Taking Notes From Wooden Victorian Beach Resorts
The Hotel Del Coronado. Those who know it well, call it simply The Del, sigh with love and longing. I grew up spending parts of my summers there and oh if I could but live in one of the rooms. Listed by USA Today as one of the Top 10 Resorts In The World, the hotel is a national historic landmark and is a stunning example of the wooden Victorian beach resort.
Opened in 1888 as the largest of all-wooden buildings and the first to offer electricity, the hotel still doesn't cease to amaze. To get a glimpse of it on screen, watch Some Like It Hot (ranked as the #1 funniest movie ever made). To evoke the grandeur of the Victorian beach resort:
GO GRAND: With door frames, stair railings, crown mouldings, window framing and other structural details, go for grand simple designs and of course for wood. Make modernized Victorian statements in flooring like this checked hallway.
GROW UP: Though a home will (and should) have more personalized details, whimsy, and quirks than a hotel, an old-hotel feel is a grown-up feel. Choose a handful of colors to use throughout your home in varying proportions. Create a continuity by coordinating (while, yes, of course, allowing personal detail). Don't fill your rooms with stacks of trinkets. Fill them with larger details such as floor plants, centerpieces of floral arrangements or large plants.
KEEP IT SIMPLE. Create rooms that have their distinct purposes and go well together. This gives your dwelling logical flow and a simple livability. Create a fireside reading area. Make a game room. Keep in mind the joy of roaming from one distinct room to another in hotels such as The Del.
THINK DETAILS. Remember that hotels as grand and old as The Del have had decades and even centuries to build upon itself. These kinds of hotels aren't fickle adolescents but matured adults. Think as such. Remember to take time and consider the details that bring life to your dwelling. Make each simple detail count, from the hallway hangings to the hand towels. As the breathless and slightly sunburned guest of The Del attests, the details that time and conscious consideration have added make all the difference.
To see more photos of the actual hotel, visit their official site at http://www.hoteldel.com.
Opened in 1888 as the largest of all-wooden buildings and the first to offer electricity, the hotel still doesn't cease to amaze. To get a glimpse of it on screen, watch Some Like It Hot (ranked as the #1 funniest movie ever made). To evoke the grandeur of the Victorian beach resort:
GO GRAND: With door frames, stair railings, crown mouldings, window framing and other structural details, go for grand simple designs and of course for wood. Make modernized Victorian statements in flooring like this checked hallway.
GROW UP: Though a home will (and should) have more personalized details, whimsy, and quirks than a hotel, an old-hotel feel is a grown-up feel. Choose a handful of colors to use throughout your home in varying proportions. Create a continuity by coordinating (while, yes, of course, allowing personal detail). Don't fill your rooms with stacks of trinkets. Fill them with larger details such as floor plants, centerpieces of floral arrangements or large plants.
KEEP IT SIMPLE. Create rooms that have their distinct purposes and go well together. This gives your dwelling logical flow and a simple livability. Create a fireside reading area. Make a game room. Keep in mind the joy of roaming from one distinct room to another in hotels such as The Del.
THINK DETAILS. Remember that hotels as grand and old as The Del have had decades and even centuries to build upon itself. These kinds of hotels aren't fickle adolescents but matured adults. Think as such. Remember to take time and consider the details that bring life to your dwelling. Make each simple detail count, from the hallway hangings to the hand towels. As the breathless and slightly sunburned guest of The Del attests, the details that time and conscious consideration have added make all the difference.
To see more photos of the actual hotel, visit their official site at http://www.hoteldel.com.
Smaller dwellings can have this grand ambience with attention to the right details. Foilage. Lighting. The right seating. An open outside fire pit for cocktails or coffee. You get the idea.
Q