When your home is already in dreamland (California wine country), what do you do for a vacation house? Build it next door. Such was the case for this family, owners of a stately Victorian in Healdsburg, California, who enlisted designer Jennifer Robin and architect Stephen Sutro to devise a guesthouse—featuring a fully loaded, open-air kitchen just off the pool—on their property. “It’s a counterpoint to the main house’s traditional architecture,” Sutro says, “a visual backdrop for the end of the big lawn.”
A 19th-century French butcher block from Sonoma Country Antiques adds texture—and can also withstand the elements.
Ensuring pool guests a steady supply of beverages meant having a full wine column installed opposite the fridge.
To keep with the blue color scheme, Robin paneled the fridge to match the cabinets.
An average day in the alfresco kitchen might see overnight guests making breakfast, friends coming over for a barbecue, and swimsuit-clad kids running in for snacks. “It had to be comfortable for extended guest visits, yet rugged enough to tolerate poolside entertaining with children,” Robin says. Entertaining essentials like a pass-through window and wine fridge are paired with vintage accents and textural furniture. “This is a casual hangout that’s unpretentious,” Robin says, “like the owners!”
Here's how they maximized the indoor-outdoor flow.
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1. Serving Window
“It’s kind of like a bar,” says Sutro of the open window from the kitchen to the outdoor living room. “You can communicate with someone prepping lunch, or ask kids with messy barbecue fingers to pass their plates through instead of coming inside.”
2. Alfresco Dining
In addition to the indoor kitchen, the poolhouse is equipped with a full outdoor kitchen, pizza oven, and bar. “You can spend all day here,” Sutro says. “You can move from the pool to the guest room to the outdoor kitchen for dinner.”
3. Covered Lounge
The U-shaped poolhouse was built around a central outdoor living room. The climate is mild, so you can always be outside. If it does get chilly, though, a fireplace provides warmth, and the sofas are shielded from rain.
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