San Diego Traditional Home Wine Cellar

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This is our peek-a-boo window that nicely frames the wine display inside.

Traditional home wine cellars in San Diego can come in exquisite, head-turning designs when they’re made by passionate wine cellar builders. In this article, we want to share with you a stunning wine display under the stairs designed and built by wine cellar extraordinaire Steve Pantalemon and his team at Coastal Custom Wine Cellars. It features gorgeous wooden wine racking in multiple orientations, a split system cooling unit, cigar storage, and many other incredible features! Get to know more about this special wine cellar and be inspired!  

Under the Stairs Traditional Home Wine Cellar in San Diego

The owner of this house was a lawyer who had an admiration for traditional, rustic designs. His entire home leaned toward a very classic and homey vibe, and he wanted his wine cellar to echo a similar appeal but with a modern touch.  

He had an open-well staircase with some unused space underneath, and he wanted to utilize that for his wine collection. As a primary S.O.P., the team visited his beautiful home, inspected the space, partially demolished the walls to check what we were working with, and started drafting a concept design.  

Under-the-stairs wine cellars are more challenging to do than wine walls out in the open. This is because of the following:  

• You need to stabilize the staircase  
• There’s more framing work to do 
• You never know what you’re going to be working with unless you demolish the walls down 
• You need to ensure your wine cellar design is structurally sound for both your wine collection and the weight capacity of the staircase 
• You have to find the best optimal location for your cooling unit within a tight space 
• The slope of the ceiling is unconventional 

A Wine Cooling System for Small, Traditional, Under the Stairs Home Wine Cellars 

Unlike in open spaces like the living room and kitchen, spaces under the staircase are not really built to accommodate through-the-wall cooling systems. There’s no air space on the ceiling, no extra space on the walls, and definitely not on the door for the storage room.  

But when you enter this traditional home wine cellar, you’ll be surprised to find it’s fully refrigerated without an obstructive cooling system in sight!  

How did the team do it? There’s a small, almost-crawl-height space under the staircase, enough to fit the coils and the evaporator. Steve had the walls demolished so his team could access that minute space to install the cooling system.  

This was a considerably tall traditional home wine cellar in San Diego. We were able to fit a full-sized wine cellar door.

We used a split-system cooling unit where the condenser was in a separate machine. The condenser itself is 18×18 inches, but we custom-built a housing that’s about 30×30 inches. We fondly call it a “doghouse” designed to optimize airflow and built with an exterior-grade material that can protect the condenser from the different elements — heat, wind, rain, etc.  

These are the wooden, horizontal lattice racks facing the glass door.

Thick Insulation for that Extra Boost of Humidity 

After we ran the electricals, we sprayed 4 inches of closed-cell foam insulation all over the walls to help keep the moisture out.  

In areas or rooms with floating floors, insulation is typically added under the floorboards to really seal the air gap. However, since this wine cellar had a concrete floor with a design similar to the rest of the house, there wasn’t any need to inject insulation on that part.  

Modernizing a Traditional Wine Cellar with a Glass Door and Window 

When you work with Steve and his team, there are always two priorities: to make a structurally sound wine cellar with all the right functionalities and to make it aesthetically pleasing. For this wine cellar, you can clearly see these two principles on the wine racks, the door, and the window.  

You can find a “peek-a-boo” window to the right side of the partially-glass wine cellar facing the staircase and living room. It is an arched, dual-paned, tempered glass window with an alder wood frame. If you stand in front of the window, it beautifully frames part of the wine cellar racking and collection inside, so it looks like you’re looking at an artwork.  

On the front side of the wine cellar is the large glass door that’s also dual-paned and alder wood-framed. The wood framing features laminated veneer lumber (LVL), known to be very robust against moisture and warping. The team put a lot of thought even on the door alone because we also installed an automatic door lock on the bottom. The lever rises when the door is opened and instantly drops down when the door is shut.  

Incorporating glass into the enclosure makes this wine cellar really special because you can be mesmerized by what’s inside, even if you’re just out in the hallway, in the living room, or going up the stairs! 

Stylish Wooden Wine Cellar Racks with a Natural-Colored Finish 

The wine collection for this owner was stored in a custom racking display. Many under-the-stairs wine cellars would go for a wine racking that has the common 750ml cork-forward storage style to maximize capacity. But for this, the team ensured to incorporate different storage configurations so it wouldn’t look ordinary, which was exactly what the owner wanted.  

Traditional home wine cellars in San Diego are at their best look with a custom designer. In this photo, you’ll see the grills hiding the cooling coils, which helps maintain the look of the cellar.

On the upper portions of the racking, you’ll find the typical 750ml storage units that display bottles in a cork-forward way. This was followed by low, open storage, which they are now using to store books. Then in the middle, we built a reveal row with L.E.D. strips across the top, hidden by a light valance. 

At the bottom, you can find lattice X-cubes and horizontal lattice displays for more bottles and case storage for boxes and larger bottles. On the leftmost side of the racking, we added a column of lattice horizontal display shelves that faces the doorway.  

Overall, this custom wine cellar rack could hold 405 bottles, plus about 100 more because of the crate storage. Not bad for a small wine cellar! 

Unlock the Value of a Custom Home Wine Display. Work With Coastal Custom Wine Cellars! 

Bring your wine display plan to new heights with a custom-designed traditional home wine cellar in San Diego! Our expert team specializes in creating stunning and personalized wine cellar solutions that harmonize functionality with unparalleled style. From sleek modern designs to timeless classics, we understand that your wine collection deserves a showcase that reflects your unique taste and discerning aesthetic. With meticulous attention to detail and a commitment to quality craftsmanship, we transform your vision into a reality. From custom racking systems to climate control technology, we ensure that your wines are stored in optimal conditions while exuding elegance and sophistication. 

Contact us today at +1 (949) 200 – 8134 or visit our gallery to see more home wine cellar designs!