We went out to Yakima this week to check on the progress of the Freehand Cellars project out there, a wine tasting room, event space, and lodging set atop an orchard hill that overlooks the Yakima Valley.
We are remodeling the existing wine tasting room and house, which are on the top of a hill that overlooks the valley.
The existing wine tasting room has an exposed wood structure and dark tile floor. Our design focus was to clean up and highlight what is already strong about the place. We are continuing the warm wood paired with dark grey palette into the cabinets, countertops, and new paint. Above you can see VK Powell Construction setting the douglas fir cabinets that make up the serving bar.
The construction superintendent and the architect/owner are standing where there will be a fireplace acting as a transition between the central space that will have an 18 foot long dining table and a more intimate lounge space behind. The tall wall of south facing windows to the left brings natural daylight deep into the room, something we loved about the original design.
A closeup of the wine rack we designed. The lower part of the whole north wall of the bar will be lined with these racks to offer a visual connection between the architecture and the wine.
Back in the top photo, you can see a one story house nestled into the landscape off to the right. We are remodeling part of the house to make a generous couples suite that opens to the views. Like the tasting room, the existing house had exposed wood structure, but just needed to be reorganized a bit to better highlight the palette and views. The douglas fir kitchen cabinets are going in!
The house also opens up to the views to the south, but the landscape does a great job of making the experience feel more private. We removed some wall to be able to connect the interior public spaces together and allow them to share the natural light.