living room—we simply reconditioned it [by painting the mantel white]. Beyond that, most of the changes were quite modest.”
A natural green paint was chosen for the façade to connect the structure to the gardens and the vineyard setting. “The indoor-outdoor nature of the house and garden is the soul of the property,” Smith says. “The changes we made make it a wonderful place to entertain on those long Napa Valley summer nights. Open the doors and windows, get the Green Egg barbecue fired up, and pour a glass of wine. Or two.”
Smith relied on her keen sense of style to make the place shine. “My mother was an interior designer, so I suppose I couldn’t help but be influenced by my surroundings growing up,” she says. “I then studied art history—a great way to train one’s eye—and I am constantly perusing magazines, art and design books, and rock-and-roll album covers. And, of course, the natural beauty surrounding us here in Napa Valley is always an inspiration.”
White is the driving force throughout the house. “The white painted floors provide a serene, airy feel that encourages the soul to relax, while the white environment offers a blank canvas that allows small elements of color to take on a sense of drama,” Smith says. She added a lively dose of colors and textures to pop against the white. “I love that juxtaposition. To me, contrast—and it can be very subtle—is what makes design interesting.”
She also prefers a laid-back lifestyle. “I love floor pillows and the casualness of stripes and wicker, but with a Big Sur in the ’70s twist,” Smith says. “This is the embodiment of California summers to me—laying on the floor, lounging, bare feet—a place where you can leave a wet towel and it’s not a heinous crime.”
Though the guest house is not open to the public, it serves as a place to entertain their distributors and host charity events. Almost everything inside was either a found item, such as the dining room table, which they discovered rotting on the property; given to them; or from a flea market or IKEA. “I’m a firm believer that a huge budget not only doesn’t equal great design, but it often stifles it because you don’t have to dig deeper,” Smith says. “Then again, it might be fun to test that theory!”
