By Meghan Burger

Spotlight: Hill Country Wine Cave, 2021 GRAY Awards Finalist

A closer look at Hill Country Wine Cave, one of five finalists in each of the 2021 GRAY Awards Residential Architecture and Residential Interior Design categories.

Hill Country Wine Cave

Located at the eastern edge of the Texas Hill Country, this wine cave is a stealth destination along a secluded river bend, within a short stroll from ranch amenities. The project was designed by architecture firm Clayton Korte in an existing, excavated cave protected by tall trees and nearly disappearing into native landscape. With dimensional constraints already established, the challenge was to safely design a wine cellar and lounge, recognizing that the existing cave was neither water-tight nor necessarily designed for this intent.

The solution came in two different forms. The first was to insert a human-scaled wooden module into the volume of the excavation, being sure not to physically interact with the cave wall. The second was to provide a bulkhead that effectively restrained the loose limestone at the cave mouth and provided a predictable surface to wed the wooden insert. By carefully manipulating the solids and voids of a “wooden-box” insert, the cave could be concealed and revealed to the occupant, leveraging the good qualities of subterranean construction while protecting from unwanted moisture and darkness.