There’s a small road that dead ends to a trailhead near me which we sometimes use for open space access. At the base of the road there’s been a new house under construction for what seems like at least 3 years, with progress just inching along. Recently it was finally finished, and now I see that it’s a spec house. It has a really modern and sleek look which won’t appeal to everyone, and that of course is fine. But who will this appeal to? The architect put a decorative wine wall, for lack of a better term, just inside the main entrance and under the stairwell. It looks like this:
Spec homes seem to always have some weird stuff in them that only make sense to the speculator, to the point where some choices work against them making as much money as possible. This is a head scratcher. You could certainly temperature/humidity control the room, but how do you manage light?
I’ve got 2 friends building $3M+ houses right now. Both will have an area for wine. One will have a glass enclosed single depth wine wall with no cooling unit. House is being built and I asked him if he has the label view bottle holders or typical wood racks. He didn’t have an answer-hadn’t thought about that. The other has a “wine room” but hasn’t even thought of racking, or cooling. I’m not even sure he will put a wine frig in there. All of us are in the minority. We want function. Most just want aesthetics. This builder took a complete dead space and made it into a feature. The buyer will think it’s great.
Except it looks like sunlight will be shining on them at least sometimes? (Can clear glass like that be treated to block UV rays or whatever it is about sunlight that can ruin wine?)
How many stories have I heard from people whose parents/grandparents had fabulous wine…stored next to the furnace.
I wonder how hot it gets at 5 Tartan?? Could get a lot of fog.
We have shades that supposedly block UV rays …blur the light a bit. You could install remote-controlled venetian blinds that roll up to make an impression.
IMHO, it is a poor design decision, not just from a functional point of view but also from an aesthetic and design point of view. It is lazy to say the least and is pretty tasteless. Being in the design field, I am still shocked on how people (namely architect’s or interior designers) get away with these things and still keep getting clients.
The only excuse is that they were forced to by the original client/owner of the house, even if they initially suggested against it.
I LOVE it. That is, based upon Wes’s recommendation to showcase trophy empties there. What a great conversation starter for your incoming guests and nostalgia-inducing reminder every time you stroll past, coming and going.
If this adds value to the listing as a functional storage facility for fine wine, then we have another piece of evidence in the case of wine enthusiasts vs. the oligarchy.
I have a family member (who left Mill Valley for nearby environs) whose house has a junior varsity version of same said ‘wine cellar’. It doesn’t keep things cold enough, nor does their 10K SubZero fridge, so I’m always having to prep ice buckets and or move things in their the freezer when having blanc/bubbly at their place.
On the flip side, their abode is tidy and calming, most unlike mine.
the narrow streets and hills may not give enough space for anything bigger. i’m not even clear how emergency vehicles like fire and ambulances can get around some of these communities…
No need to overthink things like this. A lot of things are chosen by developers to have a “wow” factor to the target audience, who is not a wine collector necessarily, but might think that this looks impressive.
I see tons of wine storage put under stairs. Generally I think a lot of developers just like to tick the checkbox of all the “high end” features they can list, regardless of whether it is practical or makes sense.
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