January 31, 2015

2014 BOY Winner: Motel/Hostel

You’d swear it’s a 1950’s landmark. But Lauren Rottet actually built this complex from the ground up—it’s the first property in what’s envisioned as a retro Americana-inspired brand for the Valencia Group. “The buildings look like they grew here,” the Interior Design Hall of Fame member says. And she should know. She’s a Texas native.

Old-school motel concepts abound. The seven buildings—four for the 120 guest rooms and one apiece for reception, the restaurant and meeting rooms, and a larger conference room—are all low-rise, in either Western cedar or local limestone. Access to the ground-level guest rooms is via porches.

Bedrooms are a mash-up of styles: cast-iron beds, painted wooden nightstands with turned legs, sofas in mid-century styles, assorted lamps. Bathrooms, more polished, are compositions in black and white: old claw-foot tubs, quartz-topped vanities, porcelain penny tile on the floor, subway tile on the walls.

Over each tub in the suites hangs a photograph of a guy floating in an inner tube, perhaps a hint to hit the outdoor pool. Adjacent to it stands the barnlike restaurant, with its bow-truss ceiling and wood paneling reclaimed from Texas barns. The restaurant’s name is the Water Trough. Yeehaw.

Project Team: Chris Evans; Ashleigh Rogers.

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