Two months ago, the building was a bland former Army warehouse - a carbon copy of those surrounding it.
But four artists and 30 gallons of paint later, it has been transformed into a classic French-style chateau, complete with pillars and architectural moldings.
The building, at the Port of Walla Walla Regional Airport's Industrial Park, will be the home of Le Chateau, a new winery venture by Dick and Diane Hoch and Bob and Crista Whitelatch, of Claar Cellars.
Bruno Corneaux, the French-born winemaker at Claar Cellars in Pasco, Wash., also is Le Chateau's winemaker.
Dick Hoch said the 10,000-square-foot building they leased from the port was perfect for the new winery that's scheduled open in October.
There's plenty of room for production, barrel storage and bottling, and it's heavily insulated to stay cool inside during the hot summers.
And it's one of the first buildings that visitors see as the drive past the airport entrance and into the industrial park that is home to more than 20 wineries.
A problem was that Le Chateau was surrounded by similar less distinctive warehouses. So Hoch began sketching his idea on a napkin and never had any doubt that his daughter, Christine Barnes, could pull it off.
"I recall my father sketching triangles and pillars onto a cocktail napkin and asking if it was possible to paint the exterior of the warehouse to look like a grand chateau, similar to what you might see in the Bordeaux region of France," Barnes said.
Barnes, 54, who owns Graphics West in Kennewick, Wash., jumped at the chance to swap her computer mouse for a paintbrush and work on a canvas 25 feet tall by 100 feet wide.
"Had I been 20 years younger, I would have said, 'No way! This is going to be too much work," she said. "And had I been 20 years older, there would have been no way I could have physically performed the day-to-day rigors of climbing up and down 20 feet of scaffolding or endured the grueling heat of an Eastern Washington summer."
Getting the vision on paper was easy, she said. It took only three days to create the design in the computer program Photoshop. Her time estimate of the actual project was a bit off, though.
"Initially, I thought it was only going to take about three weeks," she said.
It took more than two months. Barnes got help from Adrian Snowden - owner of T & L Office Supply in Kennewick - and Walla Walla Community College art students John Leone of Kennewick and Kris Schultz of College Place.
The team employed an art technique called trompe l'oeil, using shadows and realistic imagery to create a 3-D optical illusion that tricks the eye into believing objects is real, instead of painted.
From the front of the building, it appears you can walk between the columns and the building. And it's difficult to distinguish the actual windows from the painted ones.
Snowden's airbrush expertise, which acounted for about 60 percent of the work, was invaluable, Barnes said.
"You need a team with enthusiasm and people who buy in and take ownership. Adrian really did that," she said.
Snowden, who has been using an airbrush for 20 years, said the building was definitely the biggest canvas he's had ever worked on, and he was able to share his expertise with the students, who stepped up to get the job done.
"There was blood, bruises and tears," he said. "The wind would blow so hard the scaffolding would shake and we'd have to all get down."
Completing the mural was a challenge, but all are happy with the result.
"The guys and I have been amused by the number of cars that have slowed or come to a complete stop with drivers wide-eyed, doing the classic double-take," Barnes said.
Jim Kuntz, the port's executive director, points out many of the wineries in the industrial park have done a great job of sprucing up the interiors of the '40s-era warehouses.
"Most people take them over for the utilitarian purposes, but it's difficult to do anything really imaginative on the outside," he said. "They are the first to really take the time to make it look interesting and different."
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