Estate of Grace

Designer Catherine Kwong’s vision for Brown Napa Valley’s new headquarters-meets-tasting space melds commercial and hospitality design in one masterful sweep

Above Image: The four leading the team at Brown Estate: Deneen Brown, Stefanie Kelly, Coral Brown, and David Brown.

By Maile Pingel

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Photography by William Jess Laird

It was a chance meeting at a 2012 San Francisco Decorator Showcase party that introduced interior designer Catherine Kwong, then celebrating her first showhouse room, to the family behind Brown Napa Valley, one of California’s most highly-regarded wineries, known for its premium Zinfandel, Chardonnay, Petite Sirah, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Their conversation ultimately led to the Browns calling on Kwong to design their first tasting room, Brown Downtown Napa, which opened in 2017. The collaboration, which marked Kwong’s first foray into commercial work, proved an unequivocal success: business grew and the Browns soon found themselves not only short on space for guests, but on space for themselves.

Interior designer Catherine Kwong. Photo by Andrew Paynter. The first Brown Downtown Napa tasting room. Photo by Maggie Mae.

When the opportunity to open a second location right next door presented itself to the family, they jumped, and again called upon Kwong to bring it to life. This project came with a more complex brief. The Browns’ original idea had been to make this location their headquarters, but because the space also needed to host vendors, Kwong proposed a more hybrid solution. “This is where they’re creating so many important aspects of their business,” she explains, “so while it needed to host strategic meetings, it also needed to feel creative.”

Kwong transformed the warehouse-house like structure into a multifunctional hospitality space that elegantly accommodates both meetings and tastings. The first move was cleverly adding a loft to the 30-foot-high main volume, enabling the working offices to be housed upstairs while leaving the main floor free to dedicate to hosting and entertaining areas. To define the main floor “rooms,” Kwong used double-height wool drapery panels and fluted-glass partitions. The latter, along with design choices like globe pendant lights, honor the building’s industrial nature. “It was a raw shell when we began, and we wanted to keep the concrete and exposed pipes because they create a juxtaposition with luxurious elements, like a beautiful mohair or velvet,” she says.

“It was a raw shell when we began, and we wanted to keep the concrete and exposed pipes because they create a juxtaposition with luxurious elements, like a beautiful mohair or velvet.”

The entry of the new Brown headquarters and tasting room, featuring an Eleanor sofa by Lulu & Georgia bookended with a pair of handcrafted English oak sidetables. Rén armchair by Stellar Works. A Max Lamb table anchors the ground floor meeting area. Pipe Hang pendant lights are by Urban Electric Co.

“In the wine industry, sometimes things can feel unapproachable, but wine is about pleasure and enjoying life. We wanted it to feel luxe, but the main feeling is welcoming.” Guests are greeted at a front desk that doubles as a tasting bar for House of Brown, the winery’s sister brand, and the entry then flows into a room—its walls plastered in a soft blue-green and anchored by two dining tables by British designer Max Lamb—that serves as convivial venues for meetings.

In the meeting space, Coral Brown pours House of Brown Rosé, Chardonnay, and Savignon Blanc.

A chic lounge with custom leather banquette, illuminated by Opaline glass sconces by Obsolete, is tucked in the back of the house opposite a custom marble-and-mirror clad wet bar for storage and display. “The whole place feels hushed and calm so people can focus on their senses,” Kwong adds.

Me Decade in Twist of Lime wallcovering by The Pattern Collective sets the stage for a tasting area featuring a custom banquette crafted by West Coast Industries and a Candelina dining table by Form. Opaline glass sconces by Obsolete. The custom bar, with Delfino Armchair by Erberto Carboni for The Future Perfect and Cream Directional sconce by Obsolete.

Kwong prides herself on keeping the same team on a project from conception to completion. “Consistency becomes tangible at the end, when you walk through and there are so many meaningful touches,” she says. Echoing the very essence of wine making, she adds, “It’s a magical alchemy.”

House of Brown holiday cheer. Photo by Maggie Mae.

Estate of Grace

By Maile Pingel

Photography by William Jess Laird

“It was a raw shell when we began, and we wanted to keep the concrete and exposed pipes because they create a juxtaposition with luxurious elements, like a beautiful mohair or velvet.”

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