Rooms in this classic 1876 Victorian are simple but not Spartan, and the guests who return year after year to golf or snowshoe or to read a book by a crackling fire appreciate the absence of telephones and televisions. When asked to provide a new soft goods design for The Wawona — one of the oldest mountain resort hotels in California — we first considered the existing furnishings and the overall room design (things we couldn’t change).
Familiar with The Wawona from previous stays and projects, we pulled our scouting photos and historic archive images from our files, then procured swatches of the existing guest room carpet and wallpaper. As we set about replacing tired and fraying bedspreads, pillow shams, and roller shades in the Wawona’s six historically distinctive buildings, we were thinking both about the guest and the housekeeping staff. We want our work to be pleasing for the guest and, wherever possible, to reduce or eliminate operational issues. For these reasons, we generally recommend the simplest solutions and the fewest moving parts. For The Wawona, this meant eliminating decorative bed pillows (pillows that often end up on the floor) and specifying a pre-washed, pre-shrunk, washable cotton matellase coverlet. In winter, guests at The Wawona like some additional warmth, so we placed a down comforter inside a floral cotton duvet cover, folded in thirds at the foot of the bed.
For window treatments, we chose simple sheers for daytime privacy and filtered light and a blackout shade for evening, topped with a simple valance fabricated from the same floral fabric as the duvet cover. Furnished with a mix of antiques, reproductions, and wicker, the guest rooms at The Wawona are as humble yet welcoming as they’ve ever been – a place your great-grandmother might have felt right at home.
