At Home in the Wine Country: Architecture & Design in CA

2021 Foreword Indies, BRONZE: Regional

Through compelling narrative and stunning photography, authors Heather Hebert and Chase Ewald feature the architecture, style, and design of 17 homes—plus 4 unique auxiliary structures—in California’s picturesque wine country. At Home in the Wine Country showcases the work of many of California’s top architects and designers, with styles ranging from modern farmhouse to refined rustic to updated agrarian to unapologetically modern. This virtual tour documents a native, terroir-derived style that has evolved dramatically since the days when the region looked to European chateaux for inspiration. These ranges of styles—as well the varied approaches to managing environmental factors—is broad and captivating and pays homage to wine-country living in an atmosphere of understated, family-focused hospitality.

The California wine country is a region without distinct edges. In recent decades, this region has come to be defined by its lifestyle just as much as its wines. It has developed its own ethos, one whose contemporary expression is creative, sustainably minded, art-filled, and bathed in light. It has a youthful attitude and a decided sense of fun. Central to this distinct way of life is the indoor-outdoor experience; today’s homes seamlessly integrate the region’s sublime scenery and climate with its cuisine and lifestyle. At Home in the Wine Country pays homage to a region that is ever innovating, adapting, and evolving and showcases the best of design and lifestyle in California's iconic landscapes.

Heather Sandy Hebert is the author of The New Architecture of Wine (Gibbs Smith, fall 2019). Formerly the director of marketing for a San Francisco-based architecture firm with an international practice, Heather spent 25+ years guiding the firm's marketing, brand identity, and positioning on a global scale. She works directly with clients to develop their brand strategy and design stories for their hotel, resort, winery, multifamily residential, and urban mixed-use projects. Heather lives in Marin County, California.

Chase Reynolds Ewald has been writing about architecture, design, travel, cuisine and lifestyle for 30 years and helps creatives of all types tell their stories. A graduate of Yale and the Graduate School of Journalism at U.C. Berkeley, she is currently Senior Editor of Western Art & Architecture magazine and the design columnist for Big Sky Journal. Chase is the author of more than a dozen books including Gibbs Smith titles Bison; Portrait of an Icon, Modern Americana, American Rustic and Cabin Style. She lives in Tiburon, California.