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Creekside Springhouse, Pasadena, Calif.

Interior designer Shannon Ggem had some fun with a century-old springhouse tucked behind a Tudor home designed by famed southern California architect Stiles O. Clements.

She optimized the 9-foot-by-12-foot stone structure’s natural cooling abilities to provide a place for the owners to store their wine. The springhouse, which is partially subterranean and adjacent to an artesian well, makes an ideal wine cellar, with temperatures up to 30 degrees cooler than the outdoors with no mechanical ventilation. The judges were amazed by the transformation, calling it “fantastical.”

The interior walls and roof of the rustic outbuilding are not level or square, so Ggem speced a freestanding walnut wine rack to create strict lines and provide storage for 180 bottles. Electricity had been run to the building by a previous owner, so Ggem enhanced the design with a unique chandelier and low-voltage pucks. Besides the lighting fixtures, every other item she used was vintage or made of reclaimed materials. “We are so proud to have furthered the idea that old buildings can be relevant, old materials can be meaningful, and old things can be on trend and beautiful,” says Ggem.

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