DESIGN: A Custom Wine Cellar in Lake Wylie

Sara Lynn Brennan’s clients had a staggering collection of wine when they began construction on their lakefront home in Belmont two years ago. The couple had owned a vineyard in California but decided to retire to the shores of Lake Wylie once their kids moved out. They hired Brennan to design the interior of their three-story home, which included a basement where they’d store their wine. “A lot of people do wine nooks or cocktail carts, so having this tremendous amount of wine and creating something so grand is really cool,” Brennan says. “The house is open concept, so this wine cellar is a bit of a surprise—you wouldn’t expect to see this tucked away in the basement. It’s a small space that conquers a lot.” 

“They wanted an intimate, climate-controlled place,” Brennan says, “where they could go with friends or each other and enjoy a glass of wine without interruption.”

NO WINE LEFT BEHIND

The homeowners worked with Wine Cellars of the Carolinas to design and install the climate-controlled, backlit cellar in the unfinished portion of the basement. Its steel-framed glass doors allow the storage system, which holds 1,332 bottles, to display their wine collection like a work of art. The remaining 10-by-10-foot space had a closet in the back corner that Brennan converted into a wine bar with built-in shelves for drinkware. “We were trying to carve out a room that would work,” she says, “and gave them the storage they were looking for.” 

LET THERE BE LIGHT

To keep the windowless space from feeling too cave-like, Brennan put three arched wall mirrors between the cellar and built-in shelves. “The adjacent room is a walk-out basement, which gets lots of light,” she says. “We wanted to reflect that light coming into the room.” She painted the walls a neutral greige and installed a gold wagon-wheel chandelier to draw the eye up. “A gold accent helps keep it warm,” she says, “and (the homeowner) loved the wagon-wheel style, so this room was perfect for it.” 

CHARACTER PIECES

Brennan had the swivel accent chairs custom made and upholstered in caramel-colored leather. She chose a natural wood accent table with fluted detail on the base to complement the wood crates in the cellar. On the wall, she hung a whimsical wine-themed painting the homeowner brought from California. “You don’t want a wine room to be too literal, with leaves and olives or Tuscan colors,” she says. “This is a more personal space and pulls some of their history into a new home.”