Stair Master

The clients’desire for a grand entry led Michael A. Colleary, proprietor of Southern Wine Cellars, to design this dramatic peek-a-boo wine storage center under the stairs. The owners relished the plan from the beginning, but Colleary had to conquer several challenges to make it reality. “The biggest obstacle was to be able to follow the curved rake of the stairs without leaving dead space,” he says. By connecting individual redwood racks rather than using sections, they were able to closely follow the curved diagonal. To prevent awkward reaches as the ceiling dropped, Colleary turned the corner at about 3 feet and installed case cubbies. The problem of light transmission through the glass wall was solved by using a picture niche to push bottles away from direct light. Getting the right proportions on the cut-out was tricky, says Colleary. “We wanted to open it up, but not give it all away, so we used the top of the door as the upper end of our slope.” Builder: Harbor Side Custom Homes, Palm Harbor, Fla.; Designer: Southern Wine Cellars, Palm Harbor; Cooling system designer: Wine Innovations, Cincinnati; Photographer: Michael A. Colleary.