Saffron Fields | Jessica Helgerson Interior Design

This tasting room is located in Yamhill, Oregon in a lovely pastoral setting of rolling, vine covered hills. The building was designed by Eugene firm 2form Architecture and is surrounded by a meditation garden by Kurisu International, designers of Portland’s Japanese Gardens. The vineyard provides grapes for other regional winemakers as well as their own wine, produced off-site under the Saffron Fields label. The tasting room is the first phase in a project that will eventually include full-scale wine production, barrel aging, bottling facilities, distribution and a private residence. The name comes from the childhood of one of the owners who grew up in India, and has happy memories of beautiful fields of saffron crocuses.

Our role in the project was to select interior finish materials and furniture. Originally a dairy farm, the site had a large barn which was deconstructed and which we used to create the ceiling, walls, cabinetry, and bar of the new building.

In our design work we wanted to bring together two contrasting elements: one, the very modern design of the building with its simple material palette of concrete blocks, glass, and steel; and the other, the bright, colorful warmth evoked by the name “saffron fields” as well as the deep, rich wines being served.

We kept the interior material palette extremely restrained with dark concrete floors, natural reclaimed barn wood, and pale sand-colored concrete blocks. In contrast to this we chose a warm and inviting velvet sofa, and designed light fixtures that are evocative in color both of saffron and of the pinot wines being served in the tasting room. We worked with Portland glass blowers Esque Studio to create the fixtures. We also designed tables that bring the two elements together, with modern saffron-colored bases that come up and through the dark, reclaimed wood tops.