ciao bruto!

• Wine, Art & Mercantile • Healdsburg, CA 2021-2022

Commercial Renovation — Interior Design, Construction Management, Refinishing, Brand Application & Merchandise Curation

(scope of services described below)

Led from concept through completion, this project was designed, built, branded, and curated from the ground up, within six months. For twenty-five years, 130 Plaza Street had been quietly shaped by decades of accumulated renovation layers by it's former tenancy, a non-profit art gallery — drywall over concrete, carpet over hardwood, each update gradually obscuring the building's original character.

The muse was equally sociological and aesthetic; I was inspired by the rough poetry of Brutalism and the dualistic culture of Naples, Italy, where a romance is found between antiquity and urban grit. The goal was to uncover what was actually there, and let it speak. The mission originally was to support a multi-use space all defined by one concept : the beauty of humanity—the raw, the real, and the handmade. Paying homage to it’s former tenancy, the space was to remain an art gallery, while incorporating a mercantile store of curated wines, unique food provisions, and products made by artisans.

A small crew handled demolition; the restoration was largely solo work. Concrete walls and floors were repaired and refinished. Original wood beams and trim were restored, and railings repainted. Portola Paint’s Roman Clay and Limewash were applied to the 20-foot interior walls, and new oiled maple panels introduced as architectural structures. Track lighting was fully updated, while adding task-supportive and ambient embellishments with sconces. Fixtures were sourced and fabricated throughout; all elements were to be “movable.” Exterior signage and finishes designed to mirror the adjacent parent-brand’s aesthetic (Idlewild Wines). Branding was developed in parallel — identity, signage system, and marketing assets — alongside merchandise curation, so the space and its contents told a unified story from opening day.

Documented here: floor plan, before/after renovation photography, concept visualization, finish material details (concrete, steel, clay, wood), exterior presence, fixtures and curated product, and branding imagery .