Beaulieu Vineyard is turning the page on its Napa Valley visitor experience with a new hospitality center created inside two twin-gabled stone buildings dating to the 1880s. The project, led by Signum Architecture with interiors by BAMO, reshapes the guest experience while leaning hard into the site’s history, right down to a life-size bronze sculpture of winemaking pioneer André Tchelistcheff greeting visitors at the entrance.
For mason contractors, the most telling parts of the story are in the walls. Design lead Juancarlos Fernandez said the goal was to let the original stone walls speak for themselves. That meant removing later concrete block additions that had covered up the original masonry and, in the process, revealing Beaulieu Vineyard signage dating to 1935 that’s now visible from Highway 29.
The renovation also tackled structural and performance upgrades. The team removed the original roof, reinforced the existing masonry walls to better withstand seismic activity, and reintroduced natural light through windows that had been covered over time. Inside, the updated spaces pair the exposed masonry with ceilings made from reclaimed redwood and Douglas fir salvaged from retired wine tanks and fermentation vats.
There’s a practical lesson here for crews working on historic stone and masonry restoration projects. Discovery matters, and so does flexibility. When you open up an older building, you can find hidden conditions that change the plan, from concealed openings to historic elements worth saving. This project also shows how sustainability goals can influence day-to-day field decisions, with nearly all demolition material recycled or reused, plus site upgrades like solar panels, electric vehicle chargers, and drought-tolerant landscaping as the estate targets carbon neutrality by 2030.
Read the full, original article from Galerie Magazine here.