Set in Stone: Creating Old-World Character at The Blind Horse Cellar

The best hospitality spaces have a sense of place. They feel connected to their surroundings, their history, and the experience they’re meant to create.

At The Blind Horse Cellar in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, natural stone played a defining role in the wine cellar design and the atmosphere guests experience throughout the space. Recently featured in Buechel Stone’s Stone Journal, the project highlights how material selection and craftsmanship helped give a newly renovated space the character of an old-world wine cellar.

Located within a building dating back to the 1800s, the Cellar was envisioned as an immersive wine destination with the warmth and character of an old-world cellar. While much of the existing interior needed to be removed to meet modern building codes, the goal was never to make the renovated space feel new. Instead, the material palette became an opportunity to reintroduce a sense of history.

Creating a Sense of Age and Authenticity

For the Cellar, our team selected Buechel Stone’s Oiled Nubuck Siena, a natural stone veneer with rich variation in tone, texture, and scale. Against a darker palette of wood, leather, and aged brass, the stone brings warmth and depth to the interior. Its natural variation also gives the space something that perfectly uniform materials couldn’t: a sense that it has evolved over time.

As Interior Designer Angie Boettner shared with Stone Journal:

“The owners’ goal was to create an immersive experience—one that feels as though guests are stepping back in time.”

That idea influenced not only the material selection, but how the stone was used throughout the Cellar.

More Than an Accent

Rather than limiting the stone to a single feature wall, it carries throughout the Cellar, wrapping columns, framing openings and extending behind the bar. Paired with dark wood cabinetry and rows of wine displays, the stone gives each area a shared architectural language while still allowing individual spaces to feel distinct.

The masonry installation was equally important. Skilled masons approached the stonework with the character of an old-world wine cellar in mind, helping newly installed materials feel appropriate within a building with more than a century of history. The result is convincing enough that, as Stone Journal noted, guests frequently assume the stone has been part of the building for generations.

Designing the Atmosphere

Hospitality design isn’t only about how a space looks. It’s about what guests experience when they walk through the door. At The Blind Horse Cellar, the combination of natural stone, warm woods, leather, aged metals and low, intimate lighting creates the intimate, old-world atmosphere envisioned for the Cellar. The stone provides the foundation for that atmosphere. Its weight and texture give the Cellar permanence, while its natural variation keeps the space from feeling overly polished or newly constructed. It doesn’t simply decorate the Cellar. It helps tell its story.

Featured in Stone Journal

We’re honored to see The Blind Horse Cellar and its stonework featured by Buechel Stone in their latest Stone Journal. The feature explores how Oiled Nubuck Siena became an integral part of the wine cellar design, helping create old-world character while honoring the history of its Cedarburg setting.