It’s almost 50 years since California emerged as one of the leading wine-producing regions globally, when Napa Valley producers entered their wines into a blind tasting, comparing California wines with French and won.

The Pritchard Hill Compound is located behind the gates of Ovid Napa Valley Winery, and the Howard Backen-designed estate comprises a barn home and guest accommodation, surrounded by 160 acres of organic vineyards.

Backen designed the home in 2010 for the owners of the Ovid Napa Valley vineyard. He used materials extracted while building the on-site winery to furnish the property, installing a vast fireplace made from volcanic stone and a huge boulder removed when clearing the vineyard.

Pritchard Hill Compound – listed with Sotheby’s International Realty for $18.5m – in St Helena includes a pair of guesthouses and a swimming pool with valley and mountain views.

The main property is spread out across a single storey, with exposed beams and reclaimed wood that reflects the rustic, hilltop setting. Pocket doors open the Californian property up to the outdoors, creating what the architect called an ‘open-air pavilion’ with far-reaching views across Napa Valley.

Inside an architect’s AIA-award winning Pasadena home