For the Arkenstone Winery family, who started with a massive underground wine storage facility on their Angwin, California property, the concept was to build a winery co-op for production of local wines for a special group of local wine producers. They chose turn-of-the-century Farmhouse for the architectural type for their new residence and carriage house on the panoramic building site with views of the entire Napa Valley. The owners' vision was to create an authentic project with all the period detailing of the local vernacular architecture from the Saint Helena area. The owners, architect and contractor hired Woodbank to assist in the development of authentic architectural detailing and the materials to match this timeless architectural style.

The project started with an authentic stone carriage house. Woodbank produced reclaimed Douglas fir beams for the exposed structural roof and ceiling, and antique Western red cedar for the board and batten siding. The timber-framed exterior deck structure was constructed from a single 40 foot long, 12" x 16" girder with 10" x 10" posts and 6" x 10" joists. Woodbank produced the decking from reclaimed Cabernet Sauvignon wine tank staves, and railings were custom-milled from the antique Western red cedar.

The interior detailing was achieved with matching woods for floors, doors, millwork and cabinetry. For the wideplank flooring, 14" wide, hand-scraped Douglas fir was produced, and wood stair railings and balustrade were created from reclaimed redwood from 100 year-old, 6" x 16" bridge timbers. The millwork, including base boards, beaded paneling and interior trim, was also produced from the clear, all-heart redwood.

After completion of the carriage house, Woodbank was asked to further assist in the development of the main residence; a modest 6000 square foot farmhouse with exquisite attention to detail. Given the owners' reverence for wood and thier keen interest in utilizing stranded forest resources, Woodbank proposed the use of standing dead salvage logs as part of the "Whole Project Solution". Woodbank acquired several trailer loads of these logs, both for standard and vertical grain production. For the entire exposed beam and wide plank ceilings, standard flat sawn logs were utilized, producing net dimension timbers and T&G paneling. For all the exterior and interior doors, custom cabinetry, and extensive period casings and millwork, we selected vertical grain logs that could yield 20-30 growth ring per inch in the finished product.

For authentic wide plank flooring and a further consideration for hardness and durability, Woodbank selected antique Long Leaf Southern Yellow Pine. The materials were recovered from large industrial beams, resawn to 1.5" x 14" x 22' long planks, then kiln-dried and hand-planed and sanded for custom wide plank installation.