Restored Buildings at Charles Krug Winery Honored

Two landmark buildings that were restored at Charles Krug Winery in St. Helena, Napa Valley, Calif., were recently honored with a Preservation Design Award. The California Preservation Foundation, sponsor of the awards, recognized Charles Krug, the Peter Mondavi Family, and Degenkolb Engineers of San Francisco for excellence in design, construction, planning, and technology at Napa Valley’s oldest winery. Founded by Prussian revolutionary Charles Krug in 1861, the venerable estate has been in the Peter Mondavi Family since 1943.
 
The two historic structures honored are Charles Krug's 1872 Redwood Cellar and the 1881 Carriage House. The Redwood Cellar remains a working winery facility as it was in Charles Krug’s day, and the Carriage House, built to house the family's renowned collection of carriages, is now a popular venue for special events. Both buildings are registered National and California Historic Landmarks.
 
One of the historical challenges of the restoration of the Redwood Cellar and Carriage House was sourcing stone to repair the pink rhyolite Charles Krug used in the foundation and the trim for 80 windows, plus every doorway, arch, base, and corner of the two buildings–which was originally mined between 1870 and 1871 from a secret location in the Valley. As part of the earthquake retrofitting required of the project, Degenkolb Engineers sought to enhance and preserve the Redwood Cellar's soaring stone walls and cathedral-like atmosphere. During the work, which took close to two years to complete, finely hewn redwood planks from the winery's heirloom fermentation tanks were salvaged and refitted in the Carriage House. Heritage olive trees near the building were carefully preserved during the construction and replanted near the winery's front entrance.
 
The Peter Mondavi Family's renovation project at Charles Krug is part of a complete recasting of the winery. The family is now practicing sustainable viticulture on its 850 acres. In addition to Degenkolb Engineers, Naomi Miroglio of Architectural Resource Group of San Francisco was the project's historical architect.
 
The Preservation Design Awards will be formally presented on Sat., Sept.19 at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco.